The new wave of Japanese submarine attacks in 1943 continued with devastating effects when I-180 sank the Wollongbar off Crescent Head. Thirty-two lives were lost including Captain Benson, with the five survivors rescued by lifeboat.
The 2,240-ton steel steamer was built in 1922 to replace the North Coast Steam Navigation Company's earlier vessel of that name wrecked at Byron Bay in 1921. The new 87-metre steamer was built at Glasgow, United Kingdom.
The loss of the Wollongbar, coincided with a fresh spate of submarine attacks in early 1943 which claimed: Kalingo 17.1.1943; Iron Knight 8.2.1943; Starr King 9.2.1943; Recina 11.4.1943; Limerick 26.4.1943; Lydia M. Childs 27.4.1943; Fingal 5.5.1943 and Portmar 16.6.1943.