A VOICE FROM KOOMBANA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpLMvUAgNNM         (courtesy You Tube)

An extraordinary interview with a gentleman reminiscing about his time on the Nor'West and his passage by and opinion of RMS Koombana. Bear in mind that characterizations expressed are period-related and do not necessarily represent contemporary views.

In terms of timeline, Koombana began service on the Nor'West run early 1909, and Mr. Bennetts travelled on her some time in 1910. His final association with Koombana appears to have been mid 1911 when Koombana sustained plate damage after a collision. It was at this time that he alleged that one of the crew declared Koombana to be the most dangerous ship on the coast; essentially top heavy and liable to capsize in cyclonic conditions. 

Koombana disappeared off Port Hedland during the Balla Balla blow, March 1912 and I agree that Koombana was very likely top heavy when she headed north from Port Hedland into the unknown.

RMS Koombana - courtesy Wikipedia.

CYCLONE ILSA

With respect to finding the wreck of RMS Koombana I have consistently held the view that the site will approximate an oil patch / slick discovered by Captain Upjohn late 2 April, 1912, almost a fortnight after Koombana went missing. Note that an oil slick was used to locate the wreck of the Derbyshire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Derbyshire) and Clan Ranald, 1909. The exact location of the oil patch was dependent on Captain Upjohn's coordinates which were susceptible to period calculation errors. We have his broader guidance of 27 to 28 n miles northeast of Bedout Island. 

Wreckage was discovered approximately at the same time, a fortnight later, in various locations (see image below) including an awning spar and one of the planks in close proximity to the oil patch (not marked on image). In order to substantiate a theory that the oil patch marked the location of the wreck it could be postulated that the distribution of wreckage supports a starting point in the broader vicinity of this oil patch - a current, post cyclone, predominating in a generally westward direction (see a previous post, Analysis of Wreckage Distribution).

 

1. Stateroom door; painting stage; small pieces of board. SS Gorgon  
19 10 S, 119 06 E

2. Motor launch starboard bow plank (with insignia). SS Bullarra   
19 15 S, 119 06 E

3. Small wreckage; (life) boat tanks; lifebelts; panel from saloon / smoke room ceiling. SS Bullarra

(see: https://koombanarevisited.blogspot.com/2019/11/sufficient-warning.html) 
19 15 S, 119 06 E

4. Bottom board from (life) boat; white painted board. Lugger McLennan.  
19 22 S, 119 05 E 

5. (life) boat mast and small wreckage (rising from bottom). SS Una   
19 07 S, 118 53 E

6. Miscellaneous wreckage. SS Una  
25 miles NW Bedout Island. 

7. Miscellaneous wreckage. SS Una.  
28 miles NW Bedout Island.

(see https://koombanarevisited.blogspot.com/2019/10/captain-rantzau.html)

8. Cabin paneling. Lugger Mina.  
19 30 S, 118 55 E

9. Smoking room cushion; cabin door. SS Minderoo.  
19 36 S, 117 53 E 

10. Straw envelopes (Leech's fortune). SS Minderoo and SS Gorgon.  
55 miles NNW Port Hedland.
(see:  https://koombanarevisited.blogspot.com/2019/11/sufficient-warning.html)

11. Bottom boards (lifeboat); drawer; small teak panel. SS Minderoo.  
19 32 E, 118 09 S

(courtesy Annie Boyd)

I have taken a closer look at the most recent Cyclone Ilsa which made landfall between Port Hedland and Wallal Downs, a cyclone very similar in size and behaviour to the Balla Balla Cyclone of 1912, albeit north not south of Port Hedland. My intention is to document the daily surface currents in the vicinity of Bedout Island over a period of roughly a fortnight (when wreckage was first discovered, assumed to be rising from the wreck, as absolutely no wreckage was discovered during extensive searches prior to this) and observe whether a generally westward trending current in the vicinity of Bedout Island does in fact follow a direct cyclone hit in the Pilbarra during the late cyclone season of March and April.

We shall see.....

Cyclone Ilsa path, north of Port Hedland,

Diameter, roughly 100 miles, similar to size of the 1912 Balla Balla cyclone.

courtesy The Age
https://www.theage.com.au/national/western-australia/cyclone-ilsa-live-updates-wa-coastline-to-be-rocked-by-category-5-cyclone-red-alert-imminent-20230413-p5d06k.html

13 APRIL - Bedout Island is roughly where the two 'll's' of Wallal Downs appear on the graphic. Note the predominantly westward surface current trend in the broader area. This is prior to cyclone Ilsa moving in.

Shipping cleared in path of Cyclone Ilsa (late 13 April)

courtesy VesselFinder.

14 APRIL - as Cyclone Ilsa made landfall between Port Hedland and Wallal Downs, note the distinct changes in the surface currents. Bedout Island experienced a record sustained wind speed of 218 km/hour.

15 APRIL - 1 day post cyclone - a distinctly counter, 'northeastward' trending surface current in the vicinity of Bedout Island.

16 APRIL - westward current around Bedout Island, 're-established'.

17 APRIL - unchanged, westward

18 APRIL - unchanged.

19 APRIL - unchanged.

20 APRIL - unchanged.

21 APRIL - unchanged.

22 APRIL - unchanged.

23 APRIL - unchanged.

24 APRIL - unchanged.

25 APRIL - unchanged.

26 APRIL - still generally westward current, but 'further out'.

27 APRIL - as above - general westward trend persists.

28 APRIL - unchanged.

29 APRIL - unambiguous, westward trending surface current.

In conclusion it appears that there is a generally westward trending surface current post cyclone that persists for up to a fortnight and which, more importantly, supports a flotsam drift theory with Captain Upjohn's oil patch as the starting point.

courtesy:

Google Earth

http://www.bom.gov.au/oceanography/forecasts/idyoc300.shtml?region=NWWA&forecast=SSTCur

CAPTAIN HARRY UPJOHN THE MAN AND THE KOOMBANA DISASTER.

 

Sunday Times, Perth, 21 April, 1912.

The Bullarra's Fight With

the Cyclone Fiend.

- One of the marvels of the late 

disastrous cyclone on the North-West

coast was the way in which the

steamer Bullarra came through the

fierce ordeal, and a talk with the man

who commanded her in that battle

with grim death is an experience.

Like all brave toilers of the sea,

Captain Harry Upjohn is modest and

therefore reticent. One has to tap

him.

"Look here," he protested. "I'd rather

not be Interviewed. I can't tell you

much," ...

If ever there was a loaded statement it was this. Captain Upjohn had a lot to share about the disaster (see link below of full Inquiry interview). He was in fact the key witness in terms of Koombana's departure from Port Hedland into uncertainty and he was the master who discovered the smoking gun, wreckage from Koombana associated with an oil patch, the outline of which indicated the spot where the wreck lay. His 'protest' strongly suggests that he was under advisement not to discuss too many details with the press. 

Why?

https://koombanarevisited.blogspot.com/2019/09/revelations-and-contradictions.html

...so the penman urged him on the tack.

"Did I speak the Koombana off Bedout 

Island. Oh! no. We were both in at Hedland

- I left about 20 minutes before the Koombana, 

(the other way round, Koombana left ahead

of Bullarra) which steamed away easterly, while 

the Bullarra went westerly. Of course I saw the 

Koombana for a couple of hours - could see

the ship as well as her smoke. She had not

passed Bedout, which is, under ordinary

circumstances, somewhere about four

hours out from Hedland."

(averaging 12.5 knots)

There was no cyclone then?

"No. The weather was threatening but

nothing to cause alarm. About 5 p.m.,

however I found the conditions had

become so bad that I put out to sea on

the starboard tack."....

There is a tremendous amount of information yielded from the above extract, despite Captain Upjohn's protestations. It is critical to understand that Koombana was in sight for about two hours around noon (filling tanks) off Port Hedland. Koombana headed in a generally northeast direction for Broome and Bullarra in the opposite direction, southwest for Balla Balla. The weather was threatening, 'but nothing to cause alarm'. Bullarra ran into the cyclone around 5 p.m. (about 22 miles from Balla Balla) and Koombana could not have done the same thing heading in the OPPOSITE direction.

See details of the storm in the following post: 

https://koombanarevisited.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-storm.html

CAPTAIN Who brought the the great UPJOHN, Bunarra through cyclone. _HelAbou..."The cyclone continued' throughout

..."the cyclone continued throughout the 

night, and you can imagine us

drenched and battling with the fury of

wind and water. All deck fixtures, the

boats, and my cabin were bashed

about, and the bridge was damaged.

But the worst was experienced on the

next day between noon and 2 o'clock,

when the cyclone seemed to be lashed

into wild fury, and to be actually trying 

to smother our efforts to keep

the ship afloat."...

..."We had 12 more hours

of it, for there was no sign of slacking

off until about midnight on Tuesday."

You must have been in the swirl of

the tempest?

"A good deal of the time. But in

between we were in the centre of the

cyclone. The wind was calm, while

the sea rose in great pinnacles that

toppled over on top of us. It was a

nasty sea. After the calm the wind

came from the west-south-west, and

the immense rolling seas swept over

us as before."...

Bullarra experienced the centre of the cyclone and survived.

...You didn't see anything of the

Koombana on the way up?

"No, although we kept a sharp look-

out. Of course we went out from

Broome to search for the missing

steamer. Subsequently I had a special 

area allotted to me, and I found

a quantity of wreckage, including

part of the bow of the motor launch

which was on the Koombana."...

By this stage in the evolution of post-disaster circumstances Captain Upjohn said absolutely nothing about the oil patch discovery, its coordinates and the effort to secure a significant number of bottles of the oily water for analysis. It was clearly NOT information he was inclined to share. 

Why?

...Say, captain, would you have had

any better chance if you had stayed

in Hedland?

"The policy is to put out to sea, like

the captain of the Calliope at Apia in

Samoa. If we had stayed and got 

destroyed, people would have said, 

why didn't they go out?"

And therein lies the crux of the matter. It was 'policy' to face storms out at sea rather than in port. Captain Allen was between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Being reluctant to go out one might assume his priority was more for human life than the ship itself.

Suppose you are a bit proud of the

Bullarra?

"She is a fine sea boat one of the

best. She has proved that by living

through that inferno."

Your crew?

"Worked splendidly. They are good

men, every one of them. Like the boat

they have had their test, and have

stood it. By the way they wouldn't

leave the Bullarra now for any other

ship on the sea. They are in love with

her." 

Rather sentimental revealing that Captain Upjohn was ultimately a sensitive soul, placed in very difficult circumstances and whose job was at stake with a company less than forthcoming with the truth.

Well, captain, good men and a gallant 

ship want a leader in a crisis.

"Oh! there are plenty. We are having the 

steamer thoroughly overhauled. Good-bye.

I must go down and see her."

Captain Upjohn died in 1945.

Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales, 01 June, 1945

EE will (and codicil) of HARRY UPJOHN, late of Yetholme,

retired steamship captain, deceased.—Probate granted by

Supreme Court of New South Wales on 20th February, 1945.—

...the executrix and executor of the will of the said Harry Upjohn

who died on 1st "July, 1944, hereby give notice 

—Dated 28th May, 1945. F. B. KENNY & SON & BAILLIE, 

Proctors for the Executrix and Executor, Rural Bank Chambers, 

William-street, Bathurst. By their Agents,—Jennings & Jennings, 

Federal Mutual Chambers, 129 Pitt-street, Sydney.

courtesy Trove

Captain Harry Upjohn.

courtesy Trove

FURTHER WRECKAGE?

Geelong Advertiser, 15 April, 1912. 

KOOMBANA WRECKAGE FOUND.

Perth. Sunday.-Further wreckage

consisting of air-tight copper tanks, has

been found 151 miles from Broome, 

between Wallal and Bedout Islands. It is

believed by mariners that the tanks are

parts of a boat belonging to the missing

steamer, Koombana.

We know that three copper air-tight tanks from Koombana lifeboat(s) were found between Solitary Island and the coast during this time frame. Could the tanks referred to in this report be one in the same thing or were these additional, and thus spreading and expanding the distribution of wreckage discovered?

 

courtesy Trove and Google Earth.