The SS Queensland was an Iron single screw passenger-cargo vessel owned by the Eastern & Australian Mail Steam Company. The ship sank off the coast of Wilson’s Promontory on the 3rd August 1876 after a collision with the SS Barrabool. On the 8th June 2005 Southern Ocean Exploration successfully located, dived and positively identified the wreck at about 35km due east of Wilsons Promontory in about 65m of water. A pre-disturbance survey has been conducted and a full site plan documented.
We have been only able to locate minimal historical information on the Queensland, so any information on its service life, passengers, crew & officers, photo’s, specifications and ships’ drawings would be appreciated.
The SS Queensland was an Iron single screw passenger-cargo vessel built by Palmers of Jarrow, Newcastle, England, for Eastern & Australian Mail Steam Co Ltd.The ship was of 2,263 gross tons. Lb: 99.1 x 11.2 metres and comprised a two cylinder compounded steam engine of 309 nhp. The hull was constructed with six watertight bulkheads and was rigged as a topsail schooner with 3 masts.Review from a book on the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolf, iron and steel ship-builders from the 1800’s, a number of steamers that they produced with auxiliary sails had dead-eyes as part of their rigging, later on dead-eyes were superseded and were replaced with turnbuckles. Deadeyes have been located on the Queensland wreck site.
Ship Owners
The Eastern & Australian Mail Steamship Co was created in 1873 and initially operated a seven year contract on behalf of the Queensland Government for four weekly mail and passenger services from Sydney to Brisbane, Batavia, Singapore and Hong Kong.The company later became associated with Australasian United S.N. Co. and in 1919 came under the control of British India S N Co. They in turn became part of the P & O Group.
(source: www.flotilla-australia.com
After arriving at Melbourne from Foo Chow Foo – China, the Queensland discharged 50,000 pounds worth of tea and proceeded east to Sydney to load coal. Meanwhile the SS Barrabool was proceeding from NSW, west to Melbourne to discharge its own cargo. Fifteen miles to the east of the tip of Wilson’s Promontory, the SS Barrabool rammed and sank the SS Queensland.
Fergus Cameron probably arrived in Australia on the maiden voyage of the “Queensland”. He is listed on the passenger and crew list as a 2nd engineer and was still working on the Queensland at this time. He is listed as one of the claimants in a lawsuit against the Barrabool by officers and petty officers in a newspaper in Nov 1878 as per the copy also attached. We don’t know if he actually received any payment as a result of this action. Fergus Cameron had a rather interesting past, he was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1830 and was an engineer before he moved to Constantinople, Turkey sometime after 1851 where he worked as an engineer. Although we do not have absolute proof the Cameron family understand that he was probably the chief engineer on the Sultan’s yacht – a rather large steamship called the “Stamboul” built in England. He met and married an English women in Constantinople in 1861, and all their children, were born there. They lived in Turkey until about 1875-6, before returning to the U.K. for a short while before Fergus left for Australia. His wife Barbara and 4 living children followed him out to Australia in 1878 arriving on the “Hereford”. Fergus Cameron also worked on coastal vessels for quite a few years making many trips on the “Cheviot”, however, he was no longer working on this vessel when it sank in 1887. His three sons, Fergus David Thomas Cameron, Henry Angus Cameron and Charles Frederic Cameron were all marine engineers. Charles Cameron worked at the Williamstown dockyard for many years and had the opportunity there to work on re-fitting the “Discovery” 2 years in a row – 1929 & 1930 when Mawson took it to the Antarctic.
At the Court of Inquiry the Barrabool’s Second Officer was charged with recklessly causing the collision. – The Age on 10 August 1876.Of note, this was only the start of the collisions for the Barrabool. 10 March 1879, it ran into and sank the Bonnie Dundee off Moon Island with five killed. In August 1884 it rammed into the steamer Birksgate in Sydney Harbour. Then again another crash occurred in Victoria with the steamer Koonawarra in May 1902. The Barrabool served her last days as a hulk and on 3rd August 1950 was towed 17 miles off Sydney Harbour, the sea cocks were opened and the ship settled in a depth of 100 fathoms.
Fergus Cameron
Deaths at Sea Register – supplied by Andrew Williams ( Bristol, England)
Joan Cameron
