Banda

Official Number 44658

The Banda was a full-rigged ship built by Lumley Kennedy & Co. at Whitehaven, launched on the 5th November 1861, initially with the name Sonora. She was bought by McDermaid & Co., renamed, and was registered at Liverpool.

In 1877 the Banda, described as a barque, left Newcastle NSW for Shanghai. She was wrecked on the 21st May 1877 on the eastern edge of the Bampton Shoals, Coral Sea, and began to break up within five hours of striking. She was under the command of Capt. Joseph Stollery, who was not blamed for the incident, it being judged that a faulty chronometer and a poor lookout were to blame. At the time the vessel was registered at London. Capt.Stollery reached the Queensland coast with part of the crew, but it is not clear whether all the crew survived from the reports available.

Sources :

1. "Shipbuilding at Whitehaven - a Checklist" by Harry Fancy, pub. Whitehaven Museum (1984) - notes vessel as a barque, 481 tons.
2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1861-2 (Supplement): ship, owned by  McDermaid, master Capt.R.Glass jun., voyage Liverpool-China.
3. American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, 1870 - names master as Capt.Lamont, vessel listed as a ship, 504 tons.
4. Wreck and inquiry reported  in "The Times" newspaper, Friday, 28th Sept., 1877, page 4 - gives wreck location as Bampton Shoals, Coral Sea.
5. Wreck listed in  Australian National Shipwreck Database - vessel listed as a 481 ton barque.
6. Loss reported in the Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 8th June 1877 - gives wreck location as Chesterfield Reef.