Wreck of the Steamer Banshee on Hinchinbrook Islan…

Rare c.19th hand coloured engraving depicting the paddle steamer Banshee wrecked on the rocks off Hinchinbrook Island.

The wreck of the paddle steamer Banshee occurred in March 1876 when the vessel struck a reef off Hinchinbrook Island during a coastal voyage from Townsville to Cooktown. The ship was driven ashore near Cape Sandwich and became a total loss. All fifty passengers and crew survived the incident, though several sustained injuries during the hazardous landing. The wreck forms part of Hinchinbrook Island’s long record of nineteenth-century maritime disasters, reflecting the dangers of navigation along Queensland’s poorly charted tropical coast. The remains of the vessel have at times been revealed by shifting sands.

From the original edition of Illustrated Sydney News.

References:
Gibbs & Shallard. Illustrated Sydney News. ISSN 2203-5397.

Collections:
State Library of New South Wales: F8/39–40
State Library Victoria: PCINF SLVIC=1853–1872
National Library of Australia: Bib ID 440095