SS Port Kembla

History
Name	SS Port Kembla
Owner	Commonwealth and Dominion Line
Builder	Hawthorn Leslie & Co. Ltd.
Yard number	439
Launched	22 July 1910
In service	1910
Fate	Sunk 18 September 1917
General characteristics
Tonnage	4,700 GRT, 2,990 NRT
Length	121 m
Beam	16 m
Installed power	steam

SS Port Kembla was a steamer owned by the Commonwealth and Dominion Line and named after Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia. She was sunk 17 kilometres (11 miles) off Farewell Spit on New Zealand′s South Island on 18 September 1917 by a mine laid by the Imperial German Navy auxiliary cruiser SMS Wolf. During an inquiry held in Wellington, New Zealand, shortly after the sinking it was thought that the explosion was from an internal source rather than a mine.^[1] Regulus rescued the survivors.

When she sank, the ship was fully laden with frozen produce, wool, skins, tallow, jams, lead, and general cargo which was being shipped from Australia to the United Kingdom for use during World War I.^[1]

The wreck of Port Kembla is at 40°27.68′S 172°27.32′E^[2] at a depth of 96 metres (315 ft) and is visited by scuba divers. In 1977, a plan to salvage 1,200 tonnes of lead from the wreck did not come to fruition because of ownership disputes. As of 2012, plans were being made for a second attempt to recover the lead.^[3]

References

1. "THE PORT KEMBLA DISASTER". Colonist. 1 October 1917. p. 3. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
2. Ingram et al. 2007, p. 369.
3. Rose, Patrick (17 April 2012). "World War One Lead Salvage Effort Planned". Nelson Mail. Retrieved 17 April 2012.

Sources

• Ingram, Charles William; Wheatley, Percy Owen; Diggle, Lynton; Diggle, Edith; Gordon, Keith (2007). New Zealand Shipwrecks: Over 200 Years of Disasters at Sea (8th ed.). Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1869710934.