A picture in time: the Tasman Bridge disaster
Twelve people died when the Lake Illawarra bulk carrier struck the bridge connecting Hobart across the Derwent River in 1975
On the evening of Sunday 5 January 1975, the bulk carrier Lake Illawarra was travelling down the Derwent River in Hobart on its way to deliver zinc ore to Port Pirie. Just after 9pm the Lake Illawarra, attempting to pass under the Tasman Bridge, missed the main navigation channel and brought down two piers of the bridge, causing more than 100 metres of road to collapse 45 metres into the river below, along with four cars that drove over the gap.
Five people in the cars died, as well as seven crew members on the ship, which was struck by the falling masonry and sank within minutes. The occupants of two cars left dangling on the edge of the bridge were miraculously able to escape.
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