Newcastle’s maritime history includes over 200 vessels wrecked in and around the mouth of the Hunter River. The drowning of all but one of the passengers on board the paddle-steamer Cawarra in 1866 makes it one of Australia’s worst sea disasters. In this short clip from 1938, we see a steamship in dock with a huge gash in its side, the result of a collision. The footage graphically documents the remarkable extent of the damage, with the men examining the ship providing a useful scale reference.