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This is a list of unidentified shipwrecks that have been located in Australian waters. Many of these shipwrecks are unable to be accessed so specific locations are not given. Some of these wreck sites have not been given official confirmation and the details are provided here.
An unidentified vessel floated onto a reef near Mount Ernest Island, where some of the crew members were massacred. The sole occupant remained on the vessel, which drifted free at high tide and ran aground on Mount Ernest Island. The sole occupant was massacred, and the vessel was looted. In 1929, the rudder of the vessel and other scattered wooden wreckage was still visible. [2] [3]
Workers erecting a lighthouse were notified by local Aboriginal natives of the presence of a shipwreck some four miles from Breaksea Spit. The wreck site consisted of a timber hull buried upside down in the sand, along with various sundry items including a tea chest, bars of soap, a portion of a box of candles and several bottles of gin. There wreck was never identified. [4]
A portion of an as of yet unidentified vessel was spotted just offshore of Orchid Beach, Fraser Island. The wreckage included a timber spar and a cannonade. The wreckage is buried beneath several metres of sand, but was unearthed as recently as 2002. [5]
The remains of a 19th-century wooden sailing ship were exposed during a storm in 1976 between Rainbow Beach and Inskip Point. It is believed to be the remains of the barque Saint Magnus, which drifted ashore in a storm during 1875. The wreck was recently exposed during a storm in 2002-2003. [5]
The site was reported to the Maritime Authority in 1989 and consists of several anchors, spars and timbers, sandstone ballast, chains and other assorted debris. [6]
A fisherman discovered the wreckage of an unidentified shipwreck on the eastern edge of North Ledge Reef. There are no official records of any shipwrecks in that specific location. The debris area is scattered over a wide area, and consists of iron ballast, a cannon embedded in a reef formation. It is surrounded by iron fittings, and some 50 metres away from the main wreckage, an iron water tank protrudes above the waterline. [6]
A resident of Badu Island located what is believed to be the remains of a vessel on the southern side of Jervis Reef. It includes an anchor chain and stone ballast. This is not the remains of the French vessel Pauline et Victory, wrecked on the northern side of Jervis Reef. [6]
The wreck site lies on the northern side of the island in a depth of seven metres of water. The only possible candidate for this wreck is the twelve ton iron ketch Gertrude, lost on the island in 1912. The wreck site consists of an anchor attached to the intact bow, which protrudes above the waterline at low tide. The hull has iron sheathing and various other structural debris. [6]
The wreck of an unidentified timber vessel was located offshore of the pearling station at Goods Island. Stern posts, hoop pine wooden planking and wooden ribs as well as what appears to be a diesel engine are present at the wreck site. [6]
The wreck of an unidentified commercial fisheries vessel lies beached just above the high water mark, off the southern side of the island. The vessel has a steel superstructure, and is broken in half, but in a relatively good condition. The freezer on the vessel is still present. [6]
The wreck of an unidentified vessel is exposed offshore of Collis Beach at low tide. Parts of the wreck are scattered down a reef slope to a depth of six metres. It appears to be an old coal hulk, with wreckage including ironwork, scattered timbers and an iron mast that protrudes above the waterline. [6]
A wooden shipwreck some thirty metres in length was located on a beach on Hinchinbrook Island after Cyclone Yasi. It could be the remains of a number of vessels wrecked in the 19th century. The remains include the hull and a windless protruding from the sand. [7]
SS Yongala was a passenger and cargo ship that sank off Cape Bowling Green, Queensland, Australia on 23 March 1911. En route from Melbourne to Cairns she steamed into a cyclone and sank south of Townsville.
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately three million shipwrecks worldwide.
Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites. Diving to crashed aircraft can also be considered wreck diving. The recreation of wreck diving makes no distinction as to how the vessel ended up on the bottom.
The Pearl and Hermes Atoll, also known as Pearl and Hermes Reef, is part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a group of small islands and atolls that form the farthest northwest portion of the Hawaiian island chain. The atoll consists of a variable number of flat and sandy islets, typically between five and seven. More were noted in historical sources but have since been lost to erosion and rising sea levels.
Over 1400 ships have been wrecked on the coast of Western Australia. This relatively large number of shipwrecks is due to a number of factors, including:
The Lofthus is a Norwegian shipwreck near Boynton Beach, Florida, United States. Built in 1868 in Sunderland, England by T.R. Oswald, the 222-foot iron-hulled vessel was originally christened Cashmere and rigged as a three masted barque. She was painted with false gunports to ward off Sumatran and Javanese pirates. After a career in the East Indian trade Cashmere was sold to a Norwegian firm, renamed Lofthus, and used in the American trade. On February 4, 1898, the Lofthaus wrecked in a storm en route to Buenos Aires, Argentina from Pensacola, Florida. The crew of 16 men, as well as the ship's cat and dog were rescued by the passing vessel Three Friends, which was smuggling guns to Cuba. The ship, however, was declared a loss as it could not be removed from the shallow reef. The cargo, primarily lumber, was salvaged and brought ashore by locals and reportedly used to build homes in the Boynton Beach area.
City of York was a 1,194-ton iron ship which sank after hitting a reef off Rottnest Island in the last few kilometres of its voyage from San Francisco to Fremantle, Western Australia in 1899.
Diamond was a three-masted square rigger, built in New York City in 1823. She was one of the first ships to operate a regular service for passenger and cargo between Britain and the United States. She sank en route to Liverpool from New York on 2 January 1825 in Cardigan Bay. The alleged wreck site was identified in 2000 and was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 on 1 April 2002, the first such designation by the National Assembly for Wales. However, the identification has since been called into question.
Sinking ships for wreck diving sites is the practice of scuttling old ships to produce artificial reefs suitable for wreck diving, to benefit from commercial revenues from recreational diving of the shipwreck, or to produce a diver training site.
The islands and reefs of the Capricorn and Bunker Group are situated astride the Tropic of Capricorn at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, approximately 80 kilometres east of Gladstone, which is situated on the central coast of the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia.
Aeolus was a wooden ketch built in 1850 at Pyrmont, New South Wales, Australia. She was carrying timber to Sydney, New South Wales, when she was lost at Hole in the Wall, Jervis Bay, New South Wales, on 24 October 1867. The wreck has not been located, but its approximate position is 35.134648°S 150.745874°E.
King Philip was a 19th-century clipper ship launched in 1856 and wrecked in 1878. The wreck of this ship is only rarely visible; very infrequently the timbers can be seen protruding from the sands of Ocean Beach, on the Pacific Ocean coast of San Francisco, California. The wreck is the "most complete remains of an American medium clipper." This is a shipwreck of one of many ships that were wrecked in and around San Francisco Bay.
Masthead Island is a coral cay located in the southern Great Barrier Reef, 60 kilometres northeast of Gladstone, Queensland. The island is a protected area and forms part of Capricornia Cays National Park. Masthead Island is one of the most undisturbed cays in the national park because human and feral animal impacts have been rare. The cay covers an area of 0.45 square kilometres (0.17 sq mi) and is surrounded by a coral reef that is partially exposed at low-tide. It is part of the Capricornia Cays Important Bird Area.
Many ships have wrecked in and around San Francisco Bay. For centuries San Francisco Bay, with its strong currents, rocky reefs, and low fog conditions has experienced more than a hundred shipwrecks. Ever since San Francisco Bay was discovered during the land expedition of Gaspar de Portolà in 1769, it has been one of the most popular harbors.
The Phoenix was a sidewheel paddle steamer operating on Lake Champlain between the United States states of New York and Vermont and the British province of Lower Canada. Built in 1815, she grounded, burned and sank in 1819 off the shore of Colchester, Vermont. Her surviving wreckage is the oldest known example of a sidewheel steamer anywhere in the world. The wreck site is a Vermont State Historic Site, which may be visited by registered and qualified divers. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The AmboyandGeorge SpencerShipwreck Site is an archeological shipwreck site which consists of the wrecks of the wooden bulk freighter George Spencer and the wooden schooner-barge Amboy. Both vessels were wrecked during the Mataafa Storm of 1905. In 1994 the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Hive Shipwreck is a heritage-listed shipwreck site of the Hive, a former convict transportation ship located approximately 40 metres (130 ft) off Bherwerre Beach, Jervis Bay Territory, Australia. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 1 April 2010.
Daring was a 17-metre (55'8") schooner, launched on 1 September 1863 in Mangawhai, New Zealand. It was wrecked twice, once in 1864, and again in 1865. Daring's wreck was excavated in December 2018 after being exposed by shifting sands.
The SS J.M. Allmendinger was a wooden-hulled steam barge built in 1883, that ran aground during a storm on November 26, 1895, on Lake Michigan, off the coast of Mequon, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. On October 11, 2018, the remains of J.M. Allmendinger were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.