S.S. Yongala
Townsville's Titanic

On the afternoon of March 23rd, 1911, the Adelaide Steamship Company's steamer Yongala left Mackay, North Queensland, for Townsville. Later that night she crossed into the path of a powerful cyclone which sent the ship and all 121 of her passengers and crew to the bottom. Forty seven years were to pass before her remains were positively identified. This is the story of the events leading up to the loss and eventual discovery of Yongala, one of Australia's greatest maritime disasters.

Excerpt from the Book:

• Besieged by the worsening conditions Yongala forged her way up the coast, her propeller thrashing about as it lifted momentarily above the waterline. By the time the ship was abreast of Cape Upstart the 24th of March had just began. As Captain Knight stood on the bridge, did he cast his mind back to this exact day, fifteen years earlier, when his master's ticket was cancelled as a result of the Glanworth loss?

  As the minutes passed, Yongala steamed closer to her anchored sister ship off Cape Bowling Green. Each turn of her propeller brought her nearer and nearer to the vortex of the cyclone, which would cross between Cape Bowling Green and Cape Upstart, leaving a trail of terrible destruction in its wake. The strong gale, which had been with her up the coast, became a raging, whirling storm. Had Knight had any thought of seeking shelter earlier in the evening, it was too late now. Unsure of his exact position, aware of the possibility of being so far off course the ship could strike reef of rock, Knight must have realised that his vessel was completely at the mercy of the sea.

The twin boilers of the Gothenburg wreck

A school of mangrove jacks near the bow

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