On This Day May 30, 1886

The Ly-ee-Moon steamer runs aground off Cape Green lighthouse in southern NSW, Australia, killing 71.
The Ly-ee-Moon was built as a paddle steamer in 1859 by the Thames Shipbuilding Company of Blackall, London, England. Originally designed for use in the opium trade, she was also rigged with three masts and sails, and was the fastest steamer known at that time. In the early 1860s, during the American civil war, Ly-ee-Moon was used as a blockade runner, running in and out of Charleston, South Carolina. Following the civil war, the steamer moved to Hong Kong, where she remained for almost a decade. The steamer was then was sold to the Australasian Steam Navigation Company Ltd in the late 1870s. After catching fire whilst being refitted in Sydney and being scuttled to put out the fire, the ship was refloated and repaired, at a cost of approximately £4,000. The Ly-ee-Moon returned to service in 1878 and ran the Sydney to Melbourne route.

The Ly-ee-Moon departed Melbourne for Sydney on 29 May 1886 with 55 passengers and 41 crew aboard, carrying a varied cargo of staple foods, clothing, grains and alcohol. On the evening of 30 May 1886, the steamer was approaching Gabo Island, just south of the New South Wales/Victoria border, when it was wrecked off a reef near Cape Green lighthouse. The lighthouse keepers attempted to rescue the passengers and crew, but ultimately 71 people died - 41 passengers and 31 crew. The wreckage of the Ly-ee-Moon remains where the ship sank on that fateful night.