REMEMBERING THE DISASTER.

The Sun, Sydney, 4 October, 1922.

KOOMBANA WRECK

Tragedy of Ten Years Ago

LOSS OF 170 (157) LIVES

Terrific Coast Gale

While steaming on a smooth

sea between the mainland and

Bedout Island, in the north, the

steamer Bambra struck what is

believed to be the remains of

the steamer Koombana.

A tantalising possibility, finally the discovery of the wreck of Koombana, 10 years later. 

However, the Geranium naval steamer was tasked to go to the site and confirm the story. This did not materialize. Koombana remains illusive.

A little over ten years ago every

body was asking: "Is there any news

of the Koombana?". She left Port

Hedland on Wednesday March 20,

1912, with 170 (157) souls aboard. 

On that day a terrific gale— a willy willy

— raged along the north-west coast. 

The cyclone commenced on the 

Wednesday night and continued till 

the Friday morning. During that time 

nine inches of rain fell.

"Koombana" was on everybody's lips

for several days. Then came the 

message that a smoking-room settee 

and a red cushion had been found near

Bedout Island. That was followed

by the announcement that all hope

had been abandoned. Several days 

after memorial services were held in

churches and a relief fund was opened.

WHAT MARINERS THOUGHT

After the finding of the wreckage,

mariners were convinced that the

Koombana went down near Bedout 

Island. But, as with the Waratah and

Yongala, and other ill-fated vessels,

the relatives of those on board did not

give up hope till the very last. And

sailors who know that part of the

Australian coast, were not surprised

that there were no survivors. "No

person could have lived in such a sea

for five minutes," they declared, "and

the vicinity of Bedout Island is noted

for the existence of myriads of sharks."

When the Koombana was three days

out the relatives of the unfortunate

passengers and crew were heartened

by a message that she had got back to

port. But that was due to the over-

anxiety of a telegraph line repairer

outside Port Hedland, who reported

that the Koomabana, flying signals of

distress, was about to enter the port.

The steamer proved to be the Bullarra,

which subsequently rendered great

assistance in the vain search for the

Koombana.

"SHE WILL TURN UP"

Right on top of the telegraph lines

man's story came another cheery mess

age — "Evidently the Koombana missed

the full force of the gale, for her safe

arrival at Derby, some distance north

of Broome, is announced." Unfortunately, 

however, both messages proved inaccurate, 

and the Bambra has, it is believed now, 

passed over the Koombana at the very 

spot where ten years ago a veteran 

north-west coast captain said she had 

gone down.

Right up till the time the wreckage

was found the agents were hopeful.

"She is such an admirable seaboat,"

they said, "and the master is such a

careful mariner, that we have every

confidence she will turn up safely."

The Koombana was the plaything of

the cyclone. Old mariners were emphatic 

on that point. She was battered to pieces

- that was indicated by the tattered and 

torn state of the wreckage.

ALMOST FORGOTTEN

Then for a week or two the man in

the street remarked "That's the last of

the Koombana." And so many things

have happened since that the Koombana 

was almost forgotten until a few days ago, 

the Bambra struck her and rolled so much 

that it was feared she would turn right over 

and find a resting place alongside the fine 

vessel of 4400 tons that has evidently been

there for over a decade.

But the Koombana was not altogether

forgotten, because when she went down

she took with her 170 (157) of our own kith

and kin, leaving behind the memory of

a tragedy of the sea.

There have been many tragedies of

the sea during the last ten yours, and

especially during the war period.

Many fine ships were mined — others

torpedoed. But that we could understand

although we were shocked we were not 

staggered. But when at our very doors a 

vessel with many precious lives aboard 

is swallowed up and leaves hardly any 

trace behind— not one solitary survivor 

to tell the story — words fail us. . . .And 

then, as time goes on and disaster 

succeeds disaster we forgot the Koombana. 

But ten years ago almost everything else 

was forgotten. . . . Today we are reminded 

of the tragedy of March, 1912— and we 

understand.

SS Bambra - courtesy Flotilla Australia.

Mirror, Perth, 29 March, 1930.

 In the loss of the Koombana not 

one of her 130 (157) passengers 

and crew was ever seen again. 

She disappeared with all hands.

The Koombana was lost in one of the

worst cyclones on the Nor'-West coast.

Two other ships, the Crown of England 

and the Concordia, were driven ashore 

off Depuch anchorage, eight men off the 

former being drowned. Scores of luggers 

were wrecked and three well known men 

who were to have been Crown witnesses 

in a murder case were drowned when the 

lighter in which they were waiting to be 

picked up by the s.s. Bullara was 

overtaken by the storm. Altogether the 

death roll — apart from the 130 on the 

Koombana — amounted to over 40. 

The Koombana had been on the coast

for two (3) years. She was of 4399 (3668)

tons, well equipped, could do 15 knots, 

and was recognised as one of the best 

boats on the coast. She left Port Hedland 

for Broome at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 

March 20. There was

A GALE BLOWING

then and she was rolling heavily as she

left the anchorage, her captain having

decided not to fill the ballast tanks till

he crossed the outer bank. 

As recalled, 10 years later, there was a gale blowing and Koombana, in very light condition, was 'rolling heavily'. These are the salient, correct facts which stuck in the collective memory.

At 1 p.m. she was sighted by the Bullara, 

which left Port Hedland for the south half 

an hour after her. But she was never seen

again.

Captain T. M. Allen's farewell

words as he prepared to sail out

into the storm were strangely

prophetic: 'I'm going straight

out to sea.' he said, 'and I'll be

lucky if I get to Broome on 

Saturday.'

Again absolutely no ambiguity about departing into a storm and anticipating a rough time of it.

He never reached there. For days the whole 

State waited anxiously for news. Shipping men 

generally

WERE OPTIMISTIC.

One authority, Captain H. C. Clarke,

said that 'properly handled the Koombana 

would live in any hurricane.' And

an engineer who had weathered some

rough weather in her described the ill

fated vessel as 'the best sea boat I

ever sailed in.'

After a few days of anxious waiting

a systematic search was begun, the

Premier (Mr. Jack Scaddan) and the

Prime Minister (Mr. Andrew Fisher) 

cooperating with the steamship 

companies in the hope of piercing the 

veil of mystery. But their efforts were 

unavailing. The coast was scoured by 

luggers and the Bullarra, Gorgon, Minderoo,

Moira and Una kept a close watch for

signs of the missing vessel.

On April 3 the Gorgon found some 

small wreckage and the door of a stateroom.

The discovery was made 25 miles west

by north of Bedout Island, the searchers 

being directed to the spot by the presence 

of numbers of birds. 

Flocks of birds at sea were generally associated with the presence of bodies after the loss of a ship. No bodies, however, were ever officially discovered. 

The Koombana was the only boat on the

coast with staterooms and on receipt of

the news the manager of the Adelaide

S.S. Co (Mr. W. E. Moxon) counselled

people to resign themselves to the

thought that the Koombana

HAD BEEN LOST.

The stateroom door was subsequently

identified as belonging to the stateroom

facing the port side entrance to the

music saloon.

The next discovery was made by

Capt. Mills of the Minderoo, who found

a smokeroom settee, and red cushion,

part of a cabin drawer and the bottom

boards of a boat between 50 and 70

miles west of Bedout Island. And on

Friday. April 5, the 'West Australian'

announced 'All Hope Abandoned.' A

fund for the relief of sufferers was

opened by the Mayor of Perth (Mr. T. G.

A. Molloy) and services were held in

all the churches.

Later the Bullara (Captain Upjohn)

picked up the bow of a boat 20 miles

north of Bedout and a quantity of

greasy and oily water was seen. 

And nothing more on that important subject, then and now.

The Una picked up a mast from one of, the

ship's boats, and a cabin panel and air

tight copper tanks were discovered on

the coast about 150 miles from Broome.

Beyond these traces the Koombana had 

become one of the mysteries of the

sea. She

HAD DISAPPEARED

as completely as had the Yongala of

the same line off the Queensland coast

exactly a year before. Some people still

say she was top-heavy. But to some

every steamer that has more than one

deck in its superstructure is carrying

too much top hamper. It is felt, however, 

that she either struck a reef or was 

overwhelmed by the seas somewhere 

in the vicinity of Bedout Island and sank 

with all hands.

And when some days later the

'Old Bull'— as the Bullara was

known — limped into Fremantle

with her funnel blown away and

temporarily replaced by a wooden

box, her superstructure damaged

and her boats smashed in, those

on the waterfront wondered that

any ship could live out the hurricane 

the 'Old Bull' and the Koombana

encountered.

Bullarra on the left and Koombana on the right, towering over the older steamer - courtesy wikipedia

DOOMED DESIGN?

Daily Commercial News, 9 April, 1912.

THE LOST KOOMBANA.

A Terrible Disaster.

It is only too evident that the fine

steamer Koombana has been lost. 

She was a fine vessel in every way; 

indeed, a most staunch ship, and that 

she should meet her end in weather 

that other vessels passed through, 

crippled but safe, might cause some 

surprise.

This is a loaded paragraph, echoing words from the official Inquiry: 

'a most staunch ship'. 

However, the author juxtaposes the accolade with 'surprise' that other vessels came through intact, with pointed reference to the ageing Bullarra minus her funnel. 

Still, it is the fortune of the sea. 

Acknowledging the unknown.

Really, considering the strength of the hurricane 

and the experiences of other vessels, such 

as the Bullarra, Uganda, etc it is marvelous

that the losses were not greater. But, the 

strange part of this hurricane and a number 

of others where loss has occurred in recent

years is that almost new vessels have

been lost, whilst older ships fought their 

way to safety.

Now the gloves were off, the author attacking seaworthiness of new vessels. 

It was so with the Waratah, again with the 

Yongala last year, and now the Koombana

and abroad the same coincidence has been

noticed. It is remarkable that it should be so, 

and opens the old question of whether the 

advance of marine architecture may not have 

something to do with it. 

Blatantly questioning the science of progress.

Vessels are built to-day with top hamper unheard 

of a few years ago, which has given rise to the 

remarks so often  heard, no doubt, but the most 

careful investigation and experiments have not 

proved the idea dangerous.

Deferring skeptically to 'careful investigation and experiments.'

As to the question of stability generally,

coupled with that of safety at sea, an

interesting paper read by Professor

W. S. Abell, M.I.N.A., professor of naval

architecture at Liverpool University,

recently (and which appears in to-day's

issue), shows that, with the strides

made by marine architects, great 

consideration has been shown, and every

care exercised. Yet these fearful disasters 

occur repeatedly. 

The author questioned the expertise bluntly; 'yet these fearful disasters occur repeatedly'

Truly it is difficult to understand, the only 

certainty about them  being that they 

happen all to frequently, and cause general 

sorrow.

RMS Koombana (ANU archives)
Koombana was in a league of her own when it came to inherent top heaviness.

TSS Waratah

SS Yongala

However, there were a great number of similarly 'modern' steamers with significant top hampers which operated successfully in all conditions over long service periods. 

Ballasting was the key word, ensuring stability and seaworthiness. Sometimes ballasting was overdone, as in the case of Waratah, creating a new set of problems, but that is another story and blog:

SS Indarra

SS Assaye

SS Morea

SS Dongala

SS Falaba

The West Australian, 13 April, 1912.

STABILITY OF SHIPS AND

LAWS OF STORMS. 

- To the Editor.

"Sir, now I that the missing Koombana

may certainly be listed as lost, like the

Waratah and Yongala, the travelling public

might very well be interested in studying

for themselves the simple proposition of 

stability in ships. This proposition lies buried

in scientific jargon as far as the man in the

Street is concerned, and can easily be 

demonstrated in ordinary language. 

It is a long time since Archimedes proved. 

that a floating body is exactly the same 

weight as the water it displaces. A steamer, 

with whatever cargo or ballast she may 

have in her, is exactly the same weight as 

the water she displaces. The water she 

displaces is what would fill the cavity her 

weight and shape impose below the water 

line or surface of the water. Exactly in the 

centre of this cavity, in which the floating 

ship fits lies the vessel's centre of buoyancy, 

and through this centre there acts an upward 

pressure from the sea in its endeavour to 

become level against the weight of the ship. 

When a steamer is floating upright, this 

centre of buoyancy lies midships in a 

vertical line or plane, dividing the vessel 

in two. If one thinks of  a partition being 

built from stem to stern amidships from 

the keel upward, then in this partition lies 

the centre of buoyancy when the steamer 

stands upright, and it lies nearly half-way 

between the keel. and the water line. 

The water line is a imaginary line or plane 

joining, from side to side through the vessel 

the  surfaces of the surrounding sea. Not any

of the painted lines on the hull often alluded

to as the "water line." When a steamer

heels over; that is lists or rolls from side to

side part of her hull comes out above the

level of the sea on one side and another part

sinks further in on the other side. When

this happens the centre of buoyancy changes

position in the hull while always retaining

its position about the centre of whatever

portion of the hull is immersed. Thus, as

she rolls to starboard, it leaves the assumed

partition amidships, moving to starboard,

returning to partition, and then towards

port as she rolls from starboard, through

upright, and then to port.

As before explained, there is always an

upward pressure from the ocean in a 

straight line perpendicular to its level

surface through this moving centre of 

buoyancy and that line always passes 

through a given point in the midships 

partition above it. This point is termed 

the "meta centre" by experts and it will 

readily be imagined that the centre of 

buoyancy swings from side to side like 

a pendulum suspended from it, when

the vessel is rolling at sea.

There is now the centre of gravity, which

everyone nowadays understands is simply

the centre of weight to be considered as it

must readily be realised that a vessel's

centre of gravity depends upon the amount 

of cargo or ballast she may be carrying and

how such is stowed or disposed in her holds.

But once the cargo or ballast is placed, stowed,

or, disposed in the vessel, the centre of 

gravity remains constant, and does not

shift (unless the cargo shifts), like the centre

of buoyancy. If the vessel be stowed properly 

it will be found somewhere in the assumed 

midships partition and at a point below meta 

centre point. The pressure from the weight of 

the ship is always in the direction of an assumed 

plumb line hanging from the centre of gravity point, 

and as the vessel rolls at sea this plumb line or 

direction of pressure swings from side to side

in harmony with the line of buoyancy, exactly 

coinciding when the vessel is upright, and parallel, 

with an increasing distance between them as the 

vessel rolls to one side. 

The degree of stability- that is safety from capsizing 

- depends on the distance of the meta centre above 

the centre of gravity. This distance is termed the meta 

centric height. (GM). The force downward from the

centre of gravity is exactly equal to the force 

upward exerted by the ocean endeavouring to 

get level; and these two forces tend to right the ship 

when the undulations of the sea swing her away

from the upright. The greater the metacentric 

height which is the same as saying the greater 

the safety from capsizing, the more uncomfortable 

the vessel to travel on. The more leverage the forces 
of buoyancy and gravity have the more quickly 
they can right the vessel swaying on the undulating 
surface. Too great safety from capsizing brings about 
other dangers. Sailing vessels with heavy dead-weight 
cargoes have been known to lose their masts and 
strain their hulls to such an extent, in so rolling, their

masts out, that they have sprung a leak and

foundered. 

Iron and such like heavy cargoes have often to 

be stowed in narrow trunkways or on platforms

especially built in the ship to keep her centre

of gravity higher when loaded. When we hear

people say that such and such a vessel is a 

grand seaboat, etc., etc., such a vessel may 

have been very unsafe on that particular voyage, 

her very unsafety contributing to the comfortable 

travelling. 

It may be taken for granted there is very little

difference in modern cargo vessels when

carrying complete cargoes that nearly fill

them. With like loading they may safely

be expected to behave much the same in

similar storms. The common design for such

vessels provides a breadth equal to about

twice the moulded depth below the main

deck,and as there are no passengers

carried there is very little superstructure

above the main deck. When we consider

passenger steamers, however, the tendency

to build additional decks and keep the 

passengers' accommodation all above the main

deck is most noticeable. Everyone prefers a

nice airy cabin to the stuffy ones which were

once the vogue, and all below the main deck.

Here it is an open question whether we are 

not sacrificing safety for comfort and carrying 

capacity. 

The fact that we have had the Waratah,

Yongala, and Koombana mysteries in these 

latitudes during the last three years is sufficient 

excuse for the public requiring some practical

and expert investigation made on their behalf. 

In the case of the Waratah it seems abundantly 

clear, from the evidence given at the Law Courts 

that this vessel was not considered to have 

sufficient ballasting powers when sailing without 

cargo, to counteract the weight of superstructure

supplying the passenger accommodation. She

was to some extent in the same predicament as 

our famous sailing clippers of last century, which 

needed nearly half a cargo of ballast to go seeking 

for cargoes from one port to another. 

When the Waratah was lost she had nearly a 

full cargo on board and whatever her degree 

of stability was when empty, had surely nothing 

to do with her degree of stability when loaded. 

Yet, as far as  the writer can learn, there was 

little or no evidence forthcoming as to the weight 

and disposal of the cargo she had when lost.

In the case of the Koombana there is

considerable food for reflection. She was

probably carrying less than 500 tons of

cargo and:appears to have been engulfed

in the centre of a "willy-willy." It the opinion 

of the writer that the Koombana in light trim 

was not fit to encounter a hurricane centre.

The writer has been caught near a cyclone 

centre off Mauritius in a sailing vessel, and 

remembering how that vessel, although in 

ideal load and trim was.smothered under 

almost bare poles with bulwarks under water 

and hatch comings awash, he cannot conceive 

it possible for a steamer like the Koombana 

in light trim, exposing such an area of 

superstructure to such a force of wind, to live 

through it.

The question is, 'Is it a legitimate risk to send

such a vessel in such a trim into hurricane

latitudes in hurricane seasons?" 

It must be remembered that the law of

storms is getting on towards being an exact

science, with barometers to provide indications

of approach; and with means to indicate the 

vessel's position from the centre and to show 

from collected data the most probable path of 

the centre, a good steamer with an experienced 

and expert master should easily avoid being 

caught. It is a matter of vigilance and judgment

just as is the case with a pedestrian avoiding

motor cars. These remarks are applicable.

to cyclones, typhoons, and other well

known and studied storms, but have we

done our duty with regard.to the Nor'-West

"willy-willy" ?? Is there a published hand

book with information; instructions; and

suggestions as is the case in other 

hurricane parts of the,world for the

safety of mariners. If not, is it not a work 

worth taking in hand at once?

'Yours; etc.,

LONGSHOREMAN.'

Fremantle, April.