CAPTAIN RICHARDSON'S THEORY.

The Argus, Melbourne, 28 March, 1912.

Captain Richardson, of the s s Paroo, who

is one of the most experienced navigators

on the north-west coast, in an interview to-

day, said that if the Koombana's master

tried lo run before the wind on his way

to Broome, he should have been heard of.

As he has not been beard of the indications

are that he decided to "plug through". The

wind and tide would combine to make the

leeway so great that the vessel would 

probably "fetch up" on the Rowley Shoals, 

a treacherous coral reef some 120 miles off

Port Hedland.

The first point to note is that the Rowley Shoals are 185 miles from Port Hedland. Ironically, Captain Upjohn's coordinates for the oil patch are closer to Port Hedland at +/- 92 miles. It strikes me as odd that a master so familiar with this section of coast would get a distance so wrong.

The leeway referred to implies that the wind and tide would have to have predominated from the south in order for Koombana to drift onto the Rowley Shoals. If one examines the extent of the cyclone as per Mr. Stevens of the Commonwealth Weather Bureau (image below), there was no impact on the vast stretch of ocean between Bedout Island and Broome. 

If anything, the wind would have been coming from the northwest and west in the stretch of ocean between the north of Bedout Island and Broome - i.e. the steamer track. This would have 'blown' Koombana further towards the coast and Broome, rather than the reverse. There would have been no 'plugging through', but rather 'running with the wind'. 

It was quoted that at the time the ground swell came from the northwest, further reinforcing this leeway direction.

As it turned out, the Muriel and Gorgon thoroughly searched the vicinity of the Rowley Shoals and nothing at all was discovered. All of the wreckage discoveries were made 100 miles to the 'south'.

I believe we can confidently rule out this theory as a potential site for the wreck of Koombana.

courtesy Google Earth.