Banda

Official Number 44658

The Banda was a full-rigged ship built by Lumley Kennedy & Co. at Whitehaven, launched on the 5th November 1861. In 1870 she was owned by McDermaid & Co. and was registered at Liverpool.

The Banda 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, 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. American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, 1870 - names master as Capt.Lamont, vessel listed as a ship, 504 tons.
3. Wreck and inquiry reported  in "The Times" newspaper, Friday, 28th Sept., 1877, page 4.
4. Wreck listed in  Australian National Shipwreck Database - vessel listed as a 481 ton barque.