‘Wyoming’, 1910

The ‘Wyoming’ was a small 132-foot, 258-ton steamer that had been built at Brisbane Water in 1890. She was owned a Captain Joseph Weston.

Whilst under charter to load a cargo of logs at Kioloa, on the night of 28th October 1910, in rough seas and with a strong north-easterly wind blowing, the steamer was approaching Kioloa Beach between Belowla Island and O’Hara Head when its engines suddenly stopped. Within five minutes it struck rocks. ‘Nothing could be done but to abandon the vessel, and get clear away, as they (the crew) did in a couple of boats, the launching of which had to be done in double quick time to be clear of the vessel before she crashed on to the rocks. The boats safely negotiated the entrance to Kioloa, and the crew (of 11) landed on the beach beside the bay in perfect safety.’ Within 24 hours the vessel broke up completely.

Having made it to shore, there was then the challenge of reporting the grounding of the vessel: ‘Soon after getting ashore the captain, who had been trading to Kioloa for four years, set out for Termeil, the nearest post-office. There is telephone connection between there and Milton, but he was unable to communicate with the vessel's owner as the line was out of order, and a buggy had to be requisitioned to carry the messengers to Milton, where the news of the wreck was reported to Sydney.’