Urana Anchor - Old Bar, NSW, Australia
S 31° 58.248 E 152° 35.504
56J E 461424 N 6462728
Near the Old Bar Surf Club is an Anchor on display, from a shipwreck in August 1937, just offshore.
Waymark Code: WM10CGD
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 04/13/2019
Views: 1
The NSW Environment and Heritage website has a good description of the event of the shipwreck of the
S.S. Urana in 1937.
"Today the Urana Bombora is a popular surfing spot at Old Bar, an old entrance of the Manning River near Taree. Most surfers also know of the iron shipwreck that they regularly paddle over, though not its origins. The 519-ton, 46.63 m steel twin screw steamer Urana was wrecked on the reef in thick fog on 31 August 1937. Sitting in his office near the beach, the local postmaster couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a steamer's lights come directly towards him at night. After the steamer struck the reef, the postmaster recalled seeing numerous distress flares fired and the vessel's wireless system sparking wildly, as the crew sent out an S.O.S. signal. Sixteen of the crew jumped into the sea as the vessel broke in two. They were collected by the ship's boat and made it ashore.
"Watching helplessly from the beach residents noticed another man running about the shattered bridge, now nearly awash. The passing steamer Tyalgum, (itself wrecked at Tweed Heads in 1939), came to offer assistance but could not approach close enough. The man could be heard furiously ringing the ship's bell throughout the ordeal. A lifeboat was brought down from Taree and rescuers finally got the man ashore through heavy surf.
"Loaded with a cargo of coal, the Urana was on a voyage from Newcastle to the Macleay River. Built in 1924 at Glasgow, Scotland, the Urana and was owned by the North Coast Steam Navigation Company."
SS Urana
From looking at the Wikipedia article on anchors, this cast iron anchor looks closest to being a 'Stockless Anchor'. Anchors. It is resting with the fluke on a large flat grey rock, with the shank of the rusty anchor resting on a grey stone stele. A black marble table in front of the anchor has the following inscription:
This Anchor is from the
URANA
Wrecked on the reef off
Old Bar Beach on
31st August 1937
Address: Old Bar, NSW, 2430, Australia
Urana History Website: SS Urana
Visited: 1854, Saturday, 23 March, 2019
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