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shipwreck

Read more about the article The Catterthun sinking at Seal Rocks, NSW

The Catterthun sinking at Seal Rocks, NSW

The loss of the SS Catterthun off Seal Rocks, NSW, in August 1895 is a story that has captured many imaginations. Thousands of gold sovereigns, en route to China, went to the bottom, ensuring the wreck has remained a magnet for treasure-hunters. When I read contemporaneous press accounts of the disaster I'm struck by the terrible fate of so many of the passengers - especially the women and children - and can't help wondering whether some of the ship's officers and crew might have done more to help save more lives. "Don't panic": fatal advice The…

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Read more about the article The Sygna storm of May 1974
Aerial view of the Sygna aground in May 1974.

The Sygna storm of May 1974

If you ask most older Newcastle people where they were on the night the Norwegian bulk carrier Sygna went aground on Stockton Beach, they’ll probably be able to tell you. Since European settlement in Newcastle there have been three really big hurricanes that have left lasting impressions on those who experienced them. All three of these giant storms are known to many by the names of the ships they destroyed. The first was the Cawarra Gale, which lashed the NSW coast for days in 1866 and claimed dozens of lives – most of them on the…

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Read more about the article Newcastle schoolboy’s shipwreck story
A sketch, from a New Zealand newspaper, of the sinking Helen B Sterling.

Newcastle schoolboy’s shipwreck story

Stockton schoolboy Leslie Harris was 10 years old on January 5, 1922, when he went aboard the four-masted schooner Helen B Sterling, along with his mother Edith and his father George - the captain of the ship. The first mate, whose surname was also Harris and who may have been a relative, also had his wife aboard. The ship was carrying coal from Newcastle, NSW, to the Society Islands (part of French Polynesia) and San Francisco in the USA. Aside from the members of the Harris family there were 15 crew members aboard. The schooner was…

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