Kyarra

Location: 1 mile off Anvil Point (Swanage) 50°35′27″N 1°56′58″W.

Description: 6953 ton Australian steamer

Length: 126 metres (413 feet)

Depth: 21-23 metres to top of wreck (70 - 75 feet), 30 metres to seabed (100 feet)

Sunk: 5 May 1918

The Kyarra was a 6,953 ton (7,065 t) steel cargo and passenger luxury liner, built on the River Clyde, Scotland in 1903 for the Australian United Steam Navigation Co. Ltd.

Construction and launch

The Kyarra was built at Dumbarton by Denny Bros and launched on February 2, 1903 on the River Clyde, Scotland.

Career

For ten years Kyarra sailed between Fremantle, Western Australia where she was registered, and Sydney, New South Wales carrying cargo and passengers.

She was covered from bow to stern in brass portholes. The 'Kyarra' (the name is aboriginal for a small fillet of opossum fur) She sailed the flag of the United Steam Navigation Company Limited of London.

On November 6, 1914 she was requisitioned and converted into a hospital ship (HMAT A.55 Kyarra) for the purpose of transporting Australian medical units to Egypt. The hull was painted white with a large red cross on the side.

In March 1915 Kyarra was converted into a troop transport.

Commonwealth control ended January 4, 1918.

Fate

She sailed from Tilbury for Devonport, Plymouth towards the western end on the Channel where she was to embark with civilian passengers and full general cargo. On May 5 however, before she could do so, she was attacked and fatally wounded by UB-57 near Swanage and sent to the bottom. Six lives were lost.

This wreck was not discovered until the late 1960's by a member of the Kingston and Elmbridge BSAC club (London) and later bought by the group. By now the Kyarra must be the best known wreck on the south coast. On any summer weekend there could be up to 100 divers on the wreck, this could put you off but when you consider the size of this ship, over 400' long, 6000 tons and still standing 30' feet proud of the sea bed, there will still be room for one or two more. There's still a lot of cargo on this wreck, the list of items found grows longer every week. This ship belongs to Kingston & Elmbridge Subaqua club but all the cargo belongs to HM Government so all finds must be reported to Receiver of Wrecks. The best time to dive is on a week day with a neap tide. Local dive boats will visit the Kyarra with two divers or more and you may find yourself the only diver there. Tides are a problem with the slack window down to 5-10 minutes on springs but the wreck normally has a shot line attached which shows the tide dying away. You should also use a delayed SMB as it allows diver to surface away from the shot.

External links

• / Kyarra.com
• SS Kyarra.com
• UK Diving: WRECKS: Kyarra