All hope was lost for the crew of the Blythe Star.
But when survivors turned up on the opposite side of Tasmania from where their ship sank, days after a search was called off, they were able to tell their remarkable story.
Now, almost 50 years later, the ill-fated ship itself is discovered.
A specialised underwater camera is moving through a flurry of tiny, silver fish.
The water is murky but it's being illuminated by the submersible's spotlights.
It's April 2023, and the crew of the CSIRO research vessel Investigator have gathered excitedly to watch the video feed.
At a depth of 150 metres, in the Southern Ocean, off the south-west coast of Tasmania, something comes into view.
The shape of a cross — a ship's foremast.
As the camera gets closer, the metallic wreck of a long-lost ship looms large.
Some of the ship has been trawled off by fishing nets, and damaged due to decades of disintegration.
The submersible moves further along and lights up the bow of the ship.
A name is just barely visible after all these decades.
The CSIRO project team on the surface now know for sure — this is the wreck of the Blythe Star.
In 1973, the then-largest maritime operation in Australia's history was launched to find this vessel — and its 10 crew.
Aged just 18 at the time, Michael Doleman was the youngest of the crew.
Now 68, "Mick" is the last remaining survivor of the Blythe Star.
He flew from Melbourne to Hobart to view the deep-sea footage of the wreck.
"When I heard they found it, I was just blown away," he says.
"Overall it was pretty intact, especially the propeller and the rudder. It is in pretty good nick actually, considering its journey."
The ill-fated voyage
The sinking of the Blythe Star was only the start of a remarkable story of survival.
The coastal freighter, carrying fertiliser and kegs of beer — along with its 10 crew — set off from Hobart, in Tasmania's south.
It was bound for King Island, off the north-west tip of the state.
The journey was meant to take two days, but when the ship didn't arrive, authorities started to worry.
On the third day after its departure, the alert is raised and a search begins for the Blythe Star and its crew — George Cruickshank, Kenneth Jones, John Eagles, John Sloan, Stan Leary, Malcolm McCarroll, Cliff Langford, Lenton Power, Alfred Simpson and Michael Doleman.
Here's what we now know happened.
Under the command of Captain Cruickshank, the Blythe Star leaves Hobart on Friday evening — October 12, 1973.
By Saturday morning, 14 hours after it left Hobart, the ship is near South West Cape when it starts to take on water, catching the crew by surprise.
While there are still questions about the exact circumstances that caused the ship to capsize, it is understood to have been overloaded with cargo.
Mr Doleman was asleep when the ship began sinking.
He recalls being thrown from his bunk as it began to list.
"I gathered my thoughts about what was going on, the porthole was under water and I figured it was about time to take off," Mr Doleman says.
"When I was standing on the side of the ship — with no life jacket, a pair of jocks, freezing cold — it is a very daunting experience when your world is disappearing from under you."
Captain Cruikshank later tells investigators that "all seemed well, with nothing out of the ordinary".
"It was fine weather, beautiful weather. Suddenly there was a lurch. I thought, 'that's funny'. Next thing I knew, she was lying over on her starboard side."
Due to the angle of the Blythe Star's list, the life boat is unable to be launched, with all crew rushing to the inflatable raft instead.
The ship disappears under the waves so quickly that no radio distress call is made.
No-one else knows that the men are adrift in the Southern Ocean.
The only provisions the crew have at hand as they float through the ocean are some tinned water, dry biscuits, flares, two oars and a small bucket to bale water. There is also an orange canopy for shelter.
A portable radio had been left on the ship.
The raft begins to drift east and the weather turns bad.
Mr Doleman later tells reporters that a "couple of times the raft got to within a quarter of a mile or so to shore".
"But we couldn't land, the seas were so rough."
He says the crew considered swimming to shore but "there were too many sharks".
"One time, a school of killer whales were all round the raft. We were scared then," he said.
"We thought they were going to hit us. If one had, that would have been it, we'd all have been in the water."
About three days in, second engineer John Sloan dies.
His death is likely due to his daily medication going down with the ship.
The crew keep his body on the life raft, as they had been hearing planes overhead and had an expectation they would be rescued.
Eventually, they make the difficult decision to bury him at sea.
"That was a very sad moment, it was a body blow to us all," Mr Doleman recalls.
"We gave him a seafarer's burial, the captain [Cruickshank] said a few kind words and we slipped him over the side.
"You couldn't get a word out of anybody for days."
After eight days alone in the raft, the survivors have drifted more than 400 kilometres — from the west coast, to the south and then the east.
Eventually they come ashore at a place called Deep Glen Bay.
But for the nine survivors, the ordeal is not yet over.
While the men were lost, authorities mounted what was at the time the most extensive air-sea search ever conducted in Australia. It involved 14 aircraft.
But a week after it began, with no active leads, it was thought no-one could have survived. The massive search was called off.
"The Department of Transport in Tasmania gave formal notice to the authorities that the crew were perceived to be dead because the search hadn't revealed anything," Maritime Museum of Tasmania researcher Michael Stoddart says.
"In the end, the men would save themselves."
Stuck
The crew are now at Deep Glen Bay.
A rocky beach surrounded by 200-metre-high cliffs, and beyond that, dense bushland.
They have no clear path out.
Within 12 hours of landing, chief officer Ken Jones and chief engineer John Eagles die, succumbing to hypothermia and exhaustion.
There are now only seven survivors.
The fittest of the group — Mick Doleman, Malcolm McCarroll and Alfred Simpson — decide to go for help, leaving four behind.
"Three of us took off … we were determined and committed that we would just keep going and find a way," Mr Doleman says.
But it was torturous going.
"The undergrowth was very deep, you would fall into it," Mr Doleman says.
"You would only make a few metres in hours of walking."
After battling up the cliffs and through remote bushland for two days, the three men finally stumble upon a forestry track.
To their luck, they hear the sound of a truck approaching.
"We ran up to his truck and told him we were the Blythe Star survivors," Mr Doleman remembers.
"His response was: 'Nah, you're all dead'."
The forestry worker told the men that the search and rescue had been cancelled and "it's all over".
"I said: 'No, we're not dead'."
The victorious trio were taken to a nearby town, with a helicopter sent to pick up the four other survivors, and the bodies of Ken Jones and John Eagles, still at Deep Glen Bay.
Shortly after being rescued, one of the men told reporters: "I had a piece of biscuit four days ago and haven't had anything to eat since.
"I suppose I was too stubborn to die."
"The news broke that these men had come back from the dead," researcher Mr Stoddart says.
"There was footage of these unshaven, sunburnt and weather-beaten men and it gripped everyone's imagination.
"There had even been memorial services for some of the men — then they just walked out of the bush."
Mapping the wreck
With the 50th anniversary of the Blythe Star's sinking approaching, and at the urging of descendants of those who were on board, the scene was set for a new attempt at confirming the location of the shipwreck.
The search was guided by reports from fishing vessels of an unidentified shipwreck in the region.
"It's not uncommon for local fishermen to locate shipwrecks because they can be good fishing grounds," CSIRO RV Investigator voyage manager Margot Hind says.
"We had good evidence there was a wreck in this area as previous surveys recognised there was a blip on the sea floor."
An investigation of the unidentified shipwreck off Tasmania's south-west coast would be undertaken by the Investigator — a "piggyback project" done in addition to its other research assignments.
When a window of clear weather presented itself in April, the CSIRO project team first mapped the wreck and then sent down two specialised underwater cameras.
The team were able to make out features of the ship 150 metres below them and match them to historical photos — including the name on the bow of the ship.
"We were able to confirm it was the Blythe Star," Ms Hind says.
"We all had butterflies in our chest, but there was a bit of apprehension too because it can highlight what can happen at sea … it was humbling in that way."
Honouring the crew
The loss of the Blythe Star and the massive follow-up search operation led the Australian government to overhaul maritime safety.
A new Australian Ship Reporting System (AUSREP) became part of the Navigation Act, requiring ships to give daily position reports and to submit sailing plans in advance.
Susan McKenna was 4 years old when her father Kenneth Jones went missing.
Mr Jones, chief officer on the Blythe Star, died at Deep Glen Bay.
Ms McKenna admits she was apprehensive about seeing the wreck to begin with, but hopes the development renews interest in the Blythe Star story.
"I like the fact the Blythe Star is still newsworthy and this is another chapter in the story," Ms McKenna says.
"The entire crew have left a legacy of safer maritime operations, which benefits every single seafarer.
"If I couldn't have my dad, as long as there was a positive legacy left, to me that was really comforting."
There are still questions about the exact circumstances that caused the Blythe Star to sink.
Despite a number of investigations into the disaster, a definitive answer is yet to be accepted by all.
Mr Doleman and the descendants of those on board want to ensure the story of Blythe Star and the crew's survival is not forgotten.
The life raft used by the crew is on display in the Maritime Museum of Tasmania, but there are calls to do more.
Maritime researcher Mr Stoddart is working with Mr Doleman to lobby the Tasmanian government for a permanent memorial in Hobart.
Since the shipwreck, Mr Doleman has gone on to campaign for improved maritime safety and better practices on ships in Australian and international waters.
"There needs to be more attention paid to the wellbeing of seafarers no matter what nationality they are, what cargo they carry," he says.
"To make sure they are looked after and cared for."
Credits
- Words: Liz Gwynn and James Dunlevie
- Graphics/video editing: Paul Strk
- Photography: Maren Preuss
- Videography: Jordan Young
- Digital production: James Dunlevie, Ros Lehman and Daniel Miller
- Digital editor: Daniel Miller
- Additional photos: Denis Jeffrey, Rex Cox, CSIRO, Trove, Maritime Museum of Tasmania
