‘Gunandaal’, 1929

From 1915 to 1923 the NSW Government pioneered steam trawling, aiming to provide the public with an affordable supply of fish. It was an economic failure. However, from 1923, a private steam trawling industry developed, based on a substantial flathead fishery at Botany Ground, just south of Sydney. A number of the Government trawlers were purchased by the private operators. The tiger flatheads at Botany Ground, however, soon became fished out, so the steam trawlers started working further afield – often along the South Coast to Gabo Island and beyond. Inevitably, a number ended up as wrecks.

The first of these steam trawlers to be lost on the NSW South Coast was the ‘Gunandaal’ which was lost on 3rd November 1929. It ran aground at Cape Howe (the eastern end of the NSW-Victorian border) in rough seas.

Its captain had contracted malaria some years earlier and, on the night of the accident, thought he was suffering from a recurrence of the condition. So, he left the bridge and went to his cabin where, apparently, he collapsed. He had left ‘without having a competent man at the wheel’. The result was that the vessel ran aground at Cape Howe at 9.50pm on 3rd November 1929. There were 12 crew on board at the time.

One of the crew swam about 100 years with a line to the shore. This was followed by the remaining members of the crew. They then had to walk about 16 miles to Mallacoota, from where they were transported by car to Bega.

One newspaper reported that the crew’s ‘chief regret seemed to be about the loss of the ship's cat. They threw it as far as possible towards the shore and thought it would swim ashore, but it turned the other way and was eventually washed up. It was in a bad way, and although great efforts were made to revive the animal by drying it by a fire it died.'

Other steam trawlers subsequently wrecked included the ‘Brolga’ which was wrecked at Cape Everard, Victoria, on 16th August 1926; the ‘Koraaga’ that was wrecked on 9th September 1931; the ‘Charlie Cam’, wrecked on 22nd June 1932; the ‘Unique’ on 4th March 1934; and the ‘David Blake’ on 15th March 1934.