While the events surrounding her shipwrecking eight months later are dramatic and captured the imagination of the local press, the ship itself had little effect on coastal trade.

Though heralding the way forward in the change from sail to steam on the long Western Australian coast, like its predecessor SS Xantho, Georgette had a short and ill-starred career and sank soon after its arrival there.

In April 1876, the American whaling barque Catalpa rescued a group of Fenian political prisoners from Fremantle.

The escape was detected while the escapees were still rowing back to Catalpa, and Georgette, which was in Fremantle at the time, was sent with a water police cutter to intercept them.

Georgette then fired a warning shot with its 12-pounder (5 kg) cannon, but Anthony pointed at his ship's US flag and sailed away.

By 4 am, the water was rising so fast that her Captain, John Godfrey, had all the passengers and crew bailing with buckets while he steered for the coast.

At 6 pm the rising water extinguished the engine's fires, leaving Georgette drifting still some kilometres from shore.

On arriving at the scene, Grace Bussell immediately rode down the cliffs and into the surf, swimming her horse out until it was alongside one of the swamped lifeboats.

Bussell was touted as "Western Australia's Grace Darling", and was awarded the Royal Humane Society's silver medal.