52[Letters to the Editor, The West Australian, Tuesday 16 April 1912, page 6]

The Koombana.

To the Editor.

Sir,--It seems only a few months since we were mourning the loss of the Waratah, and even less than that of the Yongala, and now of the Koombana right on our own shores. The ships mentioned above were as fine a trio as ever sailed out of a port, the very latest in marine architecture--the last word in comfort and beauty combined. What is the reason for these disasters? The aggregate loss of life is simply appalling. Not one single word from either, not one survivor from among all those hundreds. The writer has seen and admired each of these fine ships. There is no doubt of their great beauty. They were almost like things of life, and yet there has been a feeling (even while admiring) that the height from the water line seemed to a lay mind abnormal, and the thought has come, "what would happen in a Nor'-West willy willy? What has happened? Alas, a fine ship, with its precious burthen, vanished. I have no doubt that the foremost architects have proved, theoretically, that this latest type of ship is equally as seaworthy as, say, the Albany and Bullarra (both of which have come successfully through strennuous times). With a wind blowing at such a rate, and with such force as in this recent blow, the great resistance offered by the height of the Koombana from the water line to her bridge must, in my opinion, have had a great deal to do with her undoing, and in the same way with the Waratah and Koombana, I think that vessels of the old Albany type would, given similar storm conditions, come through the ordeal more successfully than a vessel of the Koombana type. Theoretically, I have no doubt that these vessels were equal to any ships afloat, but we all know that theory does not always work out in practice, so it would appear in the cases quoted above at any rate. I have some to the conclusion that in the architecture of these floating palaces we have sacrificed something and brought the margin between danger and safety to a very narrow limit when storm conditions prevail.--Yours, etc. KIANU. Perth, April 6.