120-Year Old Mystery Solved as ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks Found Off NSW

Scientists used advanced equipment to identify and map the wreck and confirmation of the remains was made by CSIRO scientists who matched the ship’s features.

The SS Nemesis was lost in 1904 off NSW's East Coast. Courtesy of Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW

A 120-year-old mystery of a shipwreck described as “the Holy Grail” by researchers has been solved after the New South Wales (NSW) Ministry of Environment and Heritage announced the hull of a 73-metre coal transporter lost in stormy seas while on a voyage from Newcastle and Melbourne had been found.

Thirty-two souls, aged 18-56 were lost when the SS Nemesis sank in huge seas off Port Kembla near NSW’s East Coast in July 1904.