‘Rangoon’, 1870

On 22nd March 1870, the 116-foot long, 374-ton three-masted timber barque 'Rangoon' was travelling from Melbourne to Newcastle to collect a load of coal. She had been caught in a violent storm along the coast for several days that carried away her deck railings and forced the crew to take down all the sails.

In fog and rain, the vessel washed broadside onto the eastern side of a small island, Stack Island, at the mouth of the Minnamurra River, just north of Kiama. It was 3.00 a.m. and the ‘Rangoon’ stuck fast between two large rocks.

The captain had mistaken the entrance to the Minnamurra River for the entrance to Kiama Harbour – perhaps an understandable error in the prevailing conditions! (The Kiama Lighthouse – which might have prevented the wreck of the 'Rangoon' - was not built until 1887.)

The crew immediately started the job of salvaging gear from the ship. With daylight and a drop in the tide, it was discovered that a line could be strung from the ship to the shore and it was easily possible to wade through the surf to the land. The local newspaper reported ‘as much tonnage as could be carried was removed during low tide, this labour continuing till the tide became too high’.

Meanwhile, ‘a large number of spectators from both the Kiama and Shellharbour sides of the Minnamurra’ had assembled and rescue boats were brought overland on drays from both Kiama and Shellharbour. Crews from three ships that were sheltering in Shellharbour - the 'Dairy Maid', the 'Numba', and the 'Aginoria' – were recruited to man these boats.

As the tide had again risen, the rescue boats were rowed out to the wreck and ‘five of the crew of the ‘Rangoon’ embarked, and after a heavy pull they were brought to shore, about twenty willing hands rushing into the water to help the struggling boat as she neared the shore. Again, the gallant boat's crew put off, and by about 5 o'clock the captain, with four seamen, were brought to shore, amid hearty cheers from both sides of the Minnamurra; thus all the crew were safe and sound, none having met with any injury, which is a matter of surprise, considering the knocking about they must have had’.

By early May, the 'Rangoon' had completely broken up.

The 'Rangoon' had been built in 1853 and was one of the largest sailing ships that worked along the NSW South Coast. The storm that claimed the 'Rangoon' was also responsible for washing away two legs from the Shellharbour wharf.