Credit River - Shipwreck Series
Bluebell
August 9, 1934
There are many shipwrecks around the world. Some very famous and others not so. Each however has it’s own story to tell. As you travel along the Credit River doing this series of caches, we have highlighted a number of these shipwrecks. During low water levels on these parts of the Credit River, you need to be careful in a canoe or kayak so as you don’t wind up in your own shipwreck. Besides the many large rocks along the way, there are also some other obstacles such as dams which should be avoided. All of the geocaches in this series have been placed by tubing, inflatable boat or on foot by walking in the water along the Credit River. Whichever way you choose to search for these caches, use caution and common sense.
Bluebell
The sinking of the Newcastle harbour ferry Bluebell, after colliding with the coastal freighter Waraneen in 1934, was one of the worst maritime tragedies in Newcastle, Australia, in the 20th century.
Carrying between 40 and 50 passengers, the Stockton-bound ferry came into a broadside collision with the Waraneen and sank half way across the Hunter River shortly after 10:45pm on the night of 9 August 1934. Although it was first thought that all passengers had been saved, it was discovered the following morning that three passengers were still unaccounted for. The ferry had jammed against the side of the freighter for a period of almost a minute before it began to sink. The brief interval allowed sufficient time for six passengers on the upper deck to scramble in to the side of the Waraneen, while the remainder jumped headlong into the water. People standing on the Newcastle wharf were unable to discern exactly what was happening in the middle of the harbour, but could hear terrified cries of women and children on board the ferry before it sank, and afterwards as they struggled frantically in the water.
The pilot steamer Birubi, which was moving past the scene at the time of the sinking, lowered a boat and picked up two loads of people while others were rescued by the Water Police launch. Fifteen people were treated at the Newcastle Hospital, two were admitted suffering severely from the effects of immersion. The propellers of the steamer Wailhemo, heading out to sea the following morning, churned the water which broke up the wreckage and released the bodies of two women. A third missing woman who was seen on board the ferry by a neighbour was considered the only other victim of the sinking.
The last survivor of the Bluebell, Mr. Ed Felton, died two-weeks shy of the seventieth-anniversary of the sinking in 2004.