Comboyne (1911) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ship primary use:	Transport
Ship industry:
Ship passenger capacity:	Unknown

The Comboyne was a Wooden Steamer screw built in 1911 at Tuncurry, that was wrecked when it Struck an object whilst carrying Timber to Wollongong and was lost at approximately 1 mile off Shellharbour

Shellharbour, New South Wales

Shellharbour is a southern beachside suburb of Wollongong, located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the Local Government Area, City of Shellharbour....

, Bass Point, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

on the 27 November 1920

The ship builder

The builder of the Comboyne was both John Wright (Snr) was the founder of the town of Tuncurry and the ship building industry it became known for. He died in 1910
His son Ernest continued the business and finished the construction of Comboyne Ernest went on with the building of the Narani, Wallambra, Glenreagh, Allenwood, Nambucca 1, Nambucca 2 and the Uralbra as well as many small tugs, lighters, yachts and launches with the ship building company going on to be known as E. Wright & Son
John Wright also built a number of other vessels used on the North Coast including the Bellinger, Our Jack and the Tuncurry
Tuncurry (1903)
Tuncurry The Tuncurry was a wooden carvel screw steamer built in 1903 at Cape Hawke, that was wrecked when it sprang a leak whilst carrying Explosives, Cement, whisky, jam and other general cargo between Sydney and Brisbane and was lost at off Barranjoey Head, Broken Bay, New South Wales on 22...

.

The original owner

The original owners of the vessel was Allen Taylor & Co. This company was formed by Sir Allen Arthur Taylor (1864–1940) a self made man timber merchant, ship-owner and politician.

He founded Allen Taylor & Co in the 1890s and moved into the field of hardwood timber supply in which the company is still active in. In the 1890s he become active in the shipping of hardwood from the north coast also though his shipping company and the later (1919) the North Coast Steam Navigation Co which purchased his shipping interests

Ship description Comboyne (1911)

The vessel was a wooden single deck and the bridge ship with 2 masts and an Elliptical Stern it dimensions were

Length from foredeck of stem to stern post was 137 in 2 in (41.81 m)

Main Breadth to outside plank 29 in 7 in (9.02 m)

Depth from top of deck as side amidships to bottom of keel 7 in 5 in (2.26 m)

The vessel had a and a when first manufactured

1912 sinking and refloating

On Sunday 8 September 1912:

The steamer Comboyne, whilst trying to put into Port Kembla Harbor at 3 o'clock in the morning, struck the end of the eastern breakwater, and a big hole was knocked in her side. The water poured in, and the mate, who was on the bridge, decided to run for the beach. The captain by this time was on deck, and seeing the vessel fast settling down ordered the crew of 14 into the boats.
They had no sooner entered the boats than the Comboyne sank. The captain was still on board, and owing to the darkness was unable to make out where the boat was. He then struck out for the shore, which he reached after having been over half an hour in the water. The crew landed safely and made their way to the Electrolytic Company's works.
The vessel sank in about 40 ft. of water. The stewardess (Miss E. Birkenshaw) was asleep at the time the vessel struck, and was only just able to escape in her night dress. The escape of all on board is regarded as wonderful, seeing that the vessel sank within a couple of minutes of the time of striking. Captain Lacey said he could not account for the accident. Whilst swimming ashore he thought he was done for, but he struggled on and managed to reach land.
About 2 ft. of the funnel is showing out of the water, and arrangements are to (be made at once for refloating)

On 2 October the Marine Court inquiry found that the accident was caused by default of the mate, Joseph Daley, in not calling the master earlier

The vessel was then refloated

1915 discovery of a murder

On Tuesday 21 September 1915 the Comboyne, while proceeding up the Camden Haven River caused the man's body to come to the surface the body was recovered by the police and it was found to that the body had been weighted down with an anchor (weighing 1½ cwt

Hundredweight

The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...

168 pounds (76.2 kg)). The head had been battered, both jaws being broken, as also was the nose. It is supposed that the unfortunate man was murdered.
The man named Purcell, had lived at Hunter's Hill formerly but had arrived at Laurieton in April, with a companion to become a fisherman. Towards the end of August Purcell had disappeared, but no alarm was raised, as it was thought he had gone to a neighbouring town. The police then arrested his companion

Shipwreck event

On Saturday, 27 November 1920 the vessel reportedly struck a submerged rock or a floating object