SS Yongala · Australia · Wreck

Midships Cargo Hold

Coral-covered plating over holds built for 3,000 tons

The middle of the hull, where the Yongala carried about 3,000 tons of cargo below accommodation for 240 passengers. A century on the sand has turned the plating into hard substrate, and the holds are looked into from outside: the law that protects the wreck rules out going in.

Where it is and how deep

Depths on a shared scale to 40 m (130 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

19.3044° S, 147.6219° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

Down the mooring line to the upper parts of the wreck at about 16 metres, then along the flank of a hull that lies over on its starboard side with the sea floor at roughly 30 metres. The midsection is the part of the ship that carried the working load: Yongala had holds for about 3,000 tons of cargo under accommodation for 110 first-class and 130 second-class passengers.

Openings here are viewed from outside. The Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 prohibits penetration diving and interference with artefacts, and the site is managed by the Museum of Tropical Queensland, so the dive is a slow pass along coral-grown plating with a light angled in rather than a swim through the holds. Morays are usually tucked in among the coral along the hull, which rewards working close and slow in water that is often low on visibility.

The wreck

Vessel: SS Yongala
Type: Passenger and cargo steamship
Length: 109 m (358 ft)
Built: 1903
Sunk: 1911
Cause: Sank in a tropical cyclone off the Queensland coast
Lies: On her starboard side on sand, listing 60-70 degrees, bow on a bearing of 347 degrees

Marine life and season

The sources we used don't single out particular species here.

Month-by-month season rating for Midships Cargo Hold
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Prime	Prime	Good	Good	Good

Season follows SS Yongala: August and September are the best months; from June to September the water cools to 22–25 °C.

Know before you go

Current runs strong at the surface and at depth; go down and come back up on the mooring line and work the sheltered flank of the hull.
Visibility is often low and the profile is a deep one, so agree gas turn points and no-decompression limits before you leave the boat.
Entering the hull is prohibited under the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018, as is touching artefacts; the whole dive stays outside the plating.