Mr. Falk, who had been an Ablebodied Seaman on the Gothenburg, remembered his experience to the Adelaide Express and Telegraph on the 4th of April, 1911: “I don’t think,” he said, “I should have been saved had it not been for one of the others. He came to me as I stood aft, and said I had better leave as the engine-room was full of water, and there was no hope of saving the vessel. As we pulled over the reef to shore we could see sharks and turtles beneath us. The boat was smashed up eventually.”
Ship Name: Gothenburg
Ship Tonnage: 459
Ship Type: Iron Hulled Screw Steamship
Year Built 1855
Nationality: Australian
Year Wrecked: 1875
Location Wrecked: Great Barrier Reef, Near Holbourne Island
Reason for Wreck: Navigational Error in Storm
Lives Lost: 100
Sources:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/209927669
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197679252/22387500
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/169481418?searchTerm=gothenburg
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/202135279?searchTerm=gothenburg
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/200631741?searchTerm=gothenburg
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18335564?searchTerm=gothenburg
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224358488?searchTerm=gothenburg
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8935760
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/40089615
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1875/05/09/79085610.html?pageNumber=2
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1875/04/27/88160790.html?pageNumber=6
