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Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974, and killed 66 people. [1]
In the cyclone's aftermath, the number of deaths reported varied from 49 to 66, [2] [3] as an official list of deaths was never compiled.[ citation needed ] There was regular controversy of actual deaths. [4] [5]
In 1997 a plaque for the military personnel lost from the patrol boats lost was laid. [6] Nearly thirty years later, two ships were still missing. MV Booya was eventually located in Darwin Harbour in October 2003, and then a ferry, Darwin Princess in May 2004. [7] Police divers investigated both wrecks and found no human remains but did retrieve some personal effects. [8] [9]
In March 2005, the Northern Territory Coroner held an inquest into the people suspected to have died on board, declaring them deaths at sea. Following the inquest the death total was raised to 71 and this was widely published. However recent research has determined that this figure includes five deaths that were double counted, reducing the overall total to 66. Of these 45 died on land and 21 died at sea. [10] [11] [12] The trauma of the death and destruction to the community is regularly cited as having a significant effect beyond Darwin, and to people distant from the location. [13] [14] [15]
Name | Age | Notes |
---|---|---|
Peter Andrew | Unknown (adult) | |
Malini Palathil Bell | 40 | |
Dorothy Bloomfield | Unknown (adult) | |
Wotsanbuk Bolger (Bungun, Major) | 60 | |
Cecil Henry Bonner | 75 | |
Geraldine Elizabeth Brown | 8 | |
Andrew Mark Bruhn | 5 | |
Dean William Burgess | 2 years 7 months | |
Louisa Fanny Butler | 63 | |
Leslie Kevin Catton | 33 | Death at sea - HMAS Arrow |
Paul Mark Chaney | 7 months | |
Susanna Rose Clarke | 74 | |
Eileen Patricia Clough | 31 | |
Raymond John Curtain | 28 | Death at sea - Darwin Princess |
Peter Brian Daffey | 6 | |
Avis Winifred Daniel | 29 | Death at sea - Mandorah Queen |
Graham William Dearden | 30 | Death at sea - MV Booya |
Peter James Dewar | 32 | |
Charles Joseph Dibua | Unknown (adult) | |
David Grant Fealy | 19 | Death at sea - Flood Bird |
Gary Roger Fenton | 29 | |
Michael John Grant | 21 | Death at sea - Mandorah Queen |
Raymond Ian Hampton | 35 | |
Thomas William Hanson | 70 | |
Lisa Karoline Harder | 5 months | |
Donald James Duncan Hoff | 36 | Death at sea - Kendall |
Dennis Keith Holten | 23 | Death at sea - Flood Bird |
Richard Roland James | 24 | |
Reuben Paul James | 3 weeks | |
Catherine Michelle Knox | 5 months | |
Elva Dawn Knox | 29 | |
Michael John Knox | 30 | |
Stephen James Knox | 3 years 8 months | |
John Dudley (Jack) Lang | Unknown (adult) | |
On Ing (Owen) | 29 | |
Arthur Lim | 48 | |
Paul Alaister Macklin | 36 | |
Ronald Charles Marshall | 21 | Death at sea - Charles Todd |
Eric Arthur (Sandy) McNab | 74 | |
William Daniel Muir | 60 | |
Shigemori Odowara | 33 | Death at sea - Flood Bird |
George Valentine Parker | 32 | |
Suzanne Mary Portman | 8 | |
Ian Rober Renniet | Unknown (adult) | Death at sea - HMAS Arrow |
George Roewer | 21 | Death at sea - Flood Bird |
Giovanni Smaniotto | 70 | |
Cherry Leonie Rose Stephenson | 22 | |
Kylie Jane Stephenson | 6 months | |
Robert Gordon Swann | 19 | Death at sea - Flood Bird |
John Thomas Taylor | 30 | |
Gerald Frederick Thompson | 31 | Death at sea - MV Booya |
Richard Thompson | 85 | |
John Turner | 69 | |
Ruth Nazmeena Vincent | 24 | Death at sea - MV Booya [16] |
Robert Norman Wade | 20 | Death at sea - Frigate Bird |
Shirley Dawn Wenck | Unknown (adult) | |
Gregory John Westerman | 22 | Death at sea - MV Booya |
Terrance Carew Westwood | 63 | Death at sea - MV Booya |
Kenneth James Scott Wheatley | 3 years 11 months | |
Kerry Lynda Williams | 21 months | |
Molly Williams | 31 | |
Siegfried Karl Otto Wolfe | 30 | Death at sea - Mandorah Queen |
Jennifer Anne Wood | 37 | |
William Woodyatt | 34 | Death at sea - Frigate Bird |
Koji Yoshida | 42 | Death at sea - Kendall |
Frederick Yee Char Yu | 36 [10] |
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. The city has nearly 53% of the Northern Territory's population, with 139,902 at the 2021 census. It is the smallest, wettest, and most northerly of the Australian capital cities and serves as the Top End's regional centre.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small, developing, easterly storm was originally expected to pass clear of the city, but it turned towards it early on 24 December. After 10:00 p.m. ACST, damage became severe, with wind gusts reaching 217 km/h before instruments failed. The anemometer in Darwin Airport control tower had its needle bent in half by the strength of the gusts.
The Northern Territory Police Force is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1,607 police members made up of 83 senior sergeants, 228 sergeants, 912 constables, 220 auxiliaries, and 64 Aboriginal Community Police Officers. The rest of the positions are members of commissioned rank and inoperative positions. It also has a civilian staff working across the NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services.
The history of Darwin details the city's growth from a fledgling settlement into a thriving colonial capital and finally a modern city.
Robert Lindsay Collins AO was a Labor Party member of the Australian Senate from July 1987 to March 1998, representing the Northern Territory. Prior to entering the Senate, Collins was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1977 to 1987, and Leader of the Territory Opposition from 1981 to 1986. He was the first Northern Territorian to become a federal minister. He killed himself after being charged with child sex offences.
The Victoria Hotel, or The Vic as it is commonly known, is a heritage listed pub located in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Built in 1890, it is an important historical building but is currently closed.
Rugby league in the Northern Territory is administered by the Northern Territory Rugby League and is played in Darwin at Warren Park and in Alice Springs at Anzac Oval.
Booya was a steel-hulled three-masted schooner with an auxiliary oil engine built in the Netherlands in 1917 and originally named De Lauwers. The schooner was renamed Argosy Lemal in 1920 and carried that name until 1949. As Argosy Lemal the ship served as one of the early United States Army communications ships from 1942–1949. In 1949, on return to civilian use, the vessel was renamed Ametco, Clair Crouch and finally Booya in 1964. Booya was last seen anchored off Fort Hill wharf in Darwin Harbour at about 8.00pm on 24 December 1974, the evening Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin. Nearly twenty-nine years later, in October 2003, she was discovered by chance in Darwin Harbour, lying on her starboard side in about 20 metres of water.
Rugby union is a mostly amateur sport within the Northern Territory in Australia. The game is run by the Northern Territory Rugby Union, composed of representatives from clubs, regional rugby unions, referees, and affiliated bodies for schools and junior rugby.
Harry Christian Giese administered Australian federal government policy for the people of the Northern Territory under Prime Ministers including Robert Menzies and Harold Holt and Ministers including Paul Hasluck.
The Darwin Festival, founded as the Bougainvillea Festival in 1979 and named Festival of Darwin from 1996 to 2002, is an annual arts festival in Darwin, Northern Territory. It celebrates the multicultural aspects of the Northern Territory lifestyle. The festival is held over 18 days in August and comprises a series of events including outdoor concerts, workshops, theatre, dance music, comedy, cabaret, film and visual arts. The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair is held under the umbrella of the festival, and the Garma Festival, NATSIAA art awards, and National Indigenous Music Awards are within the festival period.
Ellen Mary Stack was an Australian medical doctor and the first female Lord Mayor of an Australian capital city. She was the mayor of the City of Darwin, Northern Territory, from 1975 to 1979, and lord mayor from 1979 to 1980. She is best known for her work following the destruction of Darwin due to Cyclone Tracy.
Hotel Darwin was a hotel located on the Esplanade in central Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was commonly known as the "Grand Old Duchess". Despite surviving the Bombing of Darwin and Cyclone Tracy, the hotel was demolished in 1999. A bar at the rear of the original site formerly known as the Hot & Cold Bar now functions under the name Hotel Darwin.
Kahlin Compound was an institution for part-Aboriginal people in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia between 1913 and 1939. After 1924, "half-caste" children were separated from their parents and other adults and moved to an institution at Myilly Point.
Lameroo Beach is a small beach located off the esplanade in central Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was the location of the town's historic baths between 1922 and 1974. The name for Lameroo Beach comes from a corrupted interpretation of the nearby Aboriginal site Damoe-Ra, which means "eye" or "spring" in Larrakia.
The 1897 cyclone was a tropical cyclone that destroyed the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is considered the worst cyclone to strike the Northern Territory of Australia prior to Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Prior to contemporary naming conventions, the storm became known as the "Great Hurricane".
Lee Toy Kim better known as Granny Lum Loy or Lu Moo was a renowned Chinese businesswoman in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The Territory Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch) and commonly referred to simply as Territory Labor, is the Northern Territory branch of the Australian Labor Party. It has been led by Selena Uibo, the first Aboriginal woman to lead a major political party in Australia, since 3 September 2024.
Nipper Winmarti also recorded as Nipper Winmati was a Pitjantjatjara man who worked as an Aboriginal tracker at the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park where he was also recognised as a traditional owner. Winmarti worked as a tracker following the death of Azaria Chamberlain in 1980 and believed that baby Azaria had been taken by a dingo; he was the only Aboriginal tracker to give evidence at the first inquest.
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