Aftermath of ship collision in Newcastle, 1938

Newcastle’s maritime history includes over 200 vessels wrecked in and around the mouth of the Hunter River. The drowning of all but one of the passengers on board the paddle-steamer Cawarra in 1866 makes it one of Australia’s worst sea disasters. In this short clip from 1938, we see a steamship in dock with a huge gash in its side, the result of a collision. The footage graphically documents the remarkable extent of the damage, with the men examining the ship providing a useful scale reference.