In the years that followed the disappearance of the Yongala, stories began to surface about a ghost ship, exactly resembling the Yongala, being frequently seen moving in the distance in seas between Bowen and Townsville.
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The only body ever found was that of the racehorse Moonshine, washed up at the mouth of Gordon Creek, not far from Ross Creek, Townsville.
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News of wreckage found washed up on beaches gradually trickled in—from Hinchinbrook Island to Bowen, but there was no sign of the vessel or of those on board.
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Some speculated that she had been rendered helpless due to some unknown mishap between Whitsunday Passage and Cape Bowling Green or been overpowered by the extreme force of the wind; perhaps the anchors had been dropped causing the boat to slew broadside into the wind; others thought she had hit a submerged reef between Flinders Passage and Keeper Reef or run into Nares Rock, or even struck Cape Upstart.
SS Yongala a ship that sank off the coast of Queensland in 1911