Discovery
In the years that followed the disappearance of the Yongala, stories began to surface about a ghost ship, exactly resembling the Yongala, being frequently seen moving in the distance in seas between Bowen and Townsville. By the time of World War II, the loss of Yongala was almost forgotten. In 1943, a minesweeper fouled on what was then thought to be a shoal eleven miles east of Cape Bowling Green. The Captain marked on his chart an obstruction in about thirteen fathoms (24 m), dead on the track of vessels bound for Townsville.
After the end of the war, the obstruction was investigated by the survey ship HMAS Lachlan. She arrived over the area in June 1947 and after several runs in the locality using anti-submarine instruments and echo sounder found what appeared to be a patch of shoal water at six fathoms (11 m) surrounded by soundings from twelve to fourteen fathoms (22 to 26 m). Lachlan steamed over the area several times and found that the object was about 300 feet (90 m) long and probably the wreck of a fair sized steamer, possibly lying on her side. The only ship that had been reported missing in those waters was Yongala. The Navy did nothing to follow up the find.
In 1958, two skindivers from Townsville, Don Macmillan and Noel Cook, located the wreck and brought to the surface a barnacle-encrusted steel safe which they found in a cabin. When broken open with a pinch bar, hammer and chisel, the safe was found to contain nothing but black sludge. The only thing that offered a clue to identification of the ship was part of the safe's serial number—9825W. It was subsequently established that it was a Chubb strongbox and the number was sent to the manufacturers in London for tracing. In 1961, the reply came back that the safe was one supplied to the purser's cabin of the SS Yongala during her construction in 1903.
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