The Wreck Of The Sailing Ship Netherby - A Miracle Of Survival

by Don Charlwood

This the story of an 1866 shipwreck on the western coast of King Island, in southern Australia. It tells of a near miracle, vividly related by three different participants. Here was a ship with 413 emigrant passengers and a crew of 38, impaled at night on serrated reefs not far from the 1845 remains of the Cataraqui. The Cataraqui had lost 400 lives. The senior officers of the Netherby were instrumental in saving the lives of all those aboard their vessel, plus a baby born on the island to one of the rescued passengers! This book is well illustrated with colour and black and white photos plus maps.

56 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was initially intended to be included in one of Don Charlwood’s more substantive works, The Long Farewell. Editorial restrictions removed the story of the Netherby from The Long Farewell and it was republished in a more detailed form separately. The immigrant ship, Netherby, sailed from Plymouth on 13 April 1866 for Brisbane, Australia with 450 people on board. It was shipwrecked on King Island in Bass Strait, northwest of Tasmania, on 14 July, ninety-two days after setting sail. The story of survival and rescue is an interesting one and reveals the dangers of travel that immigrants to Australia faced.