It's exactly 100 years today since the coastal trading ship SS Yongala sank in a tropical cyclone off the coast of Queensland, Australia on March 23rd 1911. The disaster became known as the 'Townsville Titanic' as all 122 passengers and crew were lost. The only body recovered was that of a racehorse called 'Moonshine' washed ashore some days later. That loss had a profound impact on Townsville which at that time had a population of just 15,000.
There is a Brockley link in the person of 21 year old Robert Walton Cook who was a crew member on the ill fated voyage and whose grave lies in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries.
The centenary of one of Australia's greatest maritime mysteries has been marked with the Yongala story appeared on ABC News, a national current affairs program in Australia. Click here and select Play Video, to see the fascinating history of the Yongala "What Lies Beneath".
