Wollongbar was a 2,239-ton passenger steamship built by the Lithgows, Port Glasgow in 1922 for the North Coast Steam Navigation Company, as a replacement for which was wrecked in 1921.

Fate

She was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-180 off Crescent Head, New South Wales while in a convoy on 29 April 1943. When she sank, thirty four crew members died and five of her crew waited until they were rescued by two fishermen, Tom and Claude Radleigh, and taken to Port Macquarie. Three returned to Sydney after a night's rest. Frank Emson, greaser, was rushed to hospital and W. J. Mason, chief officer, spent 10 days in hospital. Both eventually recovered.

SS Wollongbar (1922)

In 2020 the shipwreck was confirmed discovered by Heritage NSW.

SS Wollongbar (1922)

References

1922 ships

1943 in Australia

Ships built on the River Clyde

Iron and steel steamships of Australia

Merchant ships of Australia

Shipwrecks of the Mid North Coast Region

Ships sunk by Japanese submarines

Maritime incidents in April 1943

World War II merchant ships of Australia

SS Wollongbar (1922)