The “Helen Nicholl” After Arrival in Port.

Rare engraving of the ship  Helen Nicholl which was hit by the Keilawarra, near North Solitary Island off Coffs Harbour, on December 8, 1886 and which left 40 people dead.

Many of the passengers aboard SS Keilawarra were just bedding down for the night as it steamed north on its way from Sydney to Brisbane. The captain, Nathan Gough Buttrey, had been warned by his chief officer that there were signs of smoke up ahead, a sure indication that there was another ship somewhere near. Scanning the horizon the captain could see no lights but, worried that the smoke was masking another ship, he gave the order to send his vessel hard to port. Unfortunately this put the Keilawarra directly on a collision course with SS Helen Nicoll, a steamship on its way to Sydney. The captain only saw the lights of the other ship at the last moment and had no time to avoid the impact.

From the original edition of the Illustrated Sydney News.