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| I believe Koombana lies somewhere within the illustrated radius from central, given coordinates. |
Oil patches were used to localise steamer wrecks.
An example is the Clan Ranald:
https://waratahrevisited.blogspot.com/2016/03/clan-ranald-fascinating-account-and.html
"direct me to the spot where the wreck was sunk,
which he said he knew exactly, having seen
streams of oil rising from her."
Daily Commercial News, 14 May, 1912.
Going back to the question of the
search for the Koombana the witness
(captain Upjohn) remarked that in
latitude 19.11, longitude 119.25, about
27 to 37 miles from Bedout Island, one
evening they saw what looked like a
portion of the deck of a vessel, but it
proved to be the shape of a ship outlined
by an oily substance such as would rise
from a sunken vessel, floating on the sea.
I firmly believe that the above oil patch represented the final resting place of RMS Koombana. Of course the difficulty has been working out exactly where that spot is. There are many examples of historical coordinates notorious for inaccuracies.
Captain Upjohn, according to this press report, was unsure of this exact position, quoting a huge range of 10 miles; 27 - 37 miles.
The 1864 James Martin chart showed a 10.5 mile deviation between the true and charted positions of Bedout Island (see image), which approximates captain Upjohn's 10 mile uncertainty.
This phenomenon, in part, could be due to:
"a number of highly magnetic undersea iron ore bodies."
"These ore bodies are of such magnitude that when the survey vessel HMS Penguin reexamined 19th-century survey reports from HMS Meda, it experienced compass variation of up to 55° and dip to 33° (Lecky, 1920: 30)."
(The Searches for SS Koombana, Kerry Thom)
There is a different way of looking at this conundrum and an important correction to be made.
Captain Upjohn informed the Inquiry that his crew found a section of starboard motor launch bow planking with Adelaide Steamship Co insignia the following day at a position, 19 15 S, 119 06 E. He referred to this discovery being about 20 miles from the 'oil patch'. In reality it was 18.4 miles from his given coordinates, which in turn were 30 n miles (30.67 degrees) from Bedout Island.
"The other articles were picked up
about 20 miles from there."
HOWEVER
'the captain of the s.s. Bullarra had
arrived at Cossack and reported that
he had picked up, about 20 miles to the
north of Bedout Island, one of the Koombana's
boats with the company's crest on it and a
quantity of smaller wreckage." Mr. Moxon
says that the Bullarra did not pick up a
ship's boat, at all, but only the bow of a
boat.'
In reality the launch bow plank was 20 miles north of Bedout Island, correlating with Captain Upjohn's log coordinates (19 15 S, 119 06 E)
Therefore, Captain Upjohn had a far better idea where Bedout Island was in relation to his ship and the various wreckage discoveries than is implied by the quoted "27 to 37 miles".
Why would Captain Upjohn have created confusion by claiming the oil patch was 27 to 37 miles from Bedout Island when clearly it was '30 miles', and yet demonstrate that he was capable of establishing coordinates positions with minimal, if no, deviation?
The answer to this, in part, can be derived from the Inquiry transcript which in turn illustrates the potential inaccuracies in newspaper reporting. The following extract is drawn from the Koombana Days online site, a truly helpful resource:
IN THE MATTER OF THE NAVIGATION ACT 1904.
and IN THE MATTER of an Inquiry into the circumstances attending the loss at sea between Port Hedland and Broome whilst on a voyage from Fremantle to Derby via Ports of the S.S. "KOOMBANA" on or about the 20th March 1912.
April 25th 1912.
BEFORE: E. P. Dowley Esq. R.M. (presiding)
Captain F. L. Parkes ) Assessors.
Captain J. W. W. Yates )
THE CROWN PROSECUTOR (Mr. F. PARKER) appeared to represent the Chief Harbor Master, Captain C. J. Irvine.
MR. MOSS K.C. appeared to represent the Adelaide Steamship Company.
[Upjohn testimony p1]
Mr. MOSS. When you were searching for the wreckage of the "Koombana" did you notice any oily substance floating on the surface?
- Yes.
Please tell the Court?
- It was in latitude 19.11 and 119.25 E.
What distance would that be off Bedout Island?
- About 27 or 28 miles - I cannot say which.
Did you take any samples of this oily substance?
- Yes, two or three dozen bottles.
What depth was there at this place?
- 30 or 35 fathoms. 55 m - 64 m (mean 59.5 m / 195 ft.)
Did you see any trace of the vessel at that depth? There would be nothing to indicate that the Koombana or any other vessel would be there?
- It was getting dark and it looked like the outline of a vessel. The Chief Officer said "It must be one of her decks," I said "No, the decks would not look like that." I could see no more. The engines were stopped and we drifted about 4 miles."
What was the stuff in the bottles?
- Oily, greasy water.
Have you any idea as to how that came there?
- It looked as if it came from a wreck.
There would be stuff on a ship to make this?
- Yes.
Where are these bottles?
- At the Company's office.
We will produce these if desired.
Mr. Dowley. You saw this at dusk?
- Yes.
'It looked like the outline of a vessel' does not come any more graphic or compelling than this!!
Captain Upjohn referred to the oil patch being 27 to 28 miles (not 37 miles). His coordinates, however, indicate a position 30 miles from Bedout island, a greater 2 to 3 mile uncertainty factor.
Why?
Reluctance to be the one pin pointing the site of the wreck of Koombana? Magnetic ore in bedrock interfering with compass readings and dead reckoning?
But Captain Upjohn goes on to answer the most telling question of all,
"what depth was there at this place?"
"30 or 35 fathoms."
If one examines the navigation chart for Bedout Island (see link below), only when plotting a position to the northward of the coordinates, 1.85 miles, bearing 2.55 degrees, does one get an average depth between 30 and 35 fathoms = 33 fathoms; 200 ft.; 61 m.
This region of seabed is predominated by sand.
But the conundrum does not end there...
The navigation chart lists minimum depths (tidal variation, 30 to 35 fathoms) which suggests that we must look for Captain Upjohn's 30 fathom mark in the vicinity of his coordinates. This stretch of sea experiences tidal variations of up to 10 m (+/- 5 fathoms).
When Upjohn made his discovery of the oil patch, dusk 2 April, this was one day after the full moon, i.e. high water springs, which in turn reinforces sounding fluctuations, 30 - 35 fathoms.
30 fathoms is 180 ft (54.8 m).
Referring to the image below we see that there are 3 options for this depth in the vicinity of the original oil patch coordinates, the depth of which is 164 ft. (50 m; 27.3 fathoms).
The far bottom right figure of 180.4 ft. (55m) is 27.5 miles, bearing 45.38 degrees from Bedout Island, which is the closest we get to Captain Upjohn's estimate of 27 to 28 miles from Bedout Island.
The upper 187 ft. mark is 30.9 miles from Bedout Island, which is well beyond Captain Upjohn's 27 to 28 miles estimate and 7 ft. deeper.
The 180.4 ft. mark to the left is only 25 miles from Bedout, short of the 27-28 miles.
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| courtesy i-boating |
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| courtesy i-boating, navigation charts. |
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27.5 miles = 19 15 51 S, 119 26 48 E
25 miles = 19 12 19 S, 119 17 22 E |
If we are to nitpick given that Captain Upjohn's coordinates are basic in terms of omitting 'seconds' we can extrapolate an outer range for the original coordinates with a bias towards the 27.5 mile mark = 1.25 miles deviation.
Therefore, the 27.5 mile mark can be considered to be either 4 or 5 miles from the original coordinates.
"The engines were stopped and we drifted about 4 miles."
What is fascinating is that the bow plank etc discovered '20 miles' north of Bedout Island is 19.7 miles from the 27.5 miles position as per image below, rather than the 18.4 miles to the original coordinates. Captain Upjohn referred to it being 20 miles. He also referred to the bow plank etc. being 20 miles north of Bedout, which it WAS!!
How close can one get!!!!
It does seem progressively compelling that the position marked 27.5 miles could very well be our target of interest - a resting place for the steamer Koombana; a section of seabed predominated by sand rather than coral and shells (not a target for pearlers or incidental discovery).
Also note that the bow plank etc is almost due west of the 27.5 mile mark - within the parameters of the post-cyclone westward trending current.
It is interesting that Captain Upjohn decided to collect as many bottles as 'two to three dozen' stressing the importance of the find and that the bottles, according to the outcome of the Inquiry, stayed at the Company's offices.
No guesses as to why this site, 130 + miles from the centre of the cyclone (90 miles diameter) was not actively pursued by sweeping the vicinity with a 'wire' to confirm the presence of the wreck.
If we take a closer look at the distribution of wreckage discovered (1 - 11), there is further compelling reason to pursue this potential site of the wreck of the lost RMS Koombana:
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| Important to note that Captain Upjohn discovered a spar awning and plank close to the oil patch coordinates, in effect the true starting point. |
Recent vessel activity in the 'zone of interest' has attracted my attention and could, potentially, ultimately, reveal the final resting place of RMS Koombana.
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| During March (2024) there was a great deal of vessel activity in the zone of interest surrounding Captain Upjohn's coordinates (marked one to thirteen on image). According to 'vesselfinder' these were reported as fishing vessels but after some investigation it appears that these vessels were in fact allegedly connected with the gas and oil industry. One hopes that during these activities any sonar anomaly(ies) discovered on the seabed would be shared and possibly, ultimately indicate the final resting place of Koombana. |
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courtesy: https://3denergi.com.au/projects/offshore-bedout-wa/ |
There is a further option depending on the 'steamer track':
The steamer Albany, 1898:
"At noon on Friday Bedout Island was passed about 6 miles out."
If we are to return to speculation, it is generally assumed that if Captain Allen had decided to follow the standard course rounding the northern aspect of Bedout Island, given the gale force winds and long rolling seas coming up from the southwest, he would likely have given the island a sensible 10 mile plus clearance (some say about 9.5 miles).
But what if visibility was still good and the worst of the cyclone was bearing down towards Balla Balla some 100 miles to the southwest, he might have done what was described by the extract above, passing Bedout Island '6 miles' out. The risk factor vs. getting as far away from the cyclone conditions as fast as possible, if you will...
If this hypothetical case is true we might need to review the trajectory from a 6 mile clearance point heading towards Gantheaume Light (Broome). An interesting picture emerges of the steamer track Koombana would have followed before disaster suddenly overtook her.
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| The revised Upjohn quote "27 or 28 miles" could be a significant, 8 miles 'south' of his given coordinates. This is a bearing of 52.26 degrees from Bedout and equates with 53m as per navigation chart. |
If this hypothesis has merit, we are looking at a potential search block significantly further south of the original coordinates - some 8 miles, in 53-63m water, depending on tidal variations.
In fact, the wreck might lie significantly to the south of the presumed track and should be factored into future searches.
In the quest to find Koombana NE of Bedout one must also not lose sight of the possible coordinates deviation factor (James Martin, 10.5 miles further out).
All factors considered one hopes that ultimately a broad airborne magnetometer survey will reveal Koombana's final resting place whether she be intact or a significant debris field.
