The Tragic Sinking of the SS Gothenburg
On this day 150 years ago, 24 February 1875, the ship SS Gothenburg was wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef, off the Queensland Coast.
The Gothenburg was a sail and steamship launched in 1854. Until 1862 it only travelled between England and Sweden, at which time it was transferred to Australia and began travelling the Trans-Tasman route to New Zealand.
In 1874 the ship was one of several contracted by the South Australian Government to provide a series of round trips from the capital Adelaide to the colonies furthest point of Port Darwin, which at the time was experiencing a gold rush and increased trade with the Dutch East Indies.
On 16 February 1875 the Gothenburg set sail from Darwin on one of these return voyages to Adelaide with approximately 98 passengers and 37 crew, including many government officials.
Over the first three days of the trip the weather was fine however it became harsh which saw the ship loose both anchors. The ship continued into even worse weather and so the captain made the decision to take a route closer to the shore, seeking protection from the weather, however this also meant navigating the unchartered reef.
The conditions on 24 February 1875 are recorded as borderline cyclonic. Without warning the ship hit the reef at full speed with such force that it sat high on the reef. This led many passengers to believe the ship would simply float off the reef at high tide and so, being it was 7pm, they returned to their cabins for bed.
The crew did try several attempts to re-float the ship however their final attempt proved fatal. The ships engines were reversed hard which partially moved the ship off the reef however the shift in position allowed water to more rapidly enter the ship. Soon afterwards the engine room was consumed and thus the engines were of no use.
At 3am the captain ordered the lifeboats be launched however due to the angle of the ship this was almost impossible, and two of the four lifeboats were lost, both with crew in them. The ship continued to list and at 4am the remaining crew attempted to launch the final two lifeboats however one was overrun and capsized while the other capsized due to the seas.
Within 15 minutes over 100 people were killed from drowning as they fell into the water or as they remained in their rooms below decks. Sharks were also reported to be circling the sinking ship which claimed further lives.
As dawn broke the rigging of the ship remained visible, which was what 14 survivors clung to during the cyclonic conditions. Twenty-four hours later the ship finally broke apart and sunk fully. One lifeboat remained nearby which the survivors were able to make use of and set-off for the mainland. Upon realising they couldn’t reach the mainland they headed for a nearby island where they found four crew who had been in one of the first lifeboats to depart.
Meanwhile the crew who had been in the other lifeboat that was lost in the initial launch were picked up by a passing ship. This ship returned to the wreck looking for survivors however when none were found they took their survivors to port to raise the alarm.
Back on the island the survivors were unsure if they’d ever be found and so on 28 February, 15 decided to head for a shipping lane in the lifeboat. Here they were picked up by another ship and returned to port with another ship despatched to collect the final three survivors left on the island.
With around 100 people dead, just 22 survived. All women and children, as well as all officers lost their lives. This was the first time that the Australian colony had seen the death of so many high-profile public servants.
After the incident a lot was written about the lifeboats and how there were too few as well as how inefficient they were, however it wouldn’t be until the loss of the Titanic in 1912 that British law would make having enough lifeboats for all passenger’s law.
Today, the site of the wreck is a registered heritage site under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.
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Further Reading:
"SS Gothenburg - A Haunting Watery Grave", Queensland Museum (13 January 2021), <https://blog.qm.qld.gov.au/2021/01/13/ss-gothenburg-a-haunting-watery-grave/>
"Dive into History, Queensland Shipwrecks - SS Gothenburg (1875)" Pamphlet by Department of Environment and Heritage Protection; <chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/67773/dive-qld-shipwreck-gothenburg.pdf>
"Gothenburg", ABC Radio - Shipwrecks (2003); <https://www.abc.net.au/backyard/shipwrecks/qld/gothenburg.htm>
"Gothenburg", Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database hosted by Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; <https://www.environment.gov.au/shipwreck/public/wreck/wreck.do?key=2563>
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