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

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

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 ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle ar ...

, on 1 April 1919 bound for Sydney. The cargo was 675 tons of

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

. 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 symptom ...

. 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 ''Beam Ends'' is a 1937 novel by Australian actor Errol Flynn. It was his first novel although he had written non fiction for many years. See also References External linksReview of bookat Kirkus 1937 Australian novels New Guinea {{194 ...

, 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-20 ...

. Subsequently the ship floundered, sinking rapidly. Four miles behind, the steamer ''South Bulli'' observed distress flares and assisted picking up survivors. Four lives were lost. 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 Harbour from ports and ocean jetties to the north and south of Sydney. The ...

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 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

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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, ballast water, pro ...

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 Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. 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