MUNMORAH 1273 gross tons. 1934-49 Steel hulled, single screw steamship, Collier, Built Leith Scotland, 1934 for Wallarah Coal Co, Sydney. Length 231 ft. Maintained a regular run on the Newcastle to Catherine Hill Bay. With the usual south coast vessel, the ss Bellambi in Cockatoo Dock being overhauled, the Munmorah under Captain K Knutsen along with eighteen crew was seconded to pick up a 1,450 tonne load of coal from the now long gone South Bulli jetty at Bellambi. One day later, ran on to Bellambi Reef, New South Wales, 18 May 1949. Hopes were held that she could be refloated however after a couple of days heavy seas battered her and she could not be saved. Sold for salvage
TUGGERAH (1) 749 gross, 336 net tons. Lbd: 186'3" x 28'9" x 12'6". Steel hulled, single screw steamship, collier, Clyde Ship Building and Engineering Company Ltd at Port Glasgow, Scotland for the Wallarah Coal Company; reg. Sydney, 1912. Triple expansion engine with the steam provided by two Scotch boilers. Arrived Sydney heads 23 December 1912. Captain M’Conachie. Placed upon the 'sixty miler' run. Turned turtle and sank after shipping a heavy sea a few miles south of Port Hacking, New South Wales, off Marley Beach, 17 May 1919. Six crew including the captain, Chief Officer and Chief Engineer were lost; eleven survived and landed on Cronulla Beach. Wrecksite located in the early 1970s, in 165 ft off the northern headland of Wattamolla Beach. Only the stern of the wreck is visible, badly broken up but with its boiler exposed. A popular dive
TUGGERAH (11) 1,051 tons. Lbd: 210'4" x 33'2" x 12'9". Steel steamship built Fullerton & Co., Paisley as the Oorama for the Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd. Sold June 1949 renamed Tuggerah by Wallarah Coal Co. Sold January 1956 to Cambray Prince SS Co Hong Kong renamed Brenda. Scrapped Hong Kong 1956
KELLOE iron hulled collier built by J. Laing in Sunderland, UK for J. Forster of London. It was launched in either April or August 1866 (the records say both). The Kelloe displaced 500 tons and was almost 50 metres long and 8 metres wide. A single screw steam ship powered by a 70hp two cylinder compound engine built by G. Clark at Sunderland, its first regular destination was Hamburg, Germany. It appears that the Kelloe was named after the small town of Kelloe, near Durham City. This is located south of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Kelloe was a coal mining town and there were eight small mines situated around the town.
In the early 1870s the Kelloe was sold to J.D. Hill and in about 1876 it was sold again to J. Young, Ehlers and Co. The Kelloe remained in the UK, its home port being London. In early 1891 the Kelloe was purchased by the Wallarah Coal Co. for use in conjunction with its Australian coal mines. On 23 April 1891 the Kelloe left London under the command of Captain Hagan. It arrived in her new home port of Sydney on 9 July and started its regular run from Catherine Hill Bay on the southern outskirts of Newcastle to Sydney. It also made some journeys from the southern coalfields to Sydney and Brisbane.
On 11 February 1893 the Kelloe was proceeding down Sydney Harbour when she collided with HMS Ringarooma. She suffered some damage to the bow area and the master, Captain George F. Mason was suspended for three months. The Kelloe appears to have been incident free for the next nine years.
At about 10 pm on 12 May 1902, the Kelloe left the South Bulli jetty on the southern coalfields. She had a full load of coal aboard, bound for Sydney with Captain Hector Boyle as master. Just over two hours later, the wooden steamer SS Dunmore left Sydney for Shellharbour (south of Wollongong) under the command of Neils Hanson to load blue metal. The Dunmore was in its 12th year of incident free service but the early hours of 13 May 1902 would change that luck.
At about 1.30 am in almost perfect conditions to the immediate north of Botany Bay, the two vessels approached each other. On the Kelloe, Captain Boyle was in his cabin changing clothes. Captain Hanson saw the Kelloe and decided that the lights showed that the two would comfortably pass each other, the Dunmore to the seaward side of the Kelloe. To make certain, the Dunmore turned slightly to port. Suddenly, the Kelloe made a turn to starboard and a collision was imminent. Captain Boyle ordered full reverse and blew his whistle. Moments later, the Dunmore rammed the Kelloe's starboard side. As soon as Captain Boyle reached the Kelloe's bridge he "realised that the steamer was doomed".
The Dunmore lowered one of its boats to help the Kelloe but she was also in trouble. Captain Boyle ordered the Kelloe to be abandoned and her boat was put in the water. All 15 crew climbed aboard and were soon met by the Dunmore's boat. Within 15 minutes, the Kelloe had sunk, stern first, her engine still running.
The Kelloe's crew, taken on board the Dunmore, were not yet really saved as she herself was in a bad situation. Water was streaming in through the damaged bow, slowed a bit by a tarpaulin placed over the hole. Captain Hanson decided to take the Dunmore into Botany Bay and he beached the ship off Kurnell. The next morning, the crew of the Kelloe were taken over to the Botany Pier and caught a tram into Sydney. Temporary repairs to the Dunmore were carried out and on 16 May she returned to Sydney under her own power. However, the Dunmore was now on the road towards an accident in January 1909 when she ran down a Navy boat killing 15 Navy crew. This was the greatest maritime disaster to happen on Sydney Harbour to that time. In April 1914 the Dunmore was to again strike trouble when she collided with ss Kiama at Sydney Heads and was driven up on Lady Bay Beach where she remained for three days. In September 1915 the Dunmore ran aground at Bradleys Head and in February 1918 she collided with the tug Champion off Botany Bay. The Dunmore was surely not one of the luckiest vessels around.
An inquiry found that the Second Officer of the Kelloe, George Alstrope, was at fault for not keeping a proper lookout
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