SS Wollongbar (1922)

History
Name	Wollongbar
Owner	North Coast Steam Navigation Company
Builder	Lithgows, Port Glasgow
Yard number	746
Launched	1922
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk on 29 April 1943
General characteristics
Tonnage	2,240 gross register tons
Length	285.1 ft (86.9 m)
Beam	42.1 ft (12.8 m)
Draught	23.9 ft (7.3 m)
Propulsion	Triple expansion engine
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)

Wollongbar was a 2,239-ton passenger steamship built by the Lithgows, Port Glasgow in 1922 for the North Coast Steam Navigation Company, as a replacement for Wollongbar which was wrecked in 1921.^[2]

Fate

She was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-180 off Crescent Head, New South Wales while in a convoy on 29 April 1943. When she sank, thirty four crew members died and five of her crew waited until they were rescued by two fishermen, Tom and Claude Radleigh, and taken to Port Macquarie. Three returned to Sydney after a night's rest. Frank Emson, greaser, was rushed to hospital and W. J. Mason, chief officer, spent 10 days in hospital. Both eventually recovered.^[3]

In 2020 the shipwreck was confirmed discovered by Heritage NSW.^[4]

References

^ "ss Wollongbar (1922)". Clyde Built Ships Database. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 27 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "North Coast Steam Navigation Company". Flotilla Australia. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
^ W. J. Mason (22 November 1945). "S.S. Wollongbar Sunk By Torpedoes". The Daily Examiner. Vol. 35, no. 8946. New South Wales, Australia. p. 2 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Witoslawski, Ashlea (27 April 2020). "Shipwreck found off NSW Mid North Coast". Australian Associated Press. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.