The only book written on the Tasman Bridge disaster, now in a special 50 year commemorative edition, By Derwent Divided details the full history of not only a night of tragedy but also almost two years of a divided city.
When the Lake Illawarra struck the Tasman Bridge on that fateful night of 5 January 1975, the collision caused not only the deaths of 12 people but also began the struggle of Tasmanians who had to cope with a massive disruption to their lives.
Fully illustrated, By Derwent Divided also chronicles the tale of the many ferries which quickly came into service.
It is at once both a story of sadness but also of a triumph over adversity, and also a major event in the history of Australia’s southernmost capital.
Non-fiction, Australian History
About The Author
Military historian; public speaker, author of 25 books, and a retired naval officer, Dr Tom Lewis received the Order of Australian Medal (OAM) for services to naval history.
He served in the Iraq War in 2006 as an Intelligence analyst, and also in East Timor. He has worked as a divemaster, high school teacher, and journalist.
Tom is an expert on World War II, especially in the Pacific, but has also written in areas including medieval battle, and the reality of battlefield behaviour.
His latest books are Cyclone Warriors – the Armed Forces in Cyclone Tracy; The Secret Submarine, revealing the RAAF’s sinking of the Japanese I-178 off Sydney in 1943, and Australia’s Coastal War, which brings together all of the submarine, surface, and air attacks around WWII Australia.
The Sinking of HMAS Sydney has just won the 2024 Australian Naval Institute’s Commodore Sam Bateman Book Prize.
