A small notification burried within the shipping news would often be the only indication of a ships disaster. So many ships foundered it was often only the ones with loss of life which would make the news.
Wednesday 18 May 1865
The 318-ton barque Julia Heyne was on a voyage to Adelaide carrying 519 tons of coal.
During fearful weather the vessel started taking water, for six days and nights the crew were continually pumping. By this time they were 15 miles north of Cape St George and were 30 miles from land when the decision was made to leave the ship. By this time despite continued pumping, there was 8ft 10 inches of water in the hold. In treacherous conditions, the crew climbed aboard the open life boat., one hour later the Julia Heyne slipped beneath the waves.
Thursday 19th May.
Battling gale force conditions the crew landed at Gerringong in a heavy surf, narrowly escaping with their lives.
Amazingly, the vessel had been in sight of the Kent's Group, ( a grouping of six granite islands located in Bass Strait ) and meeting a continuation of fearful gales, bore up on the 15th in a vain attempt to save the ship from going down.
The Julia Heyne was a well-known coasting vessel, sailing between Newcastle and Adelaide on a regular basis.
Examble of a barque from the time – Winterhud – copyright free.
Barque - a sailing ship, typically with three masts, in which the foremast and mainmast are square-rigged and the mizzenmast is rigged fore and aft.
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