This is a particularly precious document. The telegram is dated 6 April, 1912, and details the find that precipitated numerous future searches. It is transcribed as follows:
"Port Hedland 47 3/4 collect Chief Harbourmaster 7
Captain Rantzau, Una, arrived, reports no wreckage Bedout reef, picked up mast & life boat gear, several cabin panels, thirty three miles N N W Bedout, wreckage appears be rising from below, waiting instructions from you, taking water before proceeding further.
Gordon wharfinger
8.40
signature
33 n miles NNW of Bedout Island is:
19 06 S
118 52 E
The official coordinates for this position are:
19 07 S
118 53 E
The difference is 2.2 miles (see image below).
The mast was clearly linked with life boat gear and NOT one of Koombana's main masts.
If the wreckage appeared to be rising from below what other explanation can be offered which excludes this being the wreck site?
It suggests to me that as wreckage rose from the seabed it was caught in the prevailing current which in this region is from east to west. The wreckage in question did not rise completely to the surface and as such came up at a position 33 miles NNW of Bedout Island.
This rationale would also support a model where wreckage only came to the surface some time after setting out on its journey with the prevailing current, precluding earlier discoveries, which was indeed the case.
"Port Hedland 47 3/4 collect Chief Harbourmaster 7
Captain Rantzau, Una, arrived, reports no wreckage Bedout reef, picked up mast & life boat gear, several cabin panels, thirty three miles N N W Bedout, wreckage appears be rising from below, waiting instructions from you, taking water before proceeding further.
Gordon wharfinger
8.40
signature
33 n miles NNW of Bedout Island is:
19 06 S
118 52 E
The official coordinates for this position are:
19 07 S
118 53 E
The difference is 2.2 miles (see image below).
The mast was clearly linked with life boat gear and NOT one of Koombana's main masts.
If the wreckage appeared to be rising from below what other explanation can be offered which excludes this being the wreck site?
It suggests to me that as wreckage rose from the seabed it was caught in the prevailing current which in this region is from east to west. The wreckage in question did not rise completely to the surface and as such came up at a position 33 miles NNW of Bedout Island.
This rationale would also support a model where wreckage only came to the surface some time after setting out on its journey with the prevailing current, precluding earlier discoveries, which was indeed the case.
Or, if conspiracy theories are to be considered, the discovery could have been a hoax to redirect attention away from the Bullarra oil patch find.
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| courtesy State Records Office, Western Australia, series 2357, cons 066 |
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| courtesy Google Earth |
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