SS Wyola

About

SS Wyola was a 306 GRT steam tug built in 1912 by JT Eltringham & Co of South Shields, England for the Swan River Shipping Company of Western Australia. Wyola was 125 ft (38 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 24.7 ft (7.5 m), a depth of 13.1 ft (4.0 m) and a draught of 14 ft 0 in (4.3 m). Her 179 NHP (1,200 horsepower) triple-expansion engine gave Wyola a speed of 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h).

She was also fitted with a powerful salvage pump, making her one of the most powerful tugs in Australia at that time. While being delivered to Fremantle, Wyola was sent to rescue the barque Concordia, which had been grounded by a cyclone that hit Depuch Island in early 1912. On 13 June 1920 Wyola sailed from Fremantle Harbour into a storm to rescue the steamship Kingsmere, which had lost her rudder while crossing the Great Australian Bight.

On 5 January 1921 Wyola arrived in Carnarvon, WA to rescue the State Shipping Service of Western Australia steamship Kwinana, which was on fire. The tug's crew sank Kwinana in shallow water at her moorings to extinguish the fire, and then raised her by pumping her out with the tug's pump. In 1933 Wyola underwent repairs on the Fremantle slips, when some of...