SS Koombana, 1912

Published

5 October 2022

Last Updated

7 December 2022

Ship

SS Koombana

Country of origin

Australia

Built

1908

Rig

Single-screw Steamship

Tonnage (gross)

3668

Port Departed

Port Hedland, Western Australia

Port Destination

Broome, Western Australia

Wrecked

20-21 March 1912, north of Port Hedland

History

Koombana was a luxury steamer that was purpose-built by the Adelaide Steamship Company for the north-west Australian coastal passenger and cargo trade. The ship was fitted with modern amenities such as refrigeration and electric lighting, reflecting the success of the region’s rapidly growing pearling and pastoral industries.

Koombana worked the ‘Nor’-West Run’, transporting passengers, livestock, and cargo between Fremantle and Wyndham, with stops at Geraldton, Denham, Carnarvon, Onslow, Cossack, Port Hedland, Broome and Derby. The cyclone season between November and April, large tidal range (up to nine metres) affecting northern ports, shallow port entrances, poor port infrastructure, and tight schedules made it a challenging route. In three years of service, Koombana scraped sandbanks, ran aground several times, struck a reef, and had two onboard fires.

Steam ship trailing from the ship's funnel.

Postcard showing Koombana
State Library of Western Australia, YC43

The loss of Koombana, and the subsequent withdrawal of the Adelaide Steamship Company from the north-west coastal trade, led to the establishment of Western Australia’s State Shipping Service, which would have a significant influence on the development of the north-west throughout the 1900s.

Shipwreck

At about 10:30am on 20 March 1912, Koombana departed Port Hedland, commanded by Captain Tom Allen. The ship was transporting about 157 passengers and crew, and a small cargo to Broome. SS Bullarra, another Adelaide Steamship Company vessel, departed shortly after. Bullarra was commanded by Captain Harry Upjohn and bound for Fremantle via Cossack and other coastal ports.

Koombana at Port Hedland jetty, 1909.
Royal Western Australian Historical Society | State Library of Western Australia, 024282PD

Both ships encountered a heavy north-easterly gale and mountainous seas from a severe tropical cyclone in the area. Bullarra barely survived, passing through the eye of the cyclone, and limped into Cossack. Koombana, however, was lost; believed by many to have capsized in the storm.

After Koombana was well-overdue its arrival in Broome, other vessels were sent out in search of the missing ship. At first, there was still hope that Koombana may have just been disabled or run far out to sea to avoid the cyclone. However, when searchers found and recovered widely scattered pieces of wreckage from the ship, such as a door, cushion, and boards from a lifeboat, it became clear that the ship and all lives had been lost. Despite the extensive searches, no one was able to determine even an approximate location for the wreck site.

Many of Koombana’s passengers were members of influential colonial-settler families from the north-west. The impact of its disappearance has made it one of Western Australia’s most enduring maritime mysteries.

Factors contributing to the wreck

Cyclone

In the days leading up to 20 March 1912, the weather had been very hot. Experienced pearl divers working in the area warned that bad weather was imminent, based on the underwater conditions. By 20 March, the winds had picked up in Port Hedland; pearling luggers were moved up the mangrove creeks and people bolted up their houses in preparation for the expected storm¹. When Koombana left Port Hedland, Captain Allen had noted the low barometer, but both he and Captain Upjohn decided there ‘was nothing in it’². Officers of Bullarra later reported the rapid onset of the storm as ‘indescribable, the wind driving from the raging and foaming sea spray like a snowstorm, which mingled with the clouds’³.

Koombana’s route near Bedout Island was ‘dreaded by seamen’ under ordinary strong wind conditions⁴, due to the hazards presented by land and reefs. Once out on the ocean, Captain Allen would have had little choice other than to take the course that led Koombana into the cyclone.

Court of Marine Inquiry

A Court of Marine Inquiry into the loss of Koombana was held in Fremantle. Despite limited evidence and witness testimony, the Court determined that the cyclone was the sole factor in Koombana’s total loss at sea. They conducted several tests into the ship’s stability, factoring in the type and stowage of cargo, ballast, water and stores aboard, and the number of people. The Court was satisfied with Koombana’s stability, seaworthiness, and construction, as well as Captain Allen’s conduct⁵. The decision effectively exonerated the Adelaide Steamship Company of any blame or responsibility for compensation to the families of those lost, angering many in the north-west community.

The findings were disputed at the time⁶. Some claimed that the court had not duly sought enough evidence regarding Koombana’s stability (specifically in relation to cyclones), and that the Court of Marine Inquiry should have been held in Port Hedland to hear evidence from locals. Eye-witness accounts of Koombana’s departure varied from what was reported in the Court. Locals asserted there was much greater awareness about the severity of the impending storm and that the ship’s condition was impaired when it left Port Hedland. To clear the sandbank at the entrance to Port Hedland harbour, Koombana’s water ballast tanks were only partially filled. Ships without enough ballast sit higher in the water and are at greater risk of capsizing in rough weather. Once out of the harbour, it would have taken time to pump the ballast tanks full, leaving the ship unstable in the increasingly dangerously weather and sea conditions.

Poster for a Koombana Memorial concert, 1912.
State Library of Western Australia, 3542B/162

Searches for Koombana

Several attempts to find Koombana’s final resting place have been made over the decades. In the mid-1960s, the ‘Koombana Search Group’ formed and conducted a three-day search for the wreck. This was followed by an aerial magnetometer survey by the Royal Australian Air Force in 1985, arranged by the ‘Koombana Search Group’. The survey detected one significant magnetic anomaly, which further investigation showed to be a geological feature.

The Port Hedland Regional Maritime Historical Society (formerly the ‘Koombana Search Group’) persisted with other attempts in the late 1980s. In 1987, a ship-based magnetometer survey was carried out by Associated Surveys, and in 1988 a further aerial magnetometer survey was carried out as part of the United States’ National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) ‘Project Magnet’, flown by a PC-3 Lockheed Orion of the US Naval Oceanographic Office. However, the surveys failed to find any targets that could be Koombana.

In May 2011, a target of interest was located when Fugro Surveys carried out a ship-based side scan sonar survey aboard MV Limitless. They followed up using a multibeam echo sounder aboard MV Southern Supporter in December 2011. They found the target was potentially a cultural feature, but not of a size consistent with Koombana’s hull.

WA Museum expeditions, 1989-2021

1989

In 1987, David Tomlinson contacted the WA Museum believing he may have found Koombana. Tomlinson was the owner of a private research vessel, RV Flamingo Bay, and he had learned of Taiwanese fishers coming across an obstruction in deep water off Port Hedland. Days later, his claim was supported by Mich Barron of the Commonwealth Fisheries Department, who had been aboard both the fishing vessel and Flamingo Bay. Given the interest of other parties in the location of Koombana, such as the Port Hedland Regional Maritime Historical Society, Tomlinson formally reported the find to the WA Museum, stating ‘all information gathered on site clearly indicates a wreck of similar size to Koombana’.

The depth of the reported site (75 metres) precluded SCUBA diving. Specialist equipment was used for the expedition, including a satellite position-fixing system, remote operated submersible vehicle (ROV) with camera, echo sounder, and side scan sonar. Flamingo Bay was provided in-kind for the expedition, which was undertaken in March 1989. Unfortunately, the side-scan sonar survey revealed that the obstruction did not have the bulk or continuity that would be consistent with Koombana, and the ROV footage showed the feature to be an abandoned oil rig well head covered in fishing nets.

2020-2021

In 2020, Brett Ellacott approached the WA Museum about a computerised drift model he had developed to refine search areas for marine search and rescue operations in the Port Hedland area. Ellacott had used the program to develop a new search area for Koombana. By inputting the locations where Koombana flotsam had been picked up, along with current, weather, and wind factors, he was able to determine an approximate area that the flotsam could have derived from. The process and findings were peer-reviewed and determined to be sound, and the data was analysed by Bill Peters from Southern Geoscience Consultants and the WA Museum.

The Museum commissioned an aerial magnetometer survey to cover a 20 x 50 kilometre search area, which was undertaken by Thomson Airborne between 20 and 27 March 2021. The survey was funded by the WA Museum, the Commonwealth Underwater Cultural Heritage Program, Mr Torsten Ketelson, Pilbara Ports Authority, Mr John Rothwell AO, Surrich Hydrographics and Marine Geophysics, Foundation for the WA Museum, Minderoo Foundation, and Tan Ninety.

Unfortunately, the survey did not find any magnetic targets that could be Koombana, however, an extensive area of seabed can now be positively discounted from any future survey efforts.

Brett Ellacott

Aircraft flown by Thomson Airborne Geophysical Survey to conduct the aerial magnetometer survey, 2021.
Credit: Brett Ellacott

Back of prop plane with long stinger attached.

Brett Ellacott

View of the stinger equipped on the aircraft, which houses the magnetometer sensors.
Credit: Brett Ellacott

2021

Between 30 May and 7 June 2021, WA Museum archaeologists participated in a search for Koombana, as part of the Disney+ documentary series, ‘Shipwreck Hunters Australia’, in collaboration with Terra Australis Productions and VAM Media. The team conducted boat-based magnetometer searches in areas offshore from Port Hedland where there was possible evidence of shipwrecks.

Several locations of reported underwater ship-like features were provided by Annie Boyd, Koombana researcher and author of Koombana Days. The sites investigated were based on sightings by airline pilots, flying between Port Hedland and Broome, when the water was clear. Another search area was based on an unusual seafloor feature with a curved edge and steep drop, which had been seen on an echo sounder by Ash Sutton while on a voyage between Broome and Port Hedland. Lastly, there was also a search area based on archival records. During Bullarra’s search, the crew reported seeing an oily, greasy slick, north of Bedout Island and not far off Koombana’s route. Unfortunately, no magnetic targets were located during the expedition, though these areas can now be confidently excluded from future searches.

Through research, and targeted surveys and fieldwork, the WA Museum will continue to work with partners to search for Koombana. If you think you have found a new shipwreck, please report it to the WA Museum using the online notification form.

Learn about the other wreck sites featured on 'Shipwreck Hunters Australia'.

References

¹The Hedland Advocate, 6 April 1912, p. 5

²West Australian, 11 May 1912, p. 6

³The Hedland Advocate, 6 April 1912, p. 5

⁴The Hedland Advocate, 6 April 1912, p. 5

⁵West Australian, 11 May 1912, p. 6

⁶The Sunday Times, 19 May 1912, p. 9.

Departments

Maritime Heritage

Keywords

Shipwrecks