When the 784 ton iron steamer Keilawarra plunged beneath the seas at night on 8 December 1886 it created history. The shocking loss of life rocked maritime centres around Australia. The scale of the disaster, the needless loss of life and tales of cowardice raised alarm, then anger. How could a respected ship, with a well-known skipper be rammed by another vessel when both in sight? Why did over forty souls perish in such gruesome and tragic circumstances? Why did so few women survive?
These questions are still being answered today with the amazing discovery of the wreck in deep water near North Solitary Island in New South Wales. After 114 years, the historic wreck site serves as a permanent marker to those drowned and a reminder of the dangers of coastal sea travel during the nineteenth century.
The 61 metre ss Keilawarra was a fine steamship powered by a compound marine engine generating 140 horsepower. The vessel was launched in Fife, Scotland in 1878, for the legendary Howard Smith line.
The surviving crew of Keilawarra were housed at the Sailor's Home in the Rocks.
Read a contemporary poem about the disaster
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/MaritimeHeritage/researchcentre/keilawarrapoem.htm
