Almost 80 years after a World War II steamship was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine, the mariners on board have been remembered at the site of the shipwreck.
In 1943, the SS Wollongbar II was en route from Byron Bay to Sydney when it was hit, killing 32 of the people on board.
The ship sank within minutes and only five crew survived.
The vessel stayed lost beneath the waves for 77 years until archaeologists from Heritage NSW found the wreck in 2019, sitting in about 100 metres of water, off the coast of Crescent Head on the NSW Mid North Coast.
The discovery came after a fisherman pulled up a piece of wreckage and reported the finding.
After a series of COVID-related delays, an official memorial service has now been held at the site.
NSW Minister for Heritage James Griffin said it was a significant milestone.
'A homecoming'
The captain of the Wollongbar, Charles Benson, was among those who went down with his ship.
His great-great-nephew Lachlan Benson travelled from Sydney to attend yesterday's memorial service.
"I didn't think this would ever happen to be honest," Mr Benson said.
"This was one of those childhood stories you were taught, and you saw his name on a war memorial in Canberra and you just thought, 'we are never going to connect with this man'.
"I was so excited when they found the wreck in 2019. I was just ecstatic. I couldn't believe they had found it after all these years."
Mr Benson said the service at sea was full of emotion for all the families involved.
During the service, which was attended by about 50 people, a bell was tolled for each of the men lost as their names were read out, and a flower was released for each of them.
"It was a real homecoming today … now we can bring some closure to it," Mr Benson said.
"It's time we were able to pay respects to these people and to do it properly and some level of comfort that they are remembered and not forgotten … it was really special.
"The grandson of Charles Benson actually spread his father's ashes over the wreck, so father and son are reunited, so that's very special as well."
Mr Benson said he felt very proud of the actions of his great-great-uncle, noting that before the SS Wollongbar II had left Byron Bay, Captain Benson had rigged the ship's rafts so that if the vessel sank, they would float free.
"I don't think we would have quite the story [about the Wollongbar] we have today if those people who survived weren't able to get off."
A significant slice of history
Heritage NSW senior maritime archaeologist Brad Duncan was among those who attended the service.
Dr Duncan said at the time it was attacked, the SS Wollongbar II was on a mission to find any survivors from the MV Limerick, which had been struck by a torpedo a few days earlier, on Anzac Day in 1943, killing two crewmen.
"When the Wollongbar was sailing along it was basically involved in trying to search for survivors," Dr Duncan said.
"A Japanese submarine happened to be in the area, and it picked them off with two torpedoes."
A Catalina flying boat saw the attack and directed a Port Macquarie fishing boat, the XLCR, out to sea to rescue the survivors.
The men on that vessel were later awarded for their bravery.
Onboard the SS Wollongbar II was a cargo of butter, sugar and bacon, which eventually washed up on the shore resulting in a boom in cake making, which was normally restricted by wartime food rationing.
"It's a big part of the Port Macquarie township history … there were families who were on the local boat who were turned out to sea to go and rescue everyone," Dr Duncan said.
"So it was a very significant event."
Mr Benson said people often recalled that Sydney Harbour was under attack during WWII, but did not realise the war also struck the Mid North Coast.
"The war was right here on the Mid North Coast, and it was very close," he said.
"There were close to 20 merchant vessels sunk off the NSW coast during the war."
