ST Koraaga (1914)
Koraaga was a Castle class steel-hulled trawler built in 1914 by Smith's Dock Company, South Bank, Middlesbrough. She was requisitioned as an auxiliary minesweeper operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in October 1917 for minesweeping duties during World War I, but she was never commissioned. "Koraaga" returned to be operated commercially as a fishing trawler until she wrecked when she struck a reef off Bass Point whilst carrying returning to Sydney. She was refloated on the tide after having becoming stranded and drifted till she was finally lost 5 miles east of Black Head , Gerringong on 10 September 1931. Ship description and construction. The vessels were designed with a single deck with a long raised quarter deck carried to the fore side of the trawl winch and also a raised top-gallant forecastle. On the forecastle deck a windlass for working the winch was fitted, and an anchor of the stockless type housed in a long hawse pipe. An iron breakwater was also fitted to divert the sea when the vessels are being driven in heavy weather. The crew was housed under the forecastle deck, the entrance being through a lobby on the starboard  side over which the forecastle deck was carried affording ample protection to the crew when entering or leaving the forecastle in heavy weather. The vessel was described by one of the crew: Ship service history. New South Wales state service. Government trawlers "Brolga", "Koraaga", and "Gunundaal" left for Sydney on 17 February 1915, came out via the Suez Canal, and had an uneventful trip with the only bad weather being in the Australian Bight. Captain D. Rousfield brought the vessel out and thought highly of her sea-going capabilities. Reasoning for the State trawling vessels. From the late 1890s, the  State Government had been investigating the possibility of a deepwater fishery off New South Wales. Prior to World War I estuary based fishing dominated the New South Wales catch. In 1914 the Holman State Government set up a publicly owned company called the State Trawling Industry to encourage the development of off-shore fishing and to supply Sydney and Newcastle with large quantities of cheap fish. The Manager, David Stead was sent to Great Britain to examine steam trawling methods and acquire the necessary ships and crews. Steam trawler "Brolga" arrived in Sydney on 24 April 1915, followed a few  days later by "Koraaga" arriving 27 April and the following month by "Gunundaal". Trawling operations began in June 1915. In 1916 the Government expanded its fishing operations and placed an order for three more trawlers with the State Dockyard in Newcastle. The Government also established an integrated fishing and marketing system, with the new company opening four retail outlets in Sydney by 1916. By 1922 this network had grown to 20 outlets, 14 of which were in the Sydney area By 1920 due to consistently large financial losses arising from State Trawling Industry operations, management was replaced and a major  cost-cutting program was begun. In 1923 the Fuller Government sold off the operation which had a running loss of over 180 000 pounds. The steam trawlers were sold to private companies. Union and social issues. Industrial issues ensued from when the vessels arrived by 1916. An award had been secured to allow 24-hour leave periods for trawling crews. Between October 1921 and August 1922, trawler skippers were ordered to land no more than twenty boxes of fish other than flathead, when flathead were plentiful as a directed scheme to keep trawled flathead lower priced than so-called prime  fish (estuarine mullet, for instance) so that it "could be attractive to the lower classes". Shipping incidents. The Government trawlers "Koraaga" and "Gunundaal" had a collision on the night of Monday, 14 February 1916. The "Gunundaal", when coming alongside No 5 wharf Woolloomooloo Bay collided with the "Koraaga". The "Gunundaal" had her stem twisted towards the starboard quarter and the "Koraaga"had her starboard side abreast of the refrigeration hatch damaged. The damage to both vessels was estimated at £600 with the "Gunundaal" having to be repaired before she could go to sea again. On Monday 16 July 1917 the  Koraaga found the "Swift", an motor launch, which was drifting between three and four miles east of Botany Bay, as her engine had broken and it was brought into Sydney. Royal Australian Navy service. On 26 September 1917 the trawlers "Gunundaal" and "Koraaga"were requisitioned by the RAN as auxiliary minesweepers to conduct minesweeping operations off the New South Wales and Victoria coasts, searching for mines laid by the German raider . On 8 October 1917 the trawlers "Koraaga"and "Gunundaal", manned by the Royal Australian Naval Brigade under Lieutenant-Commander F. J. Ranken, RNR, began to sweep a German minefield off Gabo  Island. Thirteen mines were destroyed. Minesweepers were not commissioned in the RAN in WWI. By early January 1918, they had swept a total of 13 mines. "Koraaga" was returned to her owners in February 1918, but her sister ships were retained until 1919. Discoveries of old wreck sites. The State Trawling vessels become well known for the discovery of various wreck sites and artefacts as they were the first vessels to systematically trawl in deeper waters. The vessel fouled by the "Gunundaal" could well be the "Woniora", built in April 1863, which sank on 28 October 1882, which is regularly  dived in 63 meters of water. Although the boat davit brought up by the "Koraaga"suggests there may be a further wreck in deeper water. This is prior to the sinking of the "Undola" (20 December 1918) or "Tuggerah" (17 May 1919) the only currently known wrecks in this approximate position. The vessel was also to trawl up remnants from World War I disasters. Again in the region of the Royal National Park near Wattamolla, the vessel ran into remains of vessels were discovered that were originally involved in the transport of Coal from the Illawarra region shortly after the sinking  of the "Undola" (20 December 1918) but prior to the sinking of the "Tuggerah" (17 May 1919). Just 11 months later: Coastal Trawling Company / Red Funnel Fisheries. In 1923 the fleet of State trawlers was disposed of to be taken over by private enterprise. The "Koraaga", one of the seven trawlers offered for sale, was purchased by a syndicate, which is to work on a cooperative basis. All the crew of the "Koraaga" are men who served on the trawlers under the Government regime, and will be shareholders of the syndicate. The move to the cooperative also encouraged changes to  fishing practices including: Despite the accumulated losses of £300,000 suffered by the Stale trawling industry, private enterprise during the next seven or eight months has established the industry on a profitable and flourishing footing: Cam & Sons. The vessel came into the ownership of Cam & Sons a major player in the then-new growing industry in July 1929. The trawler "Koraaga" continued to work hard but returned early to Sydney late on Wednesday 2 October 1929 with a broken foremast. As early on the Tuesday, morning, when the ship was 28 miles south of Cape Everard, the mast broke about  10 feet from the deck, under the strain of a trawl full of fish which was being hauled in. No one was injured. A few weeks later a German mine, apparently one of those laid in the track of shipping off Gabo Island by the raider "Wolf" in 1917, for which the vessel had previously been engaged in clearing was recovered by the "Koraaga" 14 miles east by south from Cape Everard on Thursday morning 24 October 1929. This mine made the total recovered number of mines in Australian waters as 27 and confirmed the statement made by the Germans  after the war that the raider "Wolf" had put down two minefields, each of 15 mines, along the Australian coast. The site of the second minefield indicated by the Germans was off Cape Everard. This area was swept on two occasions without apparent result. Shipwreck event. The "Koraaga" struck a reef off Bass Point, Shellharbour late in the night of Wednesday 9 September 1931. By the morning of the Thursday the vessel had refloated with the tide and drifted away to the south and east slowly filling with water, until she sank in the afternoon five miles east of Black  Head, Gerringong, Thursday 10 September 1931. Wreck site and wreckage. The wreck site is described as "about five miles east of Black Head, Gerringong, 9 miles from Kiama" and at 70 metres depth.