A search for the SS Dacca at Deadalus Reef?
The Ship wreck has not been found yet!

The Loss of the Dacca
On 29th April 1890 the Dacca left London with a crew of 91 Europeans (including the Master) and 464 passengers for the ultimate destination Queensland in Australia The Dacca finally cleared Suez on 15th May At this point the Master increased speed and set a course on his standard compass . This was designed to take his ship 5 miles west of the Brothers Islands. The wind was light, the sea smooth and the weather fine.

At 0800 hrs the first glimmer of light from Big Brothers Island was seen bearing Southeast ¼° South and by 0900 hrs the Lighthouse itself was clearly visible. At 1000 hrs the Master came on the bridge and hauled up very close to the light so as to give himself the best possible "exact fix" on the chart. He then set a course of South - East .

At first sight it would seem as though this course would put the vessel almost directly onto the Daedalus Shoal. Stuart, however, fully expected the prevailing current to set the vessel a full five miles further to the west during this leg of the journey. Most odd was the fact that at midnight on the 15th, the light from the Brothers Lighthouse was recorded in the ship’s log as still visible - which was most curious because they were now some 24 miles distant from the Brothers and that light can only be seen for 14 miles. Furthermore, 24 miles (or even 14?) in a period of 14 hours was very slow progress considering conditions were very good.

At midnight the Second Officer came on watch and took charge of the ship. The course had remained the same since leaving the Brothers and 15 minutes later the Master went to his cabin - located just off the Chart Room, to write his night orders. These included an instruction to call the Master at either 0515 hrs or earlier if Daedalus light came into view.

At 0400 hrs the First Mate Mr James Tait duly took over the watch and read and signed the night orders. The course remained unchanged.

Daybreak came at 0530 hrs at which time the First Mate took the required bearing before going into the chartroom to work on it. Almost 15 minutes later he returned to the bridge and immediately saw the Daedalus Light about one quarter point off the port bow. That time spent in the chartroom had been the most crucial 15 minutes when no officer was on the bridge!

On so doing, the Master immediately saw that the vessel’s course would take her onto the shoal and at 0602 hrs altered course 3 degrees south. Too late. Almost immediately, the ship struck a glancing blow on Daedalus shoal. The impact was timed at 0630 hrs on 16th May 1890. Straight away the helm was put hard-a-port and the engines eased to slow. Taking control of his stricken vessel, the engines were stopped and called all hands to prepare the boats. On sounding the wells, the ship was found to have over 6 feet of water in the forward hold.

For a short while the leakage was slowed down but suddenly water was found to be pouring into the aft holds. The ship’s engines were then put full ahead in a bid to beach the stricken vessel - but she simply bounced off the reef with great force.

At 0715 hrs, the SS Rosario came in sight and gave considerable assistance rescuing the many people still remaining on board the Dacca. The Rosario, however, was too small to carry so many additional passengers so her crew manned her own lifeboats until, eventually all passengers and crew were safely on the Reef. In addition, almost all of the cabin baggage (which represented all the worldly possessions for many of the emigrating passengers) was also saved.
As far as the Dacca herself was concerned, however, a few minutes before 1100 hrs she was "observed to go down in very deep water."