SS Yongala

Yongala and Cooma is named after two townships in New South Wales, Australia.

En route between Mackay[?] and Cairns[?], it steamed into a cyclone and sank outside Townsville, Australia in 1911. Cooma avoided the force of the cyclone in shelter of the nearby Cape Bowling Green[?]. Yongala would probably not have suffered this tradegy had it had installed a wireless radio that could have warned them about the imminent danger. Ironically Yongala was due for a refit in Cairns, including installing a radio, at the end of its last journey.

125 passengers and crew were on the manifest. Children were usually not included, so the actual numbers was most likely higher. All passengers and crew perished along with a prize bull and a racehorce named 'Moonshine'.

Located as an 'unidentified wreck' during WWII. Rediscovered in 1958 and positivly identified by a serial number on a Chubb[?] strongbox[?] in 1961.

Today, SS Yongala lies in 29 meters of salt water on a flat sandy bottom. Encrusted in coral, it is the habitat of a vast number of fish and other marine species.

SS Yongala is today a major tourist attraction for the dive industry in Townsville.

Only a few boats (2 day trip, and some live aboard) is allowed into the area. To respect the fact that it is a gravesite and to minimize further deterioration of the wreck itself, a strict 'no penetration' policy is enforced. Fishing is not permitted in a 1 nautical mile radius around the wreck and heavy fines apply for breaking the rules surrounding the shipwreck.