What lies below

Deep below the ocean's surface lies an underwater graveyard.

For more than half a century, the fate of one of Australia's worst maritime disasters has remained a mystery.

Twenty-one people died when the MV Noongah sank in heavy seas off the coast of Australia on August 25, 1969.

There were five survivors, but only one body was ever recovered.

Now, the final resting place of the MV Noongah has been located 55 years after the coastal freighter was lost at sea.

"It's relief in a way because it's always been in the back of my mind," says Pamela Hendy, the widow of Leo Botsman, the MV Noongah's captain.

Researchers have solved a maritime mystery spanning more than half a century, finally bringing closure to those left behind.

When John Wirth was woken in the early hours of the morning on August 25, 1969, he knew something was wrong.

The then 33-year-old was a second engineer working aboard the MV Noongah and wasn't supposed to be on duty for several more hours.

"Everything seemed quiet and of course the engine wasn't going," he says.

"During that time I felt the ship start to lurch more and more, I had never been on one before that was actually sinking."

With nothing but his wage and a life jacket, John made his way onto the deck.

Despite the darkness, he could see that half the ship was missing and made the decision to jump into the water.

The crew aboard MV Noongah battled to stay afloat for hours before abandoning ship around 35 minutes before the vessel sank.

During that time, the ship's radio operator Stephen Pedemont sent a distress signal, sparking one of the greatest search and rescue operations in Australia's history.

It involved five Royal Australian Navy destroyers, three minesweepers, seven aircraft, two helicopters and a number of other vessels.

More than six hours after the sinking event, a Japanese tanker — the Koyo Maru — rescued John Wirth and Assistant Steward Anwyl Durose from two separate life rafts.

The pair received a rock-star reception when they arrived in Brisbane.

They were swarmed by journalists who were desperate to hear about the fateful last minutes aboard the ship, and whether there were any other survivors.

During an interview with ABC News at the time, John Wirth told a reporter that he wasn't sure why the ship had sunk.

"All I know is the ship was listing and I was called down below and we were trying to correct the list, but we weren't having much success and it was getting worse all the time."

The merchant vessel Meringa picked up three other men clinging to a plank of wood about eight miles off Tracking Point, some 12 hours after the MV Noongah sunk.

One body was taken aboard HMAS Hobart, but the bodies of the 20 other men were never found.

"It's the type of thing that never seems to go away," Mr Wirth says.

"Something seems to trigger it and you go through the whole rigmarole again. It has had a big effect on me."

Confirming the final resting place

For a number of years, members of the public have reported the location of an unidentified shipwreck off the NSW Mid North Coast.

There were suspicions that it may be MV Noongah, but until recently, the technology or diving knowledge needed to identify shipwrecks in deep water wasn't available.

In 2021, the Sydney Project recreational dive team provided the CSIRO with the coordinates, but there wasn't enough data to identify the suspected wreck.

Last month, the national science agency research vessel RV Investigator was able to complete a thorough investigation of the sunken vessel.

It included collecting high-resolution bathymetry and video footage from below.

After more than half a century, it confirmed the final resting place of the MV Noongah off South West Rocks.

The investigation showed the wreck is sitting at a depth of 170 metres and remains largely intact.

The CSIRO's camera revealed "great features of the MV Noongah", voyage manager Margot Hind says.

"Things like the derrick cranes that were folded over on the deck," she says. "We were able to do a great flyover starting from the bow all the way up to the stern."

It's hoped the CSIRO's video footage and high-resolution bathymetry will help maritime archaeologists determine what may have contributed to the sinking event and whether the disaster was man-made or weather-related.

There are now plans for recreational divers attached to the Sydney Project to film the wreck using specialised cameras and equipment.

At a depth of 170 metres, it would be considered one of the deepest shipwreck dives in the world if successful, and would provide additional footage to experts investigating the mystery behind the MV Noongah's demise.

It would also further document a site that is considered an underwater graveyard.

"This vessel and the finding of this particular vessel means a lot to the people who were associated with it either as descendants or survivors or friends and family," says Emily Jateff from the Australian National Maritime Museum.

"Shipwrecks are part of our collective maritime memory."

'Their souls are close by the ship somewhere'

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, memorial events were held right across the country for the men who never made it home.

One of those was Victorian father-of-two and husband, Leo Botsman, the captain aboard MV Noongah.

"He was very talkative and forthright and he loved the sea and the sea was his life," his widow Pamela Hendy says.

Pamela last saw her husband when she dropped him off at Essendon airport on July 21, 1969, before racing home to watch the historic moment Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.

"The next thing we knew is there was a horrendous storm off the coast of NSW and his mother phoned me to say there'd been an accident and the ship had gone down," she says.

"But of course, that wasn't to be."

Brendan McCormack's father also died in the tragedy.

He last saw him the day the MV Noongah left Newcastle, bound for Townsville on August 23, 1969.

Now, 55 years later, Brendan finally has the closure he never thought would come.

"I knew I'd never see my father, we all knew that we'd never see our family members again and we accepted that … so it is great they've been able to find the ship.

Credits

Reporting: Liz Gwynn and Romy Stephens

Editor and digital production: Bridget Walker (Judd)

Photography: Romy Stephens

Additional footage supplied by CSIRO and ABC archives.