RATTUS RATTUS

Bedout Island was inhabited (still is) by predominantly two species of ground-nesting sea birds:

Common Noddy

Very common on Bedout Is., but numbers apparently fluctuating, the birds usually returning in May and laying towards the end of the month (at least in 1901, 1968 and 1972, but evidently not in 1975 or 1979), only 12 birds and no nests seen in Oct. 1949.

Masked Booby

Largely confined to the vicinity of Bedout Is., occasionally wandering well out to sea (e.g. up to 20 roosting at night on buoys at Goodwyn A Birds of the Pilbara 361 oil platform (130 km NW of Karratha) in Aug. and Sept. 1994). Breeding (400 pairs) on Bedout in March–May and Oct. Present day recovery figures.

'These species spend most of their lives at sea, ranging over large distances to forage over the open ocean.'

Circa 1912, there was a significant black rat population on Bedout Island, only eradicated by the early 1990's.

'Rats are a menace to this species where present.'

'Invasive rats are some of the largest contributors to seabird extinction and endangerment worldwide.'

Bullarra search:

"on the 27th inst.(March), but found no trace of any

thing. She spoke to some pearling boats,

but they had seen nothing. At half-past 9

o'clock the same night the Bullarra was off

Bedout Island. The light there was not

burning. At 5.30 the next morning the chief

officer was sent ashore, and he searched and

found no trace of wreckage. The light

house is unattended. The glass was

found to be not encrusted which showed 

that the island did not meet the full force 

of the gale."

At 9.30 p:m. the Premier (Mr. Scaddan)

received the following cable message from

the resident magistrate at Broome:--"Bullarra 

arrived here at 4 p.m. Captain reports having 

left Hedland on March 27 at 2 p.m., and 

circumnavigated Little Turtle Island; no trace 

Koombana. The chief officer landed at Big Turtle 

Island at 3 p.m.: no trace. Reached Bedout 

Island at 9.40 p.m. Light out. Anchored and 

landed 5.30 a.m.; searched island and adjacent

rocks, but no traces whatever. Do not think 

blow was severe at Bedout. The glass in the 

lighthouse is not crusted, and there are no 

indications of a disturbance. Made a detour 

across to Broome via the beach, but not the 

slightest trace. Spoke to several luggers."

6 April, 1912, 17 days after Koombana departed Port Hedland, and 10 days after the Bullarra had visited Bedout, the schooner 'Muriel' commanded by Broome Wharfinger, Captain Dalziel, arrived to fix the light which was STILL out.. 

There were suggestions that Bedout Island was strewn with maimed and dead birds.

Given the facts as they stand I am skeptical about this given that there was a significant black rat population on Bedout and the two species of birds were ground nesters, there could not have been a population great enough to provide dead and maimed birds strewn everywhere.

Furthermore: 

17 days after the event is a very long time for maimed birds to remain alive, particularly given the existing predators.

These birds range the sea great distances, foraging for food. Injuries might have taken place a great distance from Bedout (southwest within the range of the cyclone) and the birds returned to the island to recover or die.

No, I don't think there is enough circumstantial evidence to assume that Bedout Island was directly hit by the Balla Balla cyclone.

In fact if one peruses Dalziel's hand-written report (see below) there is absolutely no mention of maimed or dead birds!!! He only refers in detail to getting the light going again!!  

rattus rattus

courtesy State Records Office, Western Australia

  

  

    

courtesy Trove

http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/WAM_Supp78(B)_JOHNSTONEetal%20pp343-441_0.pdf

https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00859.x

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18254849

DEPARTING PORT HEDLAND INTO CONTROVERSY.

In 1983 a forum was convened by Malcolm Barker to explore details of the Koombana disaster. During the course of presentations Mr. Barker drew attention to a report which appeared in the "Hedland Advocate", 6 April, 1912. 

It claimed that Koombana left Port Hedland, 10.30 a.m. 20 March, followed by the Bullarra, one hour later (11.30 a.m.).

The Inquiry alleged that Koombana left Port Hedland roughly 10.20 a.m. and Bullarra followed 20 minutes later; Captain Upjohn being within visual distance to comment on Koombana's performance crossing the bar into open sea.

Which of the two reports is more likely to be true?

The above image illustrates Bullarra and Koombana midday, 20 March, according to a cattleman eating his midday meal on deck. The two vessels were 5 miles apart, stern on to each other, 3 miles offshore. 

If Bullarra had followed an hour later, 11.30 a.m., within half an hour she could only have achieved a maximum of 3 miles - negotiating exiting the port; aiming for a starting point 3 miles offshore before ultimately setting a course heading SW, for Balla Balla.  

This scenario is highly unlikely given the cattleman's account.

Bert Clarke, who was tasked to give the signals from a tower near the entrance to Port Hedland, watched Koombana for two hours. He alleged that she rolled and pitched and seemed to be in difficulty from the outset. 

It took in excess of two hours to attempt filling all tanks. Captain Upjohn, at the Inquiry, quoted that it could take 3 to 3 1/2 hours to fill just two tanks, in a port setting!!

There is an opinion that Bert Clarke was misguided in his assessment and what he actually witnessed was Koombana heading a little east of north, 'sagging off' but making significant progress while filling tanks.

For the two steamers to have been stern on to each other, midday, 5 miles distant, implies that Koombana's heading was actually NE, and NOT slightly east of north (Bullarra heading southwest). If Koombana had made gradual progress during the course of one and a half hours, she would logically have been at least 4 miles further to the northward by midday, a total of 7 miles from Port Hedland.

If we are to carry this logic through, it implies that Bullarra only covered about 3 miles by midday and the two vessels relative to one another were NOT stern on to each other, but rather, Koombana on the former's starboard quarter, in order to achieve the 5 miles separation distance.

Tackling this conundrum from another more practical point of view, it would have been ill-advised in a ground swell from the northwest and a half gale from the NE to attempt filling tanks while making progress.

It makes far more sense (witnessed by Bert Clarke) that Koombana was roughly stationary 3 miles out, bow into the gale, while attempting to fill tanks.

Captain Allen gave the game away in his words by suggesting that he did not think it likely they would make the noon spring tide at Broome the following day. In addition to anticipating a slower cruising speed given conditions, he knew that it could take 3 to 3 1/2 hours to fill tanks, making NO progress!

Reference:

Koombana Days, Annie Boyd.
Malcolm Barker Forum transcript, 1983

courtesy Google Earth.

WHY DID PEARLERS NOT DISCOVER THE WRECK?

"silver-lip pearl oyster specie, Pinctada maxima."

 "All share the common feature of being located on the seabed with underlying rock."

Typical seabed substrate for oysters:

 "a variety of sponges are present on the bottom.  Other fauna present include soft corals, sea pens and crinoids. No hard corals are generally present."

Broome:

"By 1910 there were nearly 400 pearl lugger boats and 3,500 people in the industry supplying up to 75% of the world output of MOP. Production reached 2000 tonnes (approx. 2 million individuals) of pearl oyster collected per year (Malone et al., 1988)."

"Pearl oyster fishing grounds are located from the Lacepede Channel, north of Broome down to Exmouth Gulf in the south."

courtesy Wikipedia

"Pearl oyster patches in very deep water (>30m) are not fished at all as the safety factor does not allow an economical dive time limit." Present day.

Period (circa 1912) anecdotes:

"The Diver was working in about 19 fathoms of water remaining down 1 hour ."  35 m.

"The powers of the natives in diving, especially the females, are spoken of as something wonderful, they go down to a depth of seven fathoms [c.13m] and remain below a time that astonishes their white employers."

 "The Pearl Oyster Fishery, which targets the Silverlipped Pearl Oyster (Pinctada maxima) 
comprises both wild-caught and hatchery-reared oysters. Diving for pearl oyster wild stock 
occurs mainly along Eighty Mile Beach, ideally in water depths less than 20 m"

Captain Upjohn's coordinates (according to the link below) are roughly in a stretch 43 to 66 m 
deep, the seabed predominated by sand and scattered patches of coral. Shells are scarcer in 
this zone further out and too deep for pearl divers of the past or present. It stands to reason 
that if Koombana lies in this vicinity, she is too deep and beyond the rich oyster beds to have 
been accidentally discovered by pearlers. 

The same cannot be said for the stretch of sea between Port Hedland; Bedout Island and 
Condon. The wreck would have been found by now if she lay there.... 



Important update:

https://koombanarevisited.blogspot.com/2019/08/coordinates-conclusion.html

courtesy:

http://fishing-app.gpsnauticalcharts.com/i-boating-fishing-web-app/fishing-marine-charts-navigation.html?title=Western+Australia+-+Solitary+Island+to+Bedout+Island+boating+app#10/-19.1480/119.6439

https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/489e726d-1763-4007-8139-32d824d5b55d/files/application-2013-appendix2.pdf

https://www.bhp.com/-/media/bhp/regulatory-information-media/iron-ore/western-australia-iron-ore/0000/main-document/persection6bexistingmarineenvironment.pdf

A pearling Master's Journey - Norman.

Wikipedia

COORDINATES CONCLUSION.

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.

courtesy i-boating

courtesy i-boating, navigation charts.

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:

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.

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.

courtesy:

https://3denergi.com.au/projects/offshore-bedout-wa/

Courtesy Trove; Google Earth.

http://fishing-app.gpsnauticalcharts.com/i-boating-fishing-web-app/fishing-marine-charts-navigation.html?title=Western+Australia+-+Solitary+Island+to+Bedout+Island+boating+app#11/-19.1354/119.4410

CATTLEMAN AND COORDINATES.

Geraldton Guardian, 30 December, 1926

It was 40 years after that I had my next 

encounter with a willy. This was in

March 1912, while en route from Port

Hedland to Fremantle with cattle on

the s.s. Bullara.

The Koombana Willy.

On March 20, 1912, the ill-fated

Koombana at 10.20 a.m. cast off her

moorings at Port Hedland, and put out

to sea, bound for Broome. Twenty

minutes later the Bullara followed suit

— there was an overcast sky and half a

gale blowing from the E.N.E. I noticed 

as we were leaving the port that some 

half-dozen pearling luggers were making 

their way up the creek, evidently to a more 

sheltered anchorage, and hearing the 

officers in charge of the watch remark 

that we were running out three miles, 

I gleaned that something was expected. 

I subsequently learnt that the glass was 

extremely low, 28 something. Anyhow, I 

had not much time to waste, as my mates 

and self were busy in the lower forehold, 

fixing up arrangements for feeding and 

watering the stock. When we came on

deck for the midday meal, the Bullara

and the Koombana were stern on to

each other, and the distance apart being 

about five miles. As I glanced towards her, 

little I thought I would be one of the last to 

see her afloat. After lunch, while having a 

smoke, looking ahead, I noticed away on 

the starboard bow and just above the horizon, 

a dense mass of inky black clouds and

from descriptions I'd had from old pearlers, 

I was convinced we were in for it. 

The cattleman's observation is crucial to our modern day understanding of the cyclone system's movements. It is claimed that the cyclone had stalled some 130 miles offshore to the 'north' of Bullarra's position, midday, 20 March (18 20 S, 117 40 E). This was impossible, not least of all due to the fact that the cattleman observed the mass of clouds to the west (starboard bow of Bullarra heading southwest), NOT to the north. Furthermore, Bullarra ran into the 'hurricane' 22 miles from Balla Balla. How could then a system 130 miles to the north not have affected Balla Balla and Hedland equally (same radius), which was never the case? 

Furthermore, the reference to running out three miles meaning an anticipation of storm conditions defeated all Captain Upjohn's attempts at the Inquiry to play down the weather, with comments such as 'nothing in it'. The truth must out.

We were down amongst the cattle again fixing up, 

when at 4.30 p.m. Captain Upjohn called 

out to us to look out as she was going to roll.

As he was going to heave-to, we came up

on deck At 6 p.m. you could not pull

yourself along the deck, and at midnight, 

the funnel blew out and lay across the saloon 

deck. We then got a stockless anchor over, 

and 120 fathoms chain to help keep her head 

on, and though without a funnel, steam

was kept up and the engines going

their darndest. One would have thought

to see the smoke rising out of the saloon 

deck that the ship was on fire.

Well it. was 4.30 p.m. the second day

when the wind veered into the south

west and soon died out. We were then

60 miles off Point Sampson. The cable

and anchor were hauled in and we

headed for the Point, dumping dead

bullocks the whole way. What a gruesome 

sight greeted us when we went among our 

cattle, particularly those between decks. 

In one pen of six, five were dead. We arrived 

at Point Sampson next morning and were 

surprised to hear that the Koombana was 

missing and further that they only had a stiff

blow at the Point, loosening some of

the whaling pieces and girders. Here

we got material for a jury funnel, and

after a two days' stay, went back in

search of the Koombana.

Balla Balla.

We are the Bullara called at all ports

on our way up to Port Hedland, including 

Balla Balla, De Pugh, the port where 

copper ore from Whim Creek is

shipped. At the time of our arrival

there were two sailing ships loading.

They were the square rigged ship.

Crown of England. and the barque

Concordia. The ore was taken off the

lighters. The Bullara was due back

there to pick up 27 passengers at 6

p.m. on the first day of the willy. It

was at Balla Balla that the Willy hit

the land. The Crown of England was

blown on the rocks of De Pugh Island,

and within an hour only a few of her

ribs were left protruding out of the

water, and ten out of eighteen, of her

crew were drowned. The Concordia was

also wrecked, but her hull was salvaged

and towed to Fremantle and is now

doing duty as a coal hulk. The whar-

fingers, with three passengers in a 

motor boat, waiting to come onto the

Bullara on her arrival, disappeared, and

nothing was found of them again. Several 

miles of telegraphic wire were blown down 

and communication was cut off. We proceeded 

on our way in search of the missing steamer on 

to Broome, where we transferred what

was left of the cattle onto the Gorgon;

I joining that vessel also. It was this

boat that picked up a state room door

that was floating about 25 miles off

Redoubt (Bedout) Island. There was 

also some other wreckage in the form of 

several pieces of panelling floating about 

in the vicinity of the door. Soundings were

taken and a depth of 50 fathoms recorded. 

'Captain Townley, of the Gorgon, reported on arriving 

here to-night, 25 miles north by west of Bedout Island,

we sighted a white panelled piece of wood. Stopped and

picked it up. The description is : Panelled door, painted

white, one side has been polished. The other fittings

were marked with crossed flags, and Walker and Hall in

brackets, and ornamented with a Grecian urn. The

door had apparently been forced off by pressure, as both

handles on the white side were gone, and on the reverse 

side had been driven in.' 

The stateroom door was discovered at S 19º 10' E 119º 06', according to the Gorgon log. This position is almost due north of Bedout Island, 24.5 miles. The depth at this location is in the region of 42.6 fathoms (78 m) rather than 50 fathoms.

What is most interesting is that Captain Townley of the Gorgon had no trouble establishing where he was relative to Bedout Island. His coordinates were a mere 0.5 miles out (24.5 vs. 25 miles).

Why Captain Upjohn estimated between 27 and 28 miles from Bedout Island for the oil patch does not correlate with his coordinates, 30 miles from Bedout . Why? Iron ore in the bedrock interfering with compass readings??

See Coordinates Conclusion post for further discussion. 

It was not always straight forward establishing coordinates for positions in the vicinity of Bedout Island as illustrated by the widely varying coordinates for the island itself between 1864, James Martin; earlier charts and the 1912 coordinates, as per the Government Gazette - less than 0.5 mile deviation.

courtesy Trove and Google Earth.