Yellow sister submarine to return home to Geraldton after more than half a century

If you were lucky enough, you might have seen a great faded yellow monstrosity laying on the back of a truck being transported through town last week.

And if you were savvy enough to identify the wreck as a submarine, you would have been right on the money.

The historical oddity was hauled through Broome by Geraldton concreter Steve Easton as he made his way back to Geraldton from Derby.

On the journey back he stopped by Broome Primary School to show off the half-century-old submarine which has a rich and interesting history.

Mr Easton’s vessel is a clone of another submarine that was first built at the Dongara shipyard over several months in 1966 with it originally sporting a grey and red paint coat.

Standing 3m high, 8.4 metres long and weighing almost 10 tonnes, the submarines’ intended purpose was to hunt painted crayfish on the ocean floor, while others speculate it was constructed to look for lost treasure.

But after battery fumes from the electric motor powering the submarine proved to be toxic, the vessel was brought back land side and painted yellow in honour of the then-recently released Beatles song Yellow Submarine.

It was then used as an iconic Geraldton monument for decades until the vessel degraded enough to need restoration, which is currently under way by the Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton.

But the second submarine, which is now in Mr Easton’s possession, disappeared after leaving the Dongara shipyard in 1966 washing up years later on the shore of King Sound.

The sub was then housed at Broome Museum for many years, before being taken to Derby and used as an attraction at a local cafe before coming into Mr Easton’s possession.

Mr Easton said he jumped on the opportunity to grab the Derby submarine as soon as he saw it and hopes to refurbish the vessel and turn it into an attraction for the local community although he hasn’t settled on an idea just yet.

“I was thinking of turning it into something I can easily take around to schools for a history lesson or I might put it outside my farm as a bit of an attraction,” he said.

The Geraldton landmark now sits in a shed in Webberton owned by the Rotary Club of Greater Geraldton and is awaiting placement as an entrance statement to the Gascoyne town.