The sinking of the paddle-steamer Cawarra in Newcastle Harbour was one of the worst shipwrecks in Australian history.

The Brisbane-bound passenger vessel had become caught in rough seas off the east coast of Australia and had entered Newcastle Harbour to take shelter when it was plundered by waves and sunk before thousands of onlookers who had gathered along the Newcastle shoreline to watch the stricken passenger ship.

Of the 61 passengers and crew on board, only one survivor was rescued.

The wreck today sits at the bottom of the harbour beneath the wreckage of three more vessels that have since foudnered in the harbour. The site is accessible from the Stockton Breakwall where a small plaque commemorates the greatest loss of life in Newcastle Harbour.

In 1934, three people were drowned when the Newcastle-Stockton ferry "Bluebell" collided with a ship in the middle of Newcastle Harbour. The collision occurred around midnight and passengers of the ferry were thrown in complete darkness into the harbour. Two bodies were recovered over the following days but the remains of one other missing female passenger were never found.