SS Yongala was a passenger and cargo ship that sank off Cape Bowling Green, Queensland, Australia on 23 March 1911. En route from Melbourne to Cairns she steamed into a cyclone and sank south of Townsville.
The City of Kwinana is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 118 square kilometres in metropolitan Perth, and lies about 38 km south of Perth central business district, via the Kwinana Freeway. Kwinana maintains 287 km of roads and had a population of almost 39,000 as at the 2016 Census.
SS Georgette was a steamship built in 1872. She is best known, especially in Irish-American circles, for the part played in the story of the Catalpa rescue in April 1876. While the events surrounding her shipwrecking eight months later are dramatic and did capture the imagination of the local press, the ship itself had little effect on the coastal trade. Though heralding the way forward in the change from sail to steam on the long Western Australian coast, like its predecessor SS Xantho, Georgette had a short and ill-starred career and sank soon after its arrival there.
Over 1400 ships have been wrecked on the coast of Western Australia. This relatively large number of shipwrecks is due to a number of factors, including:
SS Koombana was a late Edwardian-era passenger, cargo and mail carrying steamship. From March 1909 to March 1912, she operated coastal liner services between Fremantle, Western Australia and various ports in the northwest of that state. She is best known for disappearing at an unknown location north of Port Hedland, Western Australia, during a tropical cyclone on 20 March 1912, killing 74 passengers and 76 crew; in total, 150 people died.
MV Koolama was an Australian merchant vessel that sank as a result of several attacks by Japanese aircraft in February–March 1942. It was also the centre of the Koolama Incident, an alleged mutiny resulting from these attacks.
SS City of Launceston was a 368 GRT steamship operated by the Launceston and Melbourne Steam Navigation Company from 1863, which had an early role in colonial steam shipping as the forerunner of the modern Bass Strait ferry service between Tasmania and Victoria. It was sunk in Port Phillip Bay after a collision with another ship on 19 November 1865.
Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits, and operates 24 hours a day. It is located adjacent to the city of Fremantle, in the Perth metropolitan region.
The Fitzroy was a steel-hulled steamship built in 1912 at Old Kilpatrick, Scotland in 1912. Thirty-one people were killed when Fitzroy capsized in a gale whilst carrying a general cargo between Coffs Harbour and Sydney off Cape Hawke, New South Wales on 26 June 1921.
The State Shipping Service of Western Australia was a state government transport entity formed in 1912, in Western Australia, primarily to service the ports of North West Australia.
Geffrard was a 321-ton British brig that traded between Australia, Mauritius, and Shanghai, and was wrecked off the coast of Western Australia on 13 June 1875. She was built in 1853 by Fred Clark in Jersey in the Channel Islands. By 1873 she had made her way to Melbourne and was owned by Fred Davis and under the control of Captain William James Munday. Her movements after that were generally around the southern coasts of Australia, from Geraldton in the west to Sydney in the east, laden with a variety of general cargo.
Rockingham is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 47 km south-south-west of the city centre. It acts as the primary centre for the City of Rockingham. It has a beachside location at Mangles Bay, the southern extremity of Cockburn Sound. To its north stretches the maritime and resource-industry installations of Kwinana and Henderson. Offshore to the north-west is Australia's largest naval fleet and submarine base, Garden Island, connected to the mainland by an all-weather causeway. To the west and south lies the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park.
SS Wyola was a 306 GRT steam tug built in 1912 by JT Eltringham & Co of South Shields, England for the Swan River Shipping Company of Western Australia. Wyola was 125 ft (38 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 24.7 ft (7.5 m), a depth of 13.1 ft (4.0 m) and a draught of 14 ft 0 in (4.3 m). Her 179 NHP triple-expansion engine gave Wyola a speed of 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h). She was also fitted with a powerful salvage pump, making her one of the most powerful tugs in Australia at that time.
SS Pericles was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1907 in Ireland for the Aberdeen Line service between Great Britain and Australia via South Africa. When new, she was the largest ship on the route.
The Arpenteur was a brig owned by William Owen and John Ridley. It was wrecked at Hassell Beach in Cheyne Bay near Cape Riche when a gale ran it ashore 7 November 1849.
The SS Atlanta was a wooden hulled Great Lakes steamer that sank in Lake Michigan off the coast of Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, United States, after a failed attempt of her being towed to shore ultimately killing 5 out of her 7 crew members on board. Her wreckage still remains at the bottom of the lake, and on November 6, 2017, the wreck of the Atlanta was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
SS Miowera was a passenger and refrigerated cargo liner that was launched in 1892 in England for Australian owners, and was later owned by two of New Zealand's foremost shipping companies. In 1908 her last owners renamed her Maitai. She was wrecked on a reef in the Cook Islands in 1916.
The SS Trebartha was a 4,597 GRT cargo carrying steamship built in 1920 by John Readhead & Sons Ltd of South Shields for the Hain Steamship Company. She was attacked by German aircraft on the 11th November and sank on the 12th November 1940.
Australia
