‘Benandra’, 1924

The ‘Benandra’ was a sister ship to the ‘Bodalla’ which was lost on the Narooma bar on 19th January 1924. Both vessels were specially designed and built at Balmain in 1914 to be operated on the South Coast by the Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation Company.

The ‘Benandra’ was a 34-metre long, 345-ton wooden screw steamer.

She was wrecked on 25th March 1924 when she hit the sandspit near the bar at Moruya Heads.

At 10.30 a.m. on March 25th 1924, the ‘Benandra’ left the Moruya Wharf. She was fully laden, mostly with timber destined for Sydney. At 11.20 a.m., she arrived at the bar (a bar that was particularly difficult to cross) as the tide was dropping. Whilst negotiating the crossing, she grounded. With considerable effort she was refloated by hauling on wire ropes from the land. The captain then tried to back the steamer up against the tide, but had no success and, almost immediately, the vessel grounded on the southern side of the bar. The captain, afraid that vessel would sustain heavy damage if she remained aground throughout the whole dropping tide, then decided to continue to try to cross the bar.

However, 100 yards outside the northern breakwater, she again grounded and was then struck by a large wave that turned her broadside on. A second wave washed over her, filling her with water.

The order was then given to abandon ship.

The only passenger that had been aboard was a man named William Ward who had been employed at Mr. P. J. Mylott’s bakery in Moruya. It appears he was a returned soldier who attempted to make his way back to his cabin to collect mementos that had belonged to his dead soldier sons. However, he somehow fell into the flooded engine room, the door of which closed and jammed, and was unable to be rescued before the remaining crew on board were forced to abandon their attempts because the vessel was rapidly breaking up.

It was rapidly ascertained there was no chance of salvaging the ship and the crew lost all their belongings in the wreck.