THE CONVERSATION THAT MATTERED.

Westralian Worker, 2 February, 1923

KOOMBANA ECHO

A TALE WHICH POINTS TO A MORAL.

Although it is nearly eleven years

since the the Koombana was wrecked

during a cyclone on the Nor"-West

coast, interest is still being taken in

that ship.

A few weeks ago a skipper on the

Nor"-West run reported having struck

an obstacle which he believed to be

the hulk of the Koombana. Perhaps

an effort will be made to ascertain the

truth or otherwise of the captain's

theory.

A writer in the "Harbour." a New

South Wales publication, gives some

interesting history about the wreck.

He says that on March 21, 1912, the 

captain of the ill-fated vessel, while at 

Port. Hedland, going north, had a 

consultation, with the captain of the

Bullarra, which was also at Port Hedland, 

on her way south.

"The gist of the conversation has

never before been published," says

"Harbour," but this is what took

place:—

Captain Allen Koombana: "I do

not like the look of the weather. 

Captain Upjohn; what do you intend 

doing?"

Captain Upjohn (Bullarra): "I have

made up my mind to go out and your

boat is a far better one than mine."

Captain Allen: "Well, if you intend

going out, I do not suppose it will do

for me to stop here."

That settled it; both boats put out

to sea. The Koombana was lost, and

the Bullarra received a terrific buffeting, 

but managed to weather the storm.

If Captain Allen had used his own

judgment, the probability is that he

would have remained at Port Hedland

until the blow was over. On the

other hand if he had stayed at Port

Hedland and there had not been a

cyclone, the company would most 

likely have censured him. When a ship

stays in port, every hour means money.

Captain Allen's devotion to the Adelaide 

S.S. Company cost him his life, and the 

lives of all who were at that time committed 

to his care.

Under Socialism, captains of steamers 

would be given to understand at all

times that profits were a secondary

consideration, human life paramount.

A final political statement underscoring a fatal error of judgment on the part of Captain Allen.

Cyclone Veronica - courtesy BBC

Note that more than 3 months later, it had not been established what in fact the steamer Bambra struck.....

Courtesy Trove.

KOOMBANA WRECK FOUND?

Tambellup Times, 21 October, 1922.

Koombana Wreck Located

A message from Darwin states that,

when steaming quietly along in the

smooth sea between the mainland and

Bedout Island in 66 fathoms of water,

Western Australian State steamer

Bambra, which arrived at Port Darwin

on October 3, suddenly struck an 

obstacle. Her bow rose up and the 

vessel slid along with a grating sound, 

and then fell again. The stern dropped 

with a plunge so heavy that water splashed

right up into the scuppers. When she

first struck the Bambra rolled so heavily

that it was feared she would roll right

over. An examination of the hull afterwards, 

when high and dry, revealed no damage, 

and it became evident that she had not 

struck an uncharted rock. The incident 

caused considerable comment, and a 

diver on a pearl lugger volunteered the 

information that at the exact spot some 

time ago he was diving for pearl and 

came upon the hull of a steamer.

There can be little doubt that the wreckage 

is that of the Koombana, which is the only

large vessel lost on this coast, the position 

of which has not been located. The warship 

Geranium is to make a search in the locality.

One may safely assume that nothing came of the search by the warship Geranium. 66 fathoms is 120 m which is certainly beyond the reach of a pearl diver and causing damage to even the deepest vessel afloat. 

It was more likely to have been 66 ft. which is 20 m, a depth seen between Bedout Island and Amphinome Shoals. Submerged steamer wreckage was notorious for causing major damage. However, a patch of sandy shoal was the mostly likely candidate for this encounter of the 'startling' kind. 

Amphinome Shoals - courtesy State Library of Western Australia

An extract from the following excellent link provides further clues. It appears that HMAS Geranium did NOT go to investigate the 'obstruction' as reported. Why? Not justified?

http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-geranium

With this task complete the ship headed back to Darwin arriving on 1 October.

While in Darwin her men were required to assist with disembarking coal, into bunkers ashore, from the fleet auxiliary collier Biloela on the 5th. Biloela's civilian crew had gone on strike and refused to work with members of the Northern Territory Workers Union who conducted wharf operations. Geraniumprovided men as guards on the wharf and her stokers operated the colliers boilers to provide steam to power Biloela's winches; and this allowed the unloading of coal to go ahead. Biloela's crew did not interfere with the unloading and stated they had no grievance with naval men taking their places as "it was the King's coal and the crew of Geranium were the King's men" (Brisbane Courier 6 October 1922).

The matter however did not rest there as 30 of Biloela's seamen and stokers (known as fireman) were dismissed from the ship and Commander MacKenzie was required to supply some of his men to take the collier back to Sydney. Biloela's deck and engineer officers remained on board but the colliers cooks refused to feed the Geranium sailors forcing MacKenzie to provide cooks as well as seamen and stokers to the hapless ship. Biloela departed Darwin on 9 October and arrived back in Sydney on the 20th. Geranium sailed from Darwin on 15 October and steamed south via Thursday Island, Cairns and Lady Elliott Island arriving in home port on 21 November 1922.

Barrier Miner, 3 April, 1912.

BEDOUT ISLAND.

Bedout Island, where the wreckage

was found, is almost on the direct

route of steamers travelling between

Port Hedland and Broome, being a

few miles to the west of the regular

"track." Vessels steer wide of the

presence of "foul ground" there. The

Amphinome Shoals lie between 

Bedout Island and the Mainland. The 

fact that the wreckage was not discovered

earlier might have been on account of

the steamer having foundered in deep

water, and did not break up sufficiently

to release much wreckage until the

last few days.

Entirely in keeping with my belief that Koombana will be found in the vicinity of the 27.5 mile mark, within the steamer track between Hedland and Broome, in deep water.

For Koombana to have escaped detection in relatively shallow waters for over a century seems extremely unlikely.

Courtesy Trove and Google Earth.

ANALYSIS OF WRECKAGE DISTRIBUTION.

Wreckage was first discovered in the form of two copper air tanks (from lifeboat(s)) on North Turtle Island, 25 March, by Mr. Daniels of lugger Gloria Violet. The majority of wreckage was discovered between 2 and 5 April, a fortnight after the disaster. The final discovery during this time frame, also copper air tanks from lifeboat(s), mid April, is outlined in the following report: 

The West Australian, 17 April, 1912.

THE KOOMBANA.

A STATIONOWNER'S REPORT.

Mr. W. E. Moxon, manager of the 

Adelaide Steamship Company, received 

information yesterday to the effect that a Mr.

Thompson, a station-owner in the North

West, had reported that some of his natives

had picked up three copper air tanks, which

had evidently come from one of the life

boats of the Koombana. The tanks were

found on the sandy beach connecting 

Solitary Island with the mainland, slightly to

the north of Amphinome Shoals.

Three sets of air tanks, originating from the wrecked Koombana's lifeboats, were discovered close to the coast, comprising 3 widely spaced (100 miles) geographic locations:

13. North Turtle island
14. Solitary Island. 
15. 14 miles south of Port Hedland 

There is no specific pattern apart from the air tanks having been subjected to the "set-in of the tide" -  Captain Clark, formerly Chief Officer of the Koombana:

"the wreckage had been borne landwards 

by the set-in of the tide, which always 

followed on a severe blow in the

Fix this textnorth-west."

One might anticipate such an outcome given the buoyancy factor associated with air tanks and variable surface wind forces.

Alternatively the Solitary Island discovery could point to what drover Olive saw on the night of 20 March.

Daily Commercial News, 14 May, 1912

The company had received a report 

from a magistrate at Broome that a 

statement had been made by a drover 

named Olive, that on the night of March 

20, when he was at Boyer's Camp, 30 

miles north of Condon, at about 8 or 9 p.m. 

he saw two rockets go up in the direction of

N.W. There was a hurricane blowing at 

the time. 

From a position on low cliffs roughly 46 ft. above sea level, he claimed to have seen two rockets in the direction of the northwest. Veracity of this account depends on reasonable visibility and the rockets rising to a significant altitude.

It is possible that at least one lifeboat got away safely from the sinking Koombana and these rockets were fired from it, which might explain why copper air tanks from such a lifeboat ended up at Solitary Island; a direction contrary to the sites of the other two sets of air tanks. 

Could it have been Koombana in the position of the two rockets rather than  a lifeboat ?

The vicinity of the rockets is riddled with shoals, notably the Amphinome Shoals and is relatively shallow. If Koombana grounded or foundered in the vicinity, surely the wreck would then have been readily discovered by fishermen, spear fishermen and pearl divers through the decades?

The distribution of the bulk of wreckage does not favour this site, particularly with the set-in of the tide referred to. (see second image and discussion below).

Against the veracity of drover Olive's account is the fact that during the night of 20 March and thereafter, the 'hurricane' was to the south of Port Hedland, not north. 

Let us return to the distribution pattern of the bulk of wreckage discovered.

Important to note that wreckage was found in close proximity to the Upjohn coordinates for the oil patch:

Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney) 14 May 1912.

They had taken the specimens produced 

in court at this spot. An awning spar and

one of the planks exhibited in Court had

also been discovered in close proximity.

Other articles were picked up about 20

miles from that spot (marked 2 and 3

on graphic below).

27.5 miles represents 30 fathoms, 20 miles from wreckage 2;3.

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

North of Bedout Island the prevailing current generally flows in a westward direction - Holloway Current (100m).

By my deduction, the distinct cluster of wreckage drifted from east to west and it is suggested that the starting point was somewhere in the vicinity of Captain Upjohn's oil patch coordinates - the site of the wreck of RMS Koombana, further substantiated by the above report reference to a spar awning and one of the planks found in close proximity to the oil patch.

In this instance, the heavier, waterlogged items do not appear to have been significantly influenced by variable, prevailing winds, as were the light and buoyant air tanks.

note extent of Balla Balla cyclone

Long after the disaster, discoveries were still made:

12. Submerged bilge section 150-200 ft.. SS Bullarra, mid July, 1912.  
20 10 S, 118 03 E

16. Saloon seat and ladder. Schooner Queenie Alice, July, 1913. 
Between Forestier and Depuch Islands.

17. Second stateroom door. Pearler, Sholl Island, 1930's.

It is clear from this pattern that over time wreckage drifted inshore, further down the coast (not up the coast).

The Sun, Kalgoorlie, 31 March, 1912.

TELEGRAMS

THE UNSUCCESSFUL 

SEARCH

PERTH, Saturday.

Five steamers have been searching

all the week for signs of the missing

steamer Koombana, have discovered 

no trace. Turtle Islands, Bedout Island 

and Ninety-Mile beach have all been 

carefully examined without success. 

The steamer Minderoo, which left Onslow

for Cossack on Thursday last is now 18

hours overdue. Some optimistic people

regard this as hopeful, thinking she may 

have the missing steamer in tow, but the 

general feeling now is that the Koombana

went down during the recent cyclone. The 

search is being still continued.

The report emphasizes that during the initial two weeks after the disaster, no wreckage was discovered. This suggests that wreckage was released after some delay from the sunken wreck rather than immediately due to battering hurricane-force winds. 

The following extract illustrates the Pilbara current trend associated with Western Australia cyclonic events such as the Balla Balla Blow:  

'alongshore propagating cyclones are responsible for simultaneously generating both strong wave‐induced sediment re-suspension events and significant southwestward subtidal currents. Over the 2 year study period, two particular cyclones (Iggy and Narelle) dominated the sediment fluxes resulting in a residual southwestward sediment transport over the southern part of the shelf. By analyzing results from a long‐term (37 year) wind and wave hind cast, our results suggest that at least 16 tropical cyclones had a strong potential to contribute to that southwestward sediment pathway in a similar way to Iggy and Narelle.'

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017JC013518

11 March, 2021, cyclone Seroja devastated Kalbarri, Western Australia. 

To support my assumption that the bulk of Koombana wreckage drifted generally westward (west-southwestward in some cases) from an assumed starting point of the Upjohn oil patch, I looked at daily surface currents data for the Pilbara to correlate with a post-cyclone model for time of year, such as that outlined above.

The following images document this data as per dates reported.

17 April, almost 1 week after cyclone Seroja: -

Port Hedland is located halfway between 118 E and 119 E.
Bedout Island, 35 miles south of the 19 S line, is roughly where the 'LL's' of Wallal appear on the graphic.

Generally, the currents trend westward and southwestward.
There are no indications of an eastward trend except for a single outlier in latitude 19 S, well beyond the range of Koombana wreckage coordinates.

17 April, zooming in: -

The current trend between Port Hedland and Bedout Island is unambiguously westward.

(Bedout Island is roughly where the  'LL's' of Wallal are marked on the graphic)

19 April: -

The same pattern persists, the area directly north of Bedout Island demonstrating a clearly southwestward trend.

No indication of an eastward current trend.

20 April: -

The southwestward trend north of Bedout Island remains unchanged.

21 April: -

The consistent, westward trend supports my initial assumption that Koombana wreckage drifted uniformly from east to west.

23 April: -

Unchanged.

24 April: -

Unchanged.

26 April: -

15 days post Cyclone Seroja, the current trend both north and south of Bedout Island is consistently westward. 

3 May: -

In fact, 22 days post cyclone Seroja, the trend remains unaltered!!

'Captain Mills, of the steamer Minderoo, 

is inclined to the belief that the ship was 

lost in the vicinity of Bedout Island.'

 

Captain Mills picked up the smoking room cushion, among other items, some 55 miles to the west of Bedout Island. His contention that Koombana lay in the vicinity of Bedout Island confirmed the fact that the current carrying the wreckage trended southwestward.

The following extract (one of many period experiments conducted) illustrates the significance of prevailing currents' relationship with drifting objects. The distances in this extract are roughly 3,000 and 1,150 miles respectively; the prevailing current in question being the Southern Ocean Circumpolar Current from west to east:

 

Daily Telegraph, 19 January, 1911.

BOTTLES FROM THE PERICLES

HOBART, Wednesday. — Fishermen have

picked up two bottles containing current charts,

which on December 26 and 31, 1908, were thrown

overboard from the steamer Pericles, which was

wrecked off the West Australian coast. A peculiar 

feature about the find is that the bottles were thrown 

overboard with an interval of five days between each 

and they were found within five or six miles of each 

other on the South Tasmanian coast.

https://koombanarevisited.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-grim-reminder.html

Thanks to Annie Boyd for contributing to wreckage data.

courtesy Trove; Google Earth and:

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

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#9/-19.8374/119.6892