SS ''Myola'' was a 655-ton screw steamer, 55 metres long, built in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in the United Kingdom. ''Myola'', could unfurl sails on her two tall masts and gain a knot or so of additional speed when the wind suited. ''Myola'' left

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

, on 1 April 1919 bound for

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The cargo was 675 tons of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. Captain Higgins replaced his usual crew, quarantined in Sydney after an epidemic of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

. A thirty mile per hour south-easterly wind created heavy seas. When off Long Reef near Sydney, ''Myola'' was struck by a heavy wave. Water entered the engine room. At about 12:15 a.m., the ship suddenly lurched to starboard, and it then came over to port and came to rest on its beam ends, with water over the

well deck In traditional nautical use, well decks were decks lower than decks fore and aft, usually at the main deck level, so that breaks appear in the main deck profile, as opposed to a flush deck profile. The term goes back to the days of sail. Late-2 ...

. Subsequently the ship foundered, sinking rapidly. Four miles behind, the steamer ''South Bulli'' observed distress flares and assisted picking up survivors. Four people died. A subsequent

Court of Marine Inquiry Courts of Marine Inquiry and Boards of Marine Inquiry are tribunals established in common law countries to investigate matters relating to shipwrecks, casualties affecting ships, or charges of incompetency or misconduct on the part of the masters, ...

found that the foundering was caused by the coal cargo "shifting" and from an accumulation of water in the bilges. It was also critical of the second engineer for not starting the pumps earlier or informing superior officers of the situation. ''Myola'' was one of three coastal steam colliers (or '

sixty-miler Sixty-miler (60-miler) is the colloquial name for the ships that were used in the coastal coal trade of New South Wales, Australia. The sixty-milers delivered coal to Sydney from ports and ocean jetties to the north and south. The name refers to ...

s') to be lost, in the six-months from Dec 1918 to May 1919. The other two were ''Undola'' and ''Tuggerah''. As a result, a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

was set up to inquire into the coastal coal carrying trade and the loss of the three ships. The Royal Commission's finding on the loss of ''Myola'', differed from that of the earlier inquiry. It rejected 'shifting coal' as the cause of the loss and found that the amount of water in the bilges was not significant. Relying upon the calculations of a

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

and evidence that ''Myola'' was up to 75-tons over its theoretical

deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water Fresh water or ...

upon leaving Newcastle, the finding on the cause of the loss of ''Myola'' was: "''the Myola having had an amount of loose water in her'' allast''tanks on leaving Newcastle which reduced the righting levers considerably and rendered her unstable and eventually caused the loss. This theory meets the facts more consistently than any others which has been advanced''." The reason for there being free water in the ballast tanks was not known—the crew believed that the tanks were empty— but the Royal Commission was, in its own words, "''forced to consider the possible neglect to keep filling valves screwed down when not in use as a possible cause of the disaster''". Contemporary reports stated ''Myola'' sunk off

Sydney Heads The Sydney Heads (also simply known as the Heads) are a series of headlands that form the wide entrance to Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. North Head and Quarantine Head are to the north; South Head and Dunbar Head are to ...

. However, the wreck of ''Myola'' was found in 1994, in 48 metres of water off Long Reef, lying on its port side. Damage to the propeller indicates that the engine was still running as the ship foundered, which is consistent with accounts given by the crew.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myola, SS 1913 ships Ships built on the River Tees Maritime incidents in 1919 Coastal trading vessels of Australia Shipwrecks of the Northern Sydney Region Iron and steel steamships of Australia Colliers of Australia Auxiliary steamers