HAS NOT REACHED HER DESTINATION.

It is unclear who the author of the following document was or the date. But it is clear that it must have been written shortly after Koombana failed to arrive at Broome.

The following is a transcription:

"I have to report that the N.W. mail steamer "Koombana" left Port Hedland on the 20th inst, at 11 a.m. bound for Broome but has not reached her destination. Up to the present nothing has been heard of her but she was observed by the Master of the "Bullarra" for two hours after leaving Port Hedland to be steaming in a N.E. direction, a gale blowing from the E.N.E. at the time. At 4 p.m. on the same day the "Bullarra" being 50 miles to the westward of Port Hedland encountered a cyclone and stood out to sea for 70 miles, reports referring to which have appeared in the press. At noon on the 21st inst. the "Bullarra" reports that the centre of the cyclone passed in her vicinity and on the 23rd she put into Cossack Roads in distress, where she has been lying affecting temporary repairs."

It is interesting that this early in the sequence of events Koombana was reported as having left Port Hedland at 11 a.m. not 10.20 a.m., which implies that Bullarra would have followed at 11.20 a.m.. which was clearly impossible given that Bullarra was 5 miles from Koombana by noon, having followed her out to 3 miles offshore - total of 8 miles steaming in 40 minutes. Bullarra was a 10 - 11.5 knot steamer, certainly not averaging 12 knots from the get go. I think this unlikelihood confirms that Koombana sailed at 10.20 a.m..

In this report the gale was blowing from the E.N.E. which differs from later accounts referring to N.E.. This might be a matter of semantics but is important in two respects:

- it WAS a gale, which would have made the filling of ballast tanks extremely challenging and quite possibly not entirely successful.

- Koombana steamed initially northward which means that she would have had the gale on her starboard, creating challenges from the get-go.

50 miles west of Port Hedland is in the vicinity of Balla Balla where the brunt of the cyclone made landfall. For Bullarra to have achieved this feat, from a position 5 miles to the west of Koombana at noon, by 4 p.m., she would have to have averaged 11.25 knots, which was possible with a gale behind her, but unlikely.  Log recorded Bullarra steaming 10 knots during this time frame. In fact other references refer to slowing engine and standing out to sea 22 miles from Balla Balla at 4.20 p.m..

Details in reports varied and it is our task to scrutinise each and every one in order to approximate the most plausible scenario(s).

courtesy State Records Office, Western Australia, series 2357, cons 066