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Shipwreck found over a century after bodies of crewmembers washed ashore: “120-year-old mystery” solved
In July 1904, the steamship SS Nemesis was transporting coal to Melbourne, Australia, when it ran into a powerful storm and vanished. All 32 people on board were considered lost, and in the weeks that followed, the bodies of crewmembers and debris from the iron-hulled ship washed ashore, but the location of the 240-foot vessel remained a mystery.
Until now.
The ship has finally been identified more than a century later. It was initially spotted when a company searching for sunken shipping containers came across the wreck by accident, the New South Wales Ministry of Environment and Heritage announced this weekend.
“The 120-year-old mystery of SS Nemesis and the 32 crew members lost at sea has been solved,” government officials declared in a news release.
CSIRO
In 2022, a remote sensing company called Subsea Professional Marine was trying to find cargo boxes lost off the coast of Sydney when it came across the shipwreck by chance, officials said. The vessel, which could not be officially identified at the time, was about 16 miles offshore and 525 feet underwater.
Government officials suspected the wreck might be the doomed SS Nemesis but it wasn’t officially confirmed until September 2023 when CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, was able to capture underwater imagery that definitively showed the distinctive features of the steamship.
The CSIRO research vessel, RV Investigator, used advanced multibeam echosounders to map the wreck site and underwater cameras to obtain high-resolution images of the vessel. They showed the severely damaged vessel resting upright on a sand plain.
“Our visual inspection of the wreck using the drop camera showed some key structures were still intact and identifiable, including two of the ship’s anchors lying on the seafloor,” Phil Vandenbossche, a CSIRO hydrographic surveyor on board the voyage, said in a statement.
After an up-close survey of the shipwreck, officials also pinpointed what likely happened to the vessel. They determined that when the SS Nemesis was hit by large wave off the coast of Wollongong, the engine was overwhelmed and the ship “sank too quickly for life boats to be deployed.”
Government officials say they are now committed to finding family members of the Australian, British and Canadian crewmembers who went down with the 1,393-ton ship. About half of the crew on the British-built ship were from the U.K., including the captain, Alex Lusher, chief mate, T.A. Renaut, and second mate, W.D. Stein, officials said.
“Around 40 children lost their parents in this wreck and I hope this discovery brings closure to families and friends connected to the ship who have never known its fate,” said NSW Minister for Environment and Heritage Penny Sharpe.
The video imagery collected by CSIRO will now be “stitched together” to create a 3D model of the wreck for further investigation, officials said.
“The loss of Nemesis has been described as one of Sydney’s most enduring maritime mysteries and has even been described by shipwreck researchers as the ‘holy grail,'” Sharpe said. “Thanks to collaborative work with CSIRO and Subsea, using modern technology and historical records, Heritage NSW has been able to write the final chapter of SS Nemesis’ story.”
Only about half of the more than 200 shipwrecks off the New South Wales coast have been located, officials said.
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
CBS News
Kamala Harris will speak with “60 Minutes” tomorrow. Here’s what to know for the interview.
Voters will get the chance to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday as she presents her case for why she should be president in a “60 Minutes” election special.
For decades, “60 Minutes” has featured both Republican and Democratic nominees for presidents, but this year, former President Donald Trump backed out after previously indicating he would be on the show. Correspondent Scott Pelley, who’d been set to interview Trump, will instead travel to Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of Arizona’s voters and a critical battleground in a key swing state.
One thing is certain about the election; with the U.S. deeply involved in both the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, whoever wins on Nov. 5 will become a wartime president.
What Harris will discuss
Israel’s war started one year ago after Hamas launched a surprise terror attack and correspondent Bill Whitaker will discuss the ongoing war with Harris.
Harris will also discuss the economy, immigration, her record as vice president and the differences between herself and Trump.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz will also appear.
Whitaker joined the Democratic ticket on the campaign trail this week to gain insight into their platform’s priorities and values, and what the candidates believe voters should know.
Why Trump pulled out of the “60 Minutes” interview
Leading up to the candidate hour, Trump, through campaign spokespeople, was the first candidate to accept the “60 Minutes” request to be interviewed for the special, according to CBS News. It had been agreed that both candidates would receive equal time during the broadcast.
Trump last sat down with 60 Minutes in 2020. He walked out during the interview with Lesley Stahl. Trump referenced the incident on Tuesday night at a Milwaukee press conference when asked about his decision not to participate in the Oct. 7 “60 Minutes” election special.
“Well, right now, I went to – they came to me and would like me to do an interview, but first I want to get an apology, because the last time I did an interview with them, if you remember, they challenged me on the computer,” Trump said. “They said the ‘laptop from hell’ was from Russia, and I said it wasn’t from Russia. It was from Hunter, and I never got an apology, so I’m sort of waiting. I’d love to do ’60 Minutes.’ I do everything.”
The Republican nominee for president emphasized that he felt he was owed an apology from “60 Minutes.”
“Let’s see if they do it. I wouldn’t mind doing 60,” Trump continued. “I’ve done ’60 Minutes’ a lot.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said that Trump’s team had not agreed to an interview.
“Fake News,” Cheung said in a post on X. “60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020. There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in. They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.”
Previous Trump, Harris appearances on 60 Minutes
Trump previously sat down with “60 Minutes'” Mike Wallace in 1985, Pelley in 2015 and Lesley Stahl twice in 2016, first in July of that year and then again in November of 2016. He also spoke with Stahl again in 2018 and 2020.
Harris previously sat down with Whitaker last year. She also was interviewed by Norah O’Donnell, “CBS Evening News” anchor and “60 Minutes” contributing correspondent, in 2020.
How to watch the “60 Minutes” election special
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