Post by hi224 on Mar 11, 2019 4:30:10 GMT
In my previous post on the SS Waratah, AlfrednTheFetuc brought this story to my attention because the cases were very similar, after reading the story, I decided to make this post.
The SS Koombana was a 340 foot long mail carrying steamship launched in 1908 by the Adelaide Steamship Company. On the morning of March 20, 1912, the SS Koombana and the SS Bullarra left Port Hedland for Broome, Australia. The Koombana's captain reported a failing barometer and said that the voyage may take longer than they had expected, but the captain of the Bullara assured them that it wasn't a big deal and the two ships left. Several hours later, the pair of ships ran into a north eastern cyclone and the two ships became separated. The Bullarra was damaged and managed to make it to Cossack, eventually returning to Hedland without her smokestack. During the storm, several ships were severely damaged and sunk, and the Koombana is presumed to be one of them.
On April 2nd, worry grew as the Koombana hadn't shown up yet and a search party was assembled consisting of several steamships that sailed through debris looking for evidence of the Koombana, but all they found were some air tanks, a state-room door, two wooden planks that covered tanks on lifeboats, a panel from the promenade deck, and a wooden plank for a motor launch from the Koombana's starboard bow. None of the 74 passengers nor 76 crew members were found.
Many commentators said that the Koombana was top-heavy and had a narrow bottom and wide top which made her very unstable and prone to capsizing, so the main theory is that the Koombana capsized in a storm and sank.
The only supposed wreck found was in 1973 when what looked like a large ship was found between Broome and Hedland, but the wreck could not be confirmed and has been lost.
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Koombana
www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2014/03/18/3966466.htm
noaahrd.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/105th-anniversary-of-the-ss-koombana-disaster/
bunbury2015.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/the-ss-koombana/
The SS Koombana was a 340 foot long mail carrying steamship launched in 1908 by the Adelaide Steamship Company. On the morning of March 20, 1912, the SS Koombana and the SS Bullarra left Port Hedland for Broome, Australia. The Koombana's captain reported a failing barometer and said that the voyage may take longer than they had expected, but the captain of the Bullara assured them that it wasn't a big deal and the two ships left. Several hours later, the pair of ships ran into a north eastern cyclone and the two ships became separated. The Bullarra was damaged and managed to make it to Cossack, eventually returning to Hedland without her smokestack. During the storm, several ships were severely damaged and sunk, and the Koombana is presumed to be one of them.
On April 2nd, worry grew as the Koombana hadn't shown up yet and a search party was assembled consisting of several steamships that sailed through debris looking for evidence of the Koombana, but all they found were some air tanks, a state-room door, two wooden planks that covered tanks on lifeboats, a panel from the promenade deck, and a wooden plank for a motor launch from the Koombana's starboard bow. None of the 74 passengers nor 76 crew members were found.
Many commentators said that the Koombana was top-heavy and had a narrow bottom and wide top which made her very unstable and prone to capsizing, so the main theory is that the Koombana capsized in a storm and sank.
The only supposed wreck found was in 1973 when what looked like a large ship was found between Broome and Hedland, but the wreck could not be confirmed and has been lost.
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Koombana
www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2014/03/18/3966466.htm
noaahrd.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/105th-anniversary-of-the-ss-koombana-disaster/
bunbury2015.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/the-ss-koombana/