With the discovery of gold in 1851, Melbourne soon became a major entry point to Australia. By the end of the year and the following year, the demand for passage to Australia rose considerably. Rivalry between the many shipping companies intensified as they fought, through advertisements extolling the virtues of their speedy and comfortable ships, for the lucrative new emigration trade.  No doubt risks were taken with the aim of turning a quick profit, and no doubt ships were lost.  The Port Phillip district of New South Wales was declared a separate colony and named Victoria, on 1 July 1851. Melbourne grew into a vibrant metropolis, and trade between Melbourne and Sydney prospered. Access to coastal towns such as Port Albert, Warrnambool and Portland was quicker by ship until roads improved and the the motor vehicle dominated land transport. Bay ferries continued to run on Port Phillip, between Melbourne, Portarlington, Geelong, Queencliff, Portsea, Sorrento, Rye and Frankston well into the 1950s.

With respect to shipping losses, Victoria can be considered in three parts - Port Phillip and its entrance, and Westernport, in the middle of the state; the rich pastures of Gippsland to the east, and the beautiful rugged coastline  of the Great Oceans Road to the west. We should also consider the Bass Strait islands - King Island, the Furneaux Group and the Kent Group - they are listed separately (and are, incidentally, part of Tasmania). The western coast of Victoria contains, I am sure, more shipwrecks by number and tonnage than any other stretch of coast in Australia. And yet the loss of life has not been exceedingly high, with forty-nine lost with the wreck of the ship Loch Ard near Port Campbell in 1878 being the greatest, and the Children, at Childers Cove further west, with 38 lives:  the 'top ten' wrecks in terms of loss of life resulted in 221 lives give or take one or two. This is surprising low as the coastline is magnificent in its ruggedness, a fact not lost on the tourist operators who promote Victoria's Shipwreck Coast.

For the purposes of this listing, which includes over a thousand entries, Port Phillip and its entrance, the Rip, has been separated, as has Gabo Island to the far east of the state. Westernport and Phillip Island have been included in this main list. The vessels scuttled in Bass Strait have been included in the Port Phillip listing.

References.
Victoria, of all states, seems to have the most documented shipwreck data, in public format at least. Noted shipwreck historian Jack Loney lived on the west coast and later at Portarlington in Port Phillip, and most of his work was on the wrecks off the Victorian coast: three main publications are used as a base here, [LV], [LG], [LO], with several other monographs on individual wrecks and regions. Noble [NH], and Bateson [AS1] contribute significantly to the historic record. Several authors have provided greater detail in individual or a small group of regional wrecks: Charlwood [CWR], Mackenzie [MM] and Ronald [PR] in particular. Lewis [IL], Nayler [NSC, NWR], Denmead [DD], and Stone [DA] provide excellent material on the wrecksites.
[1022 records]

Associated links:  PORT PHILLIP    GABO ISLAND

Abstainer. Ketch, 49 tons. Built Latrobe, Tasmania, 1877. Lbd  55.7 x 16.5 x 6.5 ft. Captain Catterina. Was being towed out over the bar at Lakes Entrance by the steamer Rose Of Sharon when the tow rope was cast off with the vessel still in a dangerous position, and she foundered, 12 November 1889. Two drowned, the captain and the cook. They were the first casualties of the new entrance.
[LG],[ASR - built Melbourne],[LPA],[LV]

Achilles. Schooner, Lost at Apollo Bay, Victoria, 1856. [LV]

Active.  Sealer, brigantine. Captain J. Bader. Sailed from Sydney 11 December 1809, for New Zealand sealing grounds, landing a aprty of sealers on the west coast. Lost at sea with all hands after leaving New Zealand to return to Sydney, 1810. [LSS],[LG],[AS1]
In 1809, 11 June, stranded at Western Port, Gippsland coast; refloated and returned to Sydney.

Ada Burgess. Ketch, 32 tons.  Built 1907. Lbd 58 x 15.2 x 7.3 ft. Wrecked at Tarwin, Gippsland coast,  8 December 1934. Crew of three saved. [LG],[ASR - 28 tons, wrecked Cape Liptrap, 30 November 1934],[LV]

Ada. Schooner, 33 tons. Built 1863. Known to have operated in Victorian waters in the 1890s. Disappeared from Australian Shipping Register after 1915.  [LPA]

Adelaide H.M.A.S. Light cruiser, 5560 tons.  Built 1918. Broken up 1949. As a result of the loss of the Cambridge, ordered to search for a possible minelayer in Bass Strait, 1941. [LSW]

Adeline. Auxiliary fishing launch, 28ft. Stolen at Currie, King Island, on 18 March1950. Wreckage found spread along the beaches around Loch Ard Gorge, west coast Victoria. [TS2]

Adieu. Brigantine 174 tons.  Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1883. [LV]

Aeon.  Steel steamer, 3768 tons. Built, 1913.  Withdrawn from service in 1955. Destroyed a drifting mine six miles from Cape Everard, eastern Victoria, 23 February 1919. [LSW]

Agenoria. Brigantine, wood, 129 tons. Built at Prince Edward Island in 1837; reg. Hobart Town.  Lbd 72 x 20.7 x 12 ft. Ran on to the Port Albert bar early in March and could not be refloated, March 1852. [LG],[LPA],[LV]

Agnes & Elizabeth. Schooner. Built 1840. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1840s. Wrecked 1854.  [LPA]

Agnes. Lighter, 71 tons. Built 1873; reg.Melbourne. Broken up, Melbourne, 1894. [ASR]

Agnes. Two-masted wooden schooner, 50 tons. Built at Twofold Bay, 1837; reg. Hobart 8/1839. Lbd 52.4 x 15.5 x 8.6 ft. Master Thomas Gray. Sailed from Launceston for Port Phillip Bay on 23 September 1839 but failed to arrive. Captain Marr of the barque Britomart reported sighting wreckage drifting in Bass Strait that may have been from the missing vessel.  Finally, around June 1840 a quantity of wreckage was found on the beach near Cape Schanck, on the Victorian coast, including some gold-lettered drawers, part of fittings for a chemist’s shop in Melbourne which had been consigned on board the Agnes. [TS1],[LG],[AS1]

Ajax. Steamship. Involved in collision with steamer Leura, Port Phillip Bay, 4 September 1908.
[LV],[WPP]

Akuna. Pilot vessel, 970 tons. Built 1911 as the German yacht Comet; captured by the RAN off New Britain in 1914 and commissioned as the Una. Purchased by Port Phillip Sea Pilots in 1924 and renamed Akuna. Broken up in 1954. [LC]

Alacrity. Tug.
In June 1912, towed free the stranded steamer Leura in Lady Bay, Warrnambool.
In 1912, towed free the barque Joseph Craig, aground inside Point Nepean, Port Phillip.
On 11 February 1913, a vessel of this name was involved in collision with barque Arnoldus Vinnen, near Williamstown, Port Phillip. [LLB],[LR],[LV],[WPP]

Albert San. Trawler, 240 tons. Built 1915. Lbd 117 x 22 x 11.9 ft.  Captain J. Renton. Previously named Brolga. Left Sydney on a cruise to Melbourne, and was returning in thick weather when she ran on to Beware Reef off Point Hicks, eastern Victoria, 1 September 1926. Crew saved.  [LG]

Albert Victor. Steamer, iron, 14/10 tons,. Built at Melbourne, 1883. Lbd 43.1 x 9.2 x 4.8 ft. Was trading between Port Albert, Toora and Foster, Gippsland,  when destroyed by fire at Bentley’s Harbour, 3 February 1889. The crew, awakened by the noise and heat of the fire, jumped overboard and swam ashore to Snake Island where their signals were seen by SS Maitland, which took them on to Port Albert. [LG],[LPA],[ASR],[LPW],[LV]

Albert. Schooner, 37 tons. Built 1864; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 62.1 x 17.8 x 5.4 ft. Captain Lemschow. Went to pieces after running on to a bank in the west channel of Lakes Entrance, 27 March 1874. [ASR],[LG],[LPA - built 1865],[LPW - 19 tons],[LV]
In 1869, stranded at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast; apparently salvaged and returned to service.

Albert. Wooden schooner, 44 tons. Built on the Albert River, Gippsland coast, 1849. Lbd 50 x 15 x 7.7 ft. Hit the Fourth River bar, Tasmania, and continued her journey but dissapered at sea, 1850.  [LPA]

Alcandre Brigantine.
In 1870, saw wreckage, possibly ship Harlech Castle.
On 4 August 1875, involved in collision with schooner Gippslander, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip.
In 1877, stranded in Waratah Bay.
[LG], [LV],[WPP- schooner]

Alert. Schooner. Built 1846. Lost near Cape Grim, 1854.  [LPA]

Alert. Schooner. Stranded at Port Fairy, Victoria,  1854. [LO]

Alert. Steamship, 243/116 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1877, for Huddart Parker. Lbd 169 x 19.6 x 9.8 ft. (Note - unusually long for her beam). Sailed to Australia as a three-masted schooner with her funnel and propeller stowed in the hold. Temporarily replaced SS Despatch on the Gippsland-Melbourne run in 1893 whilst the despatch was refitted. Captain Mathieson. Foundered in a tremendous gale with mountainous seas off Jubilee Point near Cape Schanck, Gippsland coast, 28 December 1893. Fifteen lives lost. The one survivor, Robert Ponting, grasped portion of a cabin door and clung to for sixteen hours in the water before staggering on to the beach about 15 km from where the Alert foundered. That morning he was found unconscious on the beach near Sorrento by four young ladies, partially dressed and half hidden in the sand. The ladies sheltered him as best they could with their cloaks and umbrellas until a m,an and his St. Bernard dog appeared and rendered first aid. The dog nestled close to Ponting and kept him warm while further assistance was sought. The loss of the vessel saw not only a Court of marine Inquiry, but also civil action against owners Huddard Parker, by the wife of the second engineer, lost in the disaster. She won her case.
[LPA],[LC],[LAH],[LG - has incorrect date of wrecking, 1892],[LV - refers to Richard (Ponting) as well as Robert],[#NH],[ASR],[DG]

Alexander. Cutter, 18 tons. Ashore at Apollo Bay, Victoria, during an easterly and broke up, 3 November 1883. [LO],[LV]

Alexandra. Brig, 239 tons. Captain L. Jones. Built 1863. Lbd 106.3 x 25.6 x 14.1 ft. In a gale,  ran stern on to the beach east of the jetties in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, wrecked, 30 March 1882. All saved.
On 15 July 1870, stranded on Swan Spit, Port Phillip.
[LO], [LV],[LLB],[#MM],[WPP]

Alexandra. Brigantine, wood, 287 tons. Built 1862. Lbd 116.5 x 26.5 x 16.6 ft.  While on a voyage from Newcastle to Melbourne, scuttled by the master and mate (who received long jail sentences), at Rabbit Island, east coast Wilsons Promontory near Corner Inlet, 1878. Refloated with relatively little damage. [LV],[LPA - refloated],[LWP - lbd 102 x 25 x 14.4 ft]
Also listed:
Alexandra. Brigantine, 254 tons. Built 1862; reg Melbourne. Out of  Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1872. [LV], [ASR - schooner]

Alice. Cutter, 30 tons. Built 1839. Length 35 ft. Began trading in South Australian waters in 1839, and in Victoria c 1841. Broken up 1860. [LSS],[LPA]

Allara. Steamship, 3279 tons. Built 1924. Struck and sank the wooden tug J.W.Alexander in Coria Bay, 22 December 1936. [WPP],[LC],[LV - 2 December]

Alma Doepel. Wooden schooner, 150 tons. Built Bellinger, NSW, 1903 (and named after the daughter of the builder). Lbd 105 x 26.6 x 7.6 ft. Operated in NSW, Victorian and Tasmanian waters, and across the Tasman. During World War 2, derigged and used as a supply ship, Ak 82. Later resumed her Tasmanian run under sail. She lay idle at Electrona, Tasmania for many years; in 1976 brought to Melbourne to be rerigged and fitted out by Sail and Adeventure Limited as a training and adventure vessel. Still operating in 2002. [LC]

Almendra. Barque. Stranded in Waratah Bay, Gippsland coast, 1881. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Aloah. Fishing boat. Overturned on the Lakes Entrance bar, Gippsland coast, 28 June 1993. [LG]

Alpha. Cutter. Built 1842. Operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1840s. Lost in New Zealand waters, 1865.  [LPA]

Amazon. Barque, wood, 363 tons. Captain Ogier. After being severely battered by a storm, was deliberately run ashore and stranded about a kilometre south-west of Anderson’s Inlet, about 13 kilometres east of Cape Paterson, Gippsland coast, 13 December 1863. Crew managed to reach shore and were eventually rescued by the Government steamer Victoria. Cargo salvaged by Captain Richard Leggett in the cutter Ben Bolt.  [LG],[LV],[LSS]

Amazone. Type not recorded. Involved in collision with Melbourne, Victoria Dock, Melbourne, 1901. [LV]

Amity. Brig. Built 1816. Wrecked in Bass Strait, 1845.  [LPA]

Anglo Svea. Vessel of 23 tons. Lost in Bass Strait, 1920. [LV]

Ann & Mary. Three-masted schooner, 202/185 tons. # 42578. Built at Quay Back, Cardiganshire, Wales, 1861; reg. Newcastle 3/1886. Lbd 109.4 x 23.1 x 12.0 ft. Captain Campbell. From the Mersey River for Brisbane with potatoes, encountered a heavy south-easterly gale and foundered north-east of the Kent Group, (possibly in Victorian waters), 27 June 1887. Two boats were lunched but the cook was missing, presumed drowned. They made the Gippsland coast but the surf was high and the master drowned when they were upset. [TS1]
Loney reports:
Sank due to leaking seams off the Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast, 28 June 1887.  One crew member was washed overboard shortly before she sank. The crew of seven scrambled half dressed into a small dinghy, however the captain fell from the dinghy and drowned when about fifty nautical miles from land.  [LG],[LV]

Ann. Brigantine, 135 tons. Built 1869; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Anna. Brigantine, 137 tons. Built 1849. Lbd 74 x 19.5 x 11 ft. Ashore in a gale, wrecked, Apollo Bay, 29 July 1854. [LV]

Anne Moore. Brigantine, 90 tons. Built 1866. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1870s.  [LPA]

Anne. Schooner, 35 tons. Lost near Lorne, Victoria, 1863. [LO],[LV]
In 1858, stranded near Apollo Bay, Victoria, 1858.

Annie Beaton. Schooner, 85 tons. Built 1862. Operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1860s under Captain McEachern. Sold overseas 1882.  [LPA]

Annie Taylor. Wooden ketch, 96 tons. Built at Port Albert, 1920. Lbd 88 x 22.5 x 8 ft. Wrecked 1923.  [LSS],[LPA - schooner]

Annie. Schooner, 103 tons. Struck Haley Reef near Apollo Bay in a gale, 30 November 1857. Her crew remained on board, hoping that she might be refloated, however after several days she began to break up and the crew were forced to abandon her. [LO],[LV]

Anser Island wreck. Unidentified. Located on a steel slope from 3 to 35 metres on the south-west side of Answer Island, off Wilsons Promontory. The vessel has not been identified. It appears she may have been a collier, and her timbers are indicative of shipbuilding in North America. The site is well scattered, with wreckage in the deep sloping gulliess of the island. The four anchors near the surface indicate she ran 'head-on' to the island.
@ Wrecksite discovered circa 1975, what little material that may have identified the vessel has been removed.  [DUP]

Ant. Wooden screw steamer, 149/87 tons. Built 1854. Lbd 100.8 x 17.8 x 9.2 ft. Captain Harrison. Struck a rock near Bream Creek, Victoria, about five miles west from Barwon Heads, (off Bancoora Beach), 12 June 1866. Fortunately the sea was moderate enabling boats to be lowered immediately, but as the vessel did not appear in immediate danger, only one boat was launched containing several passengers and crew members. However the vessel soon broke her back forcing those remaining on board to throw the sheep into the sea before taking to a boat. The tug Samson from Melbourne attended. Hopes were high that the Ant could be refloated, and eighty casks and two pumps were taken to the wreck to be placed in the hold to float her off, but the plan failed, leaving her hanging on the reef with her keel out of the water and her stern completely buried.
On 6 July 1865, stranded at Port Albert, Gippsland coast; salvaged and returned to service.
@ What little remains of the steamer lies, usually, buried in the sand on a heavy surf  line.
[LO],[NWP],[LV],[NSC],[DD][LG],[LPA]
Antares. Barque, 1749/1672 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1888 and originally named Sutlej. Lbd 260.3 x 38.2 x 23.1 ft. Reg. as Antares in Genoa, Italy, 1907. After a refit, 1761 reg. tons. Wrecked near Nullawarre, west of Peterborough, Victoria, 1914. A district lad went home one night remarking that the Germans had arrived off the Victorian coast and he had seen and heard them firing shells and flares against the night sky, but his story was passed off as a joke. About a month later, a local resident riding along the cuffs which tower sheer out of the sea more than 200 feet, saw what he thought were the remains of a ship.  Police were notified and the Warrnambool lifeboat was sent to investigate.The wreck was found in only eight feet of water. Only one body was found; tthe remains of the other twenty-four members of the crew were never found.
[LO],[#MM],[LV],[LAH],[DD],[DA]
@ Access to the wrecksite is difficult; the fore section has broken off from the hull, with three anchors, rudder, windlass and other wreckage visible. What little remains, lie in six metres. A kedging anchor, and section of the bow are visible.

Antillia. (Antilia). Steamship, 929 tons. Renamed Malaita (qv) and eventually scuttled in Bass Strait, 1927. [LV],[LC]

Antinous Wolf. Single screw steamship, 5809 tons. Built 1913 as the Wachtfels. German raider in World War 1. Also named Wolf (qv).  [LSW]

Antiope. Iron clipper, 1400 tons. Built 1866. British. Hulked after World War 1. Involved in rescue - see Paul Jones, 1886. [LO]

Apollo. Schooner, wood, 20 tons. Built at Brisbane Water, 1845. Lbd  46.1 x 14.3 x 5.6 ft. Purchased for the Port Phillip pilot Service in June 1846 and spent several years as a tender before returning to coastal trading. Wrecked at the entrance to the Gippsland Lakes, August 1864.
In 1850, assisted the stricken barque Victory, near Point Lonsdale, Port Phillip.
[LG],[LSS],[LPH],[AS1]

Apollo. Schooner. Built at Apollo Bay using timbers salvaged from the wreck of the Eric the Red, lost off Cape Otway, Victoria, 1880. Traded in Victorian and Tasmanian waters.  Lost c.1917. [LO],[LE - wooden ketch, 19 tons.]

Aquila. Schooner, 52 tons. Ashore east of the jetty in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, October 1866. Drifted free after cargo was jettisoned. [LLB],[LO - brigantine]
Also listed:
Aquila. Bringantine, 53 tons. Built Melbourne. Broken up, Melbourne, December 1895. [ASR]

Arawata. Steamer, 1100 tons. (Sister Ringarooma). Built on the Clyde, 1875 for McMeckan and Blackwood. Lb 245 x 30 ft.  One funnel and two masts gave her ‘a handsome appearance’. Engaged on the Melbourne- Dunedin service. At the end of her service, converted into a store ship on Wellington Harbour.  [WL]
Involved in collision with vessel Albert the Good,  Port Phillip, 1878. [LV]
Also listed:
Arawatta. Steamer. Ran down and sank the brig Sea Nymph in Sydney Harbour, 9 June 1882. The Sea Nympth was later raised and disappeared on a journey from Maryborough, Queensland, to Melbourne in 1883. [TS1]
And:
Arawatha. Involved in collision with vessel Chingtu, Victoria waters,  1898. [LV]
Possibly Arawata.

Arawatta. Steamer, 2114 tons. (Sister Aramac). Built Dumbarton, Scotland, 1889, for the A.U.S.N.Co. Lbd 300 x 37 x 15-8 ft. Reached Sydney Januaary 1890. Retired, scrapped, in 1924, having made 436 voyages between Melbourne and Normanton in the Gulf of Carpentaria.  [WL]

Archer. Barque, 237 tons. Having loaded wheat in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, Victoria, parted her chains in a light south-easterly and drifted ashore, much to the astonishment of local residents, 8 November 1853. She was refloated, but shortly after drifted ashore a second time about 100 yards east of the jetty and became a total wreck although her cargo of 1037 bags of wheat was unloaded, and her masts and rigging were also salvaged. [LO],[LLB],[LV]

Argo. Cutter, 17 tons. Lost off Portland, Victoria, 1883. [LV]

Argyle. Barque.  Inward bound from London, ashore near Point Lonsdale, Port Phillip Heads, 24 February 1841; refloated five days later.  [LO],[LPH]

Argyle. Wooden steamship, 163 tons gorss, 129 tons net. Built 1876.  Lbd 114.3 x 20 x 7.3 ft. . Stranded at Warrnambool, Victoria, 5 February, 1877. SS Lubra towed her clear. Broken up in 1915. [LLB],[LO]

Ariel. Brigantine, 138 tons. Built at Nova Scotia, 1848. Lbd 88.1 x 21.7 x 11.2 ft. Captain Gallois.
Destroyed by fire  when off Cape Schanck, Victoria, 26 April 1860. The crew were picked up by the schooner Mary & Rose, and later returned to Melbourne on the steamer Queen.
[LG],[LV - schooner]

Ariel. Two-masted schooner, wood, 140 tons. Built 1838. Register transferred from Glasgow, Scotland, to Sydney in 1840; reg. Hobart Town 1845. Lbd 73 x 18.5 x 11 ft. Captain Blackburn. Lost on the bar at Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 5 August 1846. All saved. She was outward bound to Hobart with about 50 head of cattle and about 100 sheep. When the tide commenced to fall the crew lowered a boat, put what few things they could recover into it, then headed for Snake Island. The livestock were less fortunate; forty cattle and 80 sheep drowned. [LG],[LPA]

Ariel.  Wooden steamer, 7 tons. Built at Melbourne.  Used as a tug on the Gippsland Lakes and occasionally steamed around to the Snowy River.  Disappeared from the Australian Shipping  Register after 1916. [LPA]

Arogus. Lug-rigged fishing vessel, 14/13 tons, 37.6 ft. # 177205. Built Melbourne 1946; reg. Melbourne 5/1949. Reg. closed 24 February 1964 with the comment 'Vessel reported sunk'.
Broxam and Nash suggest possibly lost in Tasmanian waters. [TS2]

Artisan. Barque, 1038 tons. Built 1881. Lbd 189.6 x 37.7 x 22.4 ft. Captain Purdy (Purdey?). Ashore in a gale near Cape Paterson, Victoria, 23 April 1901. [LG],[LV],[IL]
Some wreckage remains visible on the reef where she stranded, and more is scattered in nearby submerged gutters.

Asia. Barque, 308 tons. Built at Montrose, Scotland, 1859, Operated as a whaler out of Hobart for many years. Stranded on the Glennies, off Wilsons Promontory, 1878. Refloated with little damage and continued to operate in Australian waters until hulked in 1911. [LWP],[LG]

Asia. Cutter. Washed on to the beach by huge waves at Port Campbell, Victoria, 25 February 1879. She was later refloated. This stranding renewed local agitation for the installation of permanent government moorings and reawakened interest in the proposed jetty. [LO]

Athletic. Iron steamer,  43 tons. Built at Sydney, 1872. Lbd 80.2 x 13.2 x 5.3 ft. Wrecked in 1881. [LSS]

Auckland. Steamship, 698/533 tons. Built 1869. Lbd 212.8 x 28 x 16.3 ft. A.S.N.Co. Captain Walker. Wrecked in foggy weather on Beware Reef, near Point Hicks, and 11 km from the mouth of the Snowy River,  25 May 1870. There was no immediate danger so the passengers and crew remained on board until SS Macedon was sighted. Although a total wreck, much of her was salvaged.  [LG - 724 tons], [LV],[DG - wrecked 26 May 1871, near Cape Everard, and also, wrecked Ninety Mile  Beach, 25 May 1871] ]

Aurora. Fishing boat. Lost on the Lakes Entrance bar, Gippsland coast, 29 September 1986. [LG]

Australasia. Barque, 485 tons. Captain Lindsay. In a gale at Portland Bay, Victoria, dragged her anchors into the breakers and lay across a ledge of rocks, wrecked, 19 March 1855. The barque Constant was wrecked in the same gale. [LO], [LV],[AS6],[MM - named as Australasian]

Australasian Packet. (Australia Packet). Barque, 194 tons. Built 1838. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1850s. Burnt in the South Pacific, 1878.   [LPA]
On 13 August 1852, stranded at Point Gellibrand, Port Phillip. [WPP]

Australasian. See Australasia.

Australia. HMAS. Battlecruiser, 21300 tons displacemeent. Completed on the Clyde in 1913. Scuttled off Sydney in 1924. Sheltered in Corner Inlet in 1914. [LPW]

Australian Trader. Involved in collision with  Darwin Trader, Victoria waters, 1971. [LV]

Avoca. Steamer, 248 tons. Built 1855. Lbd 124.4 x 24.6 x 14.9 ft. In August 1877, sailed from Sydney to Melbourne carrying bullion. The ship’s carpenter used a duplicate key to steal the gold sovereigns, replacing the bullion with sawdust. In Melbourne, the boxes of ‘bullion’ were transfered to the SS China  which sailed for London. The theft was discovered in Colombo when the boxes were inspected. Martin Weiberg, the carpenter, settled soon after near the Tarwin River at Inverloch. A servant girl, attempting to cut into a bar of tallow, discovered it to be hollow and stuffed with sovereigns. She contacted police. Weiberg was arrested, and offered to show the police where the gold was hidden on the bank of the Tarwin River. He escaped, was recaptured and sentenced to five years imprisonment, not for theft but for receiving. Not all of the bullion was recovered. After Weiberg was released in 1883, he bought a yacht, Neva, and is supposed to have drowned when she capsized off the Glennies, off Wilsons Promontry. There is some suggestion that he did not drown, but escaped to Europe with his treasure horde. If not, perhaps someone will find the treasure of 3500 sovereigns, somehwre between Waratah and cape Liptrap.
[LSS],[LWP],[#DG - 1480 tons, built 1866]

Avon Dhu. Barque. Involved in collision with schooner Diligence, Port Phillip Bay, 30 July 1857. [LV],[WPP]

Avon. Tug, 110 tons. Built 1868. Came to assistance of barque Glaneuse, 1886. [LO]
Also listed:
Avon. Paddle steamer. Stranded at Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 25 June 1874; refloated and returned to service. Possibly same vessel involved in collision with Penguin, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip, 1876. [LG],[LV],[LPA],[WPP]

Awaroa. Steamer, 352/150 tons. Built 1904. Lbd 139 x 25.4 x 13.3 ft. Owned by William Holyman & Son. Captain Holyman. Sprang a leak when about twelve nautical miles south of Cape Liptrap, Victoria, and abandoned, 25 July 1925. The crew of thirteen attempted to row ashore and were picked up by SS Huntingdon which happened to be passing on a voyage from Sydney to Melbourne and noticed the signals of distress. [LG],[RW],[LV],[DG]
On 10 July 1915, involved in collision with hopper barge Batman, Yarra River, Melbourne. The Awaroa was struck amidships and sank within five minutes. No lives lost. [WPP],[LV - 1913]
On 9 July 1921, involved in collision with steamer Katoomba, Yarra River, Melbourne.
[LV],[WPP]

Balclutha. Steamer, 456/432 tons.  (Sister - Aldinga). Built Greenock, 1860. Lbd 202.1 x 23.3 x 13.3 ft. Bought by A.S.N.Co. In 1863, sold 1881. Ran several trips to San Francisco. Left Melbourne for Sydney on 18 October 1881, and was last seen three days later  by the steamer Cahors steaming through heavy seas off Gabo Island, far eastern Victoria coast. Twenty two seamen disappeared without trace.
On 28 October 1861, involved in collision with steamer Aphrasia, Yarra River, Port Phillip.
[LG],[LV],[WL - lost 1885],[WPP]

Balmoral. Brigantine, 106 ton. Captain Thompson. Ashore in a gale, wrecked, whilst loading potatoes for Adelaide, at Port Fairy, Victoria, 9 July 1868. [LO], [LV],[MM - 1866]

Balti Sten. Steamship. See Saros, lost 1937. [LH]

Bancoora. Steamship, 2880 tons. Built 1880. Lbd 322.8 x 40.3 x 28.9 ft. Captain Britten. Stranded at Bream Creek, Victoria, 13 July 1891, later refloated. It appears that the stranding led to the death of an Indian rhinoceros at the Melbourne Zoo, believed due to the battering he had received while a passenger on the steamer as she lay stranded for almost two months. Towed free by the tugs Albatross and Eagle.; taken to Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip for repairs. [LO], [LV - date, 1892],[#LSS],[DD]

Bandicoot. Schooner, 55 tons. Built 1838. Operated in eastern Victorian waters in th 1840s. Wrecked, 1861.  [LPA]

Barbara. Cutter. Chartered by Captain Irvine to salvage cargo from wreck of schooner Joanna, western Victoria, 1843. [LO],[MM]

Bardowie. Steel ship, 2146 tons. Built 1891. Wrecked 1910. Visited Australia, (Geelong in 1904). [LC]

Barrabool. Steamship, 942 tons. Built at Durham, England, 1874. Lbd 224.8 x 30.5 x 15.2 ft. In 1902, after a memorable and controversial career, she was converted to a cargo vessel. In 1912 she was disamantled and converted to a coal hulk at Sydney.
On 3 August 1876, under Captain J. Pain, collided with and sank the passenger liner Queensland, off Wilsons Promontory. The Barrabool was crippled with her bow stove in but managed to reach Melbourne. The second- mate of the Barrabool was charged with neglect of duty, and the accident cost the Howard Smith Line £100,000.
In 1877, involved in rescue - see SS City of Hobart, 1877.
On 10 March 1879, collided with and sank the steamer Bonnie Dundee near Newcastle heads, NSW, with the loss of five lives.
On 10 August 1884, while steaming up Sydney Harbour, collided with steamer Birksgate.
[NH], [LG],[LV],[LWP],[DG - built Newcastle-on-Tyne]

Barwon. Iron screw steamer, 419/367 tons. # 45255, Built Greenock, Scotland, 1863; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 172.3 x 21.6 x 14 ft. Captain Shoobert. Struck a rock west of Cape Bridgewater, near Portland, Victoria, during a heavy fog, 3 April 1871. Crew and 28 passengers reached safety in her boats. It was decided to beach her in Bridgewater bay, but she sank before reaching shore. [LR]. [LO - date built 1868],[LPA],[LPW],[#MM],[LV - built 1868],[DG - paddle steamer]
On 11 June 1866, involved in collision with schooner Isabella, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip. [LV],[WPP]
In 1866, under Captain James Lowrie, left Melbourne for Newcastle on 23 June with 20 passengers and crew of 23, collided with the paddle steamer Black Eagle in the Yarra; finally ran ashore near Queenscliff. Tugs Resolute and Sophia failed to budge her, and it was twelve months before she was refloated. During this time the schooner Boomerang, engaged in salvage operations, also went ashore near the Barwon but was later refloated. [LR],[WPH]
Williams and Searle do not mention the collision in the Yarra.

Bat. Brig, 194 tons.  Disappeared during a voyage from Belfast to Sydney, May 1882. She was last seen near Cape Otway, Victoria, and SS Despatch searched for her without success. [LO]
It is noted that no other reference is made to this vessel.

Beagle. HMS, sloop, 235 tons. Built 1820. Well known for its association with Charles Darwin when he sailed in her between 1831 and 1836. From 1837 to 1843, under Captain Wickham and Captain Stokes, she was surveying in Australian waters. [LSS]

Beautrice. Schooner, 81 tons. Lost in Bass Strait, 1921. [LV]

Beeswing. Steamer. Struck a reef off Cliffy Island, east of Wilsons Promontory, 1888. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Bella Vista. Barque. Wrecked In Bass Strait, 1872.  [LPA]

Bella Watson. Ketch, 26 tons. Built at Williamstown, 1887. Lbd 64 x 14.6 x 4.2 ft. Lost near Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, December 1901. [LG],[LV]

Bellarine. Paddle steamer. Stranded near Point Henry, Corio Bay, 1888. [LC]

Belle. Brigantine, 198 tons. Captain S. Morrison. On a voyage from Newcastle to Adelaide, mistook the Port Albert light for the one on Wilsons Promontory and struck a sand spit near the entrance, March 1875; refloated with only minor damage.  [LPA],[LG]

Ben Voirlich. Iron ship, 1474 tons. Built 1873. Lbd 255.6 x 37.1 x 21.8 ft. Operated in the wool and passenger trade until 1885; sold to German interests in 1891 and re-rigged as a barque. Sold in 1903, renamed Cognati, and almost lost after a collision with an iceberg off Cape Horn in 1908. [LC]

Bendigo. HMAS. Minesweeping corvette, 650 tons. Built at Cockatoo Dockyard, Sydney, 1941. Tried to locate the enemy submarine that attacked a convoy 19 miles off Cape Howe, 11 April 1943. [LSS]

Benjamin Elkin. Ship, 425 tons. Built 1849 Involved in the loss of the barque (barquentine?) Dundee, 1854. [LO]

Benjamin F.Packard.  Ship, 2130 tons. Built 1883. Captain Allen became master of this vessel after the loss of the ship Eric the Red, Victoria coast, 1880. [LE]

Berengaria. Iron steamer, 1394 tons. Built 1874. Lbd 239.9 x 36.9 x 22.2 ft. Foundered in December 1884 with the loss of twelve lives while carrying wheat from Melboure to Sunderland, England.
In 1883, 3 February, under Captain Bodil, ran ashore west of Barwon Heads, Victoria. Police were stationed on the beach to protect her cargo of wine, spirits, beer and general merchandise dumped into the sea, but more than 3,000 people eventually arrived on the scene and were soon in control.  Large quantities of beer and spirits were stolen and buried in the sandhills while others broke open tins of preserved meat and fish.  Buckets, jugs, bottles and pig tubs were filled with liquor and soon dozens of men, youths and boys were reeling over the beach. The steamer was freed two days later and towed to Melbourne.
[LO],[LV],[LSS],[DD]

Bertha. Schooner, 32 tons. Struck rocks and capsized off Cape Liptrap, 8 September 1870. Seven were trapped below. One man, Luke Cullen, reached the beach eight kilometres from Yanakie Homestead. [LG],[LV]

Bertha. See barque Muscoota.

Bessie. Schooner. In 1870, collided with barque Ecliptic (Eclyptic), west of Cape Schanck, Victoria. [LG] ,[LV]
On 28 October 1870, involved in collision with barque Ecliptic, Yarra River, Melbourne. [WPP],[LV - Eclyptic].
Hit the same vessel twice in the same year?

Biddie. Ketch, 14 ton. Wrecked on the Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast, May 1919. [LG]

Birchgrove. Barque, 381 tons.  Built 1856.  Converted to lightering. Burned and scuttled off Westemport, 1932. [LV],[LC]

Bitter Beer. Schooner, 25 ton. Disappeared in a gale off Cape Otway while on a voyage from Melbourne to Belfast, 7 March 1866.  She was lost in the same gale that destroyed the barque Mandarin, ketch Victory, and the schooners Pomona and Victory.  [LG],[LO]

Black Swan. Sealing schooner, wood, 40 tons. Built at Swanport. Wrecked ‘on Prime Seal Island southeast of Wilsons Promontory’ sometime during 1829. It is presumed that the crew reached safety. [LG]

Black Warrior. Blackball clipper, 1828 tons. Renamed City of Melbourne (qv) when badly damaged by fire, 1867. [LV]

Black Watch. Schooner. Captain Stewart. From Adelaide to Melbourne, abandonded in a leaking condition off Cape Otway, April 1867. The captain and crew were picked up  25 miles west of Cape Otway by SS Coorong. [LO],[MM] Loney also records this loss as 1868.

Black Witch I. Schooner, 55 tons. Built 1914; originally a steel screw steamer Cheopis. Lbd 70 x 14 x 9 ft. Used initially by the Customs at Adelaide and then employed in the passenger trade to Kangaroo Island. Ashore, Apollo Bay, Victoria, 22 January 1954. Several attempts to refloat her failed and she was finally abandoned. [LO]

Black Witch II. Schooner, 60 tons. Built 1924; originally HMAS Cerberus. Lb 70 x 14 ft. In an easterly,  dragged into the surf and lost, Apollo Bay, 1958. [LO]

Blackbird. Steam ship, 655/531 tons. Built at Newcastle on Tyne, 1863. Lbd 196.4 x 29.4 x 16.7 ft. Captain McConach. In rough weather, wrecked a short distance west from the Kate Kearney Channel, Gippsland coast, 2 June 1878. No loss of life. Immediately, heavy seas broke over her but a lifeboat was soon launched and it left with the captain and thirteen hands to seek assistance, leaving the first officer in charge, and the passengers. Meanwhile, word had reached Port Albert and SS Tarra left at dawn with the lifeboat in tow. She lies in shallow water off Clonmel Island near the remains of the steamer Clonmel. The hull is intact to deck level with the engine and boiler easily identifiable. [LG],[LPA],[LV],[DG - wrecked Ninety Mile Beach],[DA]
In September 1873, involved in collision with brig Edith Haviland, Port Phillip. [LV],[WPP]
@ Wreck lies in only 5 m just off a sandy island west from Kate Kearney Channel entrance, east of  Port Albert.
~ Recovered items may be seen at the Port Albert Maritime Museum.

Blackwell. ‘Large ship’. Stranded off Wilsons Promontory. No date indicated. [LV]

Blairmore. Brig, 223 tons. Built 1861; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Blue Nabila. Rescue ship operated by the National Safety Council, out of Port Welshpool, Victoria. [LPW]

Bobbie Burns. Vessel of 141 tons. Built Brisbane 1897. Lbd 89.2 x 25 x 6.9. [LSS]

Bodalla.  Steamer,wood, 345 tons. Built at Sydney, 1914.  Wrecked at Narooma, NSW, January 1924.
In 1918, discovered and sunk a mine near Gabo Island. [LSW]

Bogong. Steamer, 30 tons. Built at Williamstown, 1878. Lbd 64 x 13 x 6 ft. Captain Stevenson. Ashore, wrecked,  near the mouth of the Snowy River, Gippsland coast, 23 September 1896. Five of her crew of seven drowned. [LG],[ASR]

Boomerang. Iron screw steamer, 445 tons. Lbd 185 x 22 x 12 ft. Launched Greenock, 28 January 1854. Owned by A.S.N.Co. Sailed from Glasgow 7 May 1854 under Captain J. Monroe. Under Captain O’Reilly, operated on a monthly mail service from Melbourne to Wellington, NZ, then coastal work in Australia till 1881 when sold.  [WL]

Boorara.  Steel steamer,  6570 tons. Built 1913 as the German steamship Pfalz (qv). Lbd 471.2 x 59.2 x 36.9 ft. Renamed AE2 when taken from the Germans, used as a war transport by the Commonweath Government Line. Sold to Greek interests in 1926. [LSW],[LC]

Boscarne. Schooner, 63 tons. Built 1852. Wrecked in the Kent Group, eastern Bass Strait, 1866. [LG]

Boscawen. HMS. Searched for the lost sloop HMS Sappho in Bass Strait without success, 1858. [LO]

Bowra. Steamship. Ashore at Apollo Bay for six days before being towed free by the tug Albatross, 15 December 1888. The inquiry into her stranding was the first investigation carried out by the newly-formed Court of Marine Inquiry. [LO]

Braeside. Motor vessel, 5876 tons. Buiit 1949. Owned by Burns Philp & Co. Rescued the motor vessel Golden Spring which had drifted dangerously toward Skull Rock, off Wilsons Promontory, with both engines out of action, 30 March 1969. [LWP]

Bravo. Brig. Beached in Waratah Bay, Gippsland coast, 1878. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG],[LV]

Brazileira. Wooden barque, 294 tons. Built 1866. Known to have operated in Victorian waters in the 1890s. Wrecked on the China Coast, 1893.  [LPA],[LPW]

Breeze. Type unknown. Lost off Point Hicks, eastern Victoria, 2 March 1989.. [LG]

Bright Planet. Rig and type unknown. Involved in rescue - see schooner Wanderer, 1840. [LV]

Bright Wings. Steamship. Renamed Iron Prince when lost in 1923.  [LG]

Brighton. Barque, 373 tons. Built 1832. Lbd 108.9 x 23.3 x 9.1 ft.  Lost on shore near Cape Schanck when the cape was mistaken for Sandy Point, 14 July 1855. The schooner Caroline was chartered to save as much as possible as the crew stripped the wreck. [LG], [LV - 150 tons]

Brilliant. Ship, 555 tons. Visited Geelong during the 1850s to load bales of wool, and sometimes gold, for London. In the 1860 operated on the South American guano and nitrate run. Lost out of Callao. [LC]

Brisbane. Iron paddle steamer.  Built England for Australian Steam Navigation Company.  [WL]

Bristol. Brigantine. Stranded at Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 1856; apparently salvaged and returned to service.  Ashore near Cape Schanck, Victoria, 1858; apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]
Loney also records a brig of this name, built 1851, dismasted and condemned, 1858. [LPA]

Britannia. Wooden brig, 270 tons. Owned by Captain Hugh MacLean. Captain Morgan. Left Melbourne on 9 November 1839 for Sydney but probably foundered about a week later off the Gippsland coast. After she had been missing for several weeks the Revenue Cutter Prince George was despatched by Sydney authorities, following a report that Aborigines had seen a boat lying on the Ninety Mile Beach, and footprints had been observed in the sand. The cutter discovered a boat with a mast washed up on the beach near Cape Howe, but whether the occupants had reached the shore before it was swamped was not known.
[LG],[LPA],[AS1],[WPP],[LV],[LAH]

Britomart. Wooden barque, 243 ton. Built 1808. Sailing from Melbourne on 15 December 1839, for Hobart, disappeared and probably foundered off the Gippsland coast. The Government cutter Vansittart was sent in search of her, but no trace was ever found. There is a suggestion, through rumour,  that wreckers had lured her ashore on Flinders Island, however it appears that she foundered in Bass Strait. One of the Britomart’s female passengers was supposed to have fallen into the hands of Aborigines who lived in the Port Albert district, and when a half caste child was sighted, moves were initiated to search for her. Interest reached such strength that a public meeting was held at the Royal Hotel, Collins Street on 2 September 1846, during which it was stated that years earlier, five vessels, the Australia, Britannia, Britomart, Sarah and Yarra Yarra, all trading between Melbourne, Sydney and ports in Van Diemen's Land had disappeared without trace, and most carried female passengers. Angus McMillan, well known explorer and settler near Port Albert, claimed that in October 1840 he discovered an abandoned Aboriginal encampment on the Glengarry River where he found a dead white child about eight months old, a pair of prunella shoes, a child’s dress, some sandy coloured human hair and parts of a brass sextant and quadrant. Later, in 1846, two troopers reported seeing a white woman with red hair with a group of Aborigines, but said she was hustled off as they approached. For ten years, reports filtered in of sightings of a white women with aborigines, but nothing conclusive was determined. On 5 November 1847, a report reached Melbourne that the dead bodies of a white woman and child had been found at Jemmey’s Point on the Gippsland Lakes; this was the last heard of the supposed white woman of Gippsland.
[LG],[LPA],[#ASW1],[LAH]
Bateson adds that this Britomart has often been confused with the brig HMS Britomart.

Brolga. Steamship, 240 tons. Built Sydney, 1914. Requisition by RAN in 1917.In 1918, involved in minesweeping operations, Bass Strait. Captain Renton. Whilst steaming from Melbourne to Sydney, ashore in thick weather, wrecked, Cape Everard, 1926. All saved. [LV],[LSW]

Brothers. Brig. Built 1839. Sold overseas, 1845.  [LPA]

Bruthen. Schooner, 45 tons. Built at Footscray, Melbourne, 1889. Lbd 72 x 20.6 x 5.5 ft. Collided with SS Cloncurry off Wilsons Promontory, 1898, taking out her bulwarks and splitting the mainmast. She made Waterloo Bay, and after refpairs continued her voyage. She was lost on King island in 1901. [LG],[LWP],[LSS - ketch]

Buaja. Fishing boat. Lost at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, February 1980. [LG]

Buckingham. See barque Muscoota.

Buonaparte. Wooden schooner, 120 tons. Foundered off NSW coast, 1864. [LPW]

Burnett. Ketch, 45 tons. Wrecked on the Port Albert bar, Gippsland coast, September 1900. [LG]

Burra Burra. Schooner, 112 ton. Captain Hutchinson. Struck Sisters Rocks in the Kent Group, eastern bass Strait, June 1859. All saved. [LV]

Burwah. Steamer, steel, 2273 tons gross. Built at Sunderland, England, 1908. Lbd 275.5 x 42.7 x 20.8 ft. [LH]
In 1937, involved in rescue - see SS Saros.[LG]

C-Shell. A vessel lost near the Fitzroy River, western Victoria, 1977. [LO]

Cacique. Barque. Built 1831. Converted to lighter.  [LPA]

Cahors. Steamer. The last to see the steamer Balclutha, off Gabo Island, Victoria, 1885.  [WL]

Caldare. Collier. Renamed Vicky when foundered, 1956. [LG]

Cambridge. British steamer, steel, 10846 tons. Built 1916 as the German ship Vogtland. Lbd 524.5 x 65.7 x 37.3 ft. Formely the German ship Vogtland, she was built during World War 1 and taken by Great Britain as a war prize.  Owned by the Federal Steam Navigation Company in 1940. Captain Angell. Bound from Melbourne to Sydney, sank after hitting a mine off Wilsons Promontory, two and a half nautical miles offshore, 7 November 1940. Of the ship’s company of fifty-eight, only one man was lost. HMAS Orara took the survivors from the boats and landed them at Welshpool. The mine had been laid by the German vessel Passat (qv) in October. Two days after the loss of the Cambridge, the Orara and the Durraween commenced minesweeping operations off Wilsons Promontory, and destroyed forty-three mines from Bass Strait.
[LG],LSS],[LSW],[LPA],[LPW],[LV],[LAH],[DA]
@ Although her location is known, and has been dived, the Cambridge lies in 67metres, too deep for recreational scuba diving.

Canberra.  Type not recorded. Involved in rescue - see SS Saros, 1937. [LG]

Cape Pigeon. Cutter, 26 tons. Lost on King island, 1874. [LV]

Cape Pillar. Steamship, steel, 2104 tons. Built at State Dockyards, Newcastle, 1964. Lbd 256.3 x 50.6 x 17.3 ft. Lighthouse tender, Victorian and Tasmanian waters. Commenced service in 1964 when she took over from SS Cape York. [LWP]

Cape York. Steel steamer, 1406 tons. Built Cockatoo Dockyard, Sydney, 1925. Lbd 225 x 35 x 20.1 ft. Lighthouse tender. Served the Wilsons Promontory light. Replaced by the Cape Pillar in 1964. Sold to Taiwan Steel and Mining Compnay in 1965. [LWP]

Captain Cook. Schooner, 74 tons. Built 1847. Lbd 62.2 x 17.4 x 10 ft.Captain Roberts. Wrecked in a gale between Lawrence Rocks and Cape Nelson, Victoria, 14 October 1850. All passengers and crew saved. [LO],[#MM]

Carl Vinnen. Five-masted auxiliary ship, steel, 1827 tons. A most beautiful ship; survived World War 2 and was broken up in the 1950s. Visited Corio Bay. [LC]

Carlisle. Barque, 1121 tons. Built 1864. Lbd 202.4 x 33.8 x 21.8 ft. Captain Arendup. Believe to have struck Crocodile Rock in eastern Bass Strait whilst travelling between Melbourne and Newcastle, 6 August 1890. Crew of twenty-one got way in two boats however one boat disappeared without trace leaving the captain, mate and ten crew as survivors. [LV]

Carmen. French sealer. Sold to a Melbourne company and hulked. [LC]

Caroline. Schooner. Stranded at Port Fairy, Victoria,1871. [LO]

Caroline. Schooner. Built 1854. Wrecked In New Zealand waters, 1867.  [LPA]
Also listed:
Caroline. Schooner. Involved in salvage of the barque Brighton, 1855. [LG]

Cascade. Schooner, 38 tons. Built at Hobart Town, 1841. Lbd 66.2 x 14.7 x 5.3 ft. Captain Patten. Bound from Cape Liptrap to the Gippsland Lakes, foundered near Welshpool, Gippsland coast, 16 January 1876. Two of the crew reached shore but the captain drowned. [LG],[LPW - wrecked on the Ninety Mile Beach in 1876]

Casino. Iron screw steamer, 425/274 tons, 3 masts, schooner rig. Built at Dundee, 1882. Lbd 160.4 x 24.1 x 10.2 ft. Captain John Middleton. Capsized and sank in heavy seas about a quarter of a mile off Apollo Bay (township, Victoria), 10 July 1932. In her early days.ihe was rigged as a topsail schooner and her big spread of canvas helped to keep down fuel consumption. Carrying a crew of seventeen and two passengers, she attempted to berth at the long Apollo Bay pier in a southerly gale; the bottom struck the sand several times, opening up her bow. Within two minutes of the order to launch lifeboats, the vessel had turned on her side and foundered. The vessel heeled over and sank, throwing all aboard into the sea.  All but five attempted to swim ashore; eight of these made the beach. Others clung to the upturned hull of the vessel, only to be washd off and drowned. In all, ten drowned. A considerable amount of the cargo washed ashore and then ‘disappeared’, despite the vigilance of police and officials.
[LO],[LV],[LSS],[MR],[MGS],[LC],]DG],[NWR],[NMC],[NSC],[LAH],[DD],[IL]
In 1894, stranded at Moyne River, Victoria.
In 1898, struck SS Flinders in calm seas when attempting to pass off Apollo Bay, Victoria, causing light structural damage.
On 27 August 1915, collided with the Batman off Point Gellibrand, Port Phillip, but both vessels suffered only minor damage. [WPP]
In 1924 she ran ashore on a reef off Point Hawdon near the Grey River. The tug Eagle was sent to her assistance but she could not be freed until most of her cargo had been unloaded or dumped into the sea.  Leaking badly she returned to Melbourne under her own steam, leaving workmen from a large road camp to enjoy the beer and spirits which made up part of her cargo.
In 1924, stranded near Kennett River, Victoria.
In February 1929, during a power blackout at Warrnambool, she attempted to enter Lady Bay when points of identification were difficult to locate and was almost safely in the harbour when she struck a submerged object, rapidly filled with water and developing a dangerous list.  Soundings showed twelve feet of water in the holds, and she was beached near Bay View until temporary views enabled her to return to Melbourne, still listing badly. [LO],[LLB]
@ Diver J. ‘’Johnno’ Johnstone inspected the ship on 13 July 1932 and reported that it was lying on its port side in twenty-two feet of water with its stem to the beach about 400 yards out. Geoff Nayler puts it at 250 metres offshore, one kilometre west of Wild Dog Creek.Wreck lies on her port side on the edge of a sandbank in eight metres.  The boiler, keel, a winch and other heavy fittings remain at the wreck site. It is still visited by recreational divers in calm weather.
~  Propellor at Port Fairy; wheel and binnacle at Apollo Bay Hotel.

Catadale. Collided with Kakariki, 19 January 1937. Five lives lost.  [LV]

Catalina. Barque. Renamed Victoria when wrecked, 1863. [LG]

Catherine. Brigantine, 414 tons. Built 1862; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Cecil Rhodes.  Steamer, iron, 160 tons Auxiliary minesweeper/tug.  Requisitioned by the R.A.N.in 1917. In late 1917, involved in minesweeping operations in Bass Strait. [LSW]

Cecilia. Schooner, timber carrier, 55/36 tons. Built 1847. Involved in the timber trade from Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s. Lost in New Zealand waters 1864.  [LPA],[LWP]
On 27 November 1850, dismasted in the Yarra, Victoria,. [WPP]

Centurion. Ketch, 13 tons. Lbd 39 x 11.9 x 4.8 ft. Built at Geelong, 1907. Caught fire off Phillip Island while returning to Melbourne with a cargo of lime and was beached, wrecked, July 1913. Her remains were visible at low tide on the Phillip Island mud flats, almost opposite San Remo until the mid 1980s. [LG],[LH - schooner, built at Fremantle, 1903.]
Also listed:
Centurion. Ketch, 91 tons. Built 1907. Lbd 77 x 25.1 x 9.5 ft. [LSS]

Cerberus. See also Protector.

Cerberus. Type not recorded. Stranded in Western Port, Victoria, 1940. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Challenge. Paddle steamer, tug. Built in 1856. Transferred to Newcastle in 1874; broken up in 1917. Attended the wreck of the ship Sussex, 1871. [LO]

Champion. Auxiliary minesweeper/tug, 360 tons. Built at London, 1894. Requisitioned by RAN  in 1918.  In 1901 towed the four-masted schooner Louis from Sydney to Melbourne. [LWP}
In 1902 was succesful in boarding the derelict full-rigged ship Port Patrick at Wilsons Promontory. [NH]
In 1917, July, attended stricken steamer Cumberland. [LSW]

Champion. Steamer, 229 tons. Built Shileds, England, 1854. Lbd 129.4 x 21.2 x 11.2 ft.  Captain Helpman. In fine, calm conditions, collided with  SS Lady Bird on the Melbourne side of Cape Otway, 24 August 1857. The stem of the Lady Bird cut seventeen feet into the Champion  near the main mast, cutting a gaping hole in the hull over the saloon, Most of her passengers on the Champion were in bed and the loss of life was heavy, thirty-two being drowned. After searching for an hour the Lady Bird returned to Geelong; only the forecastle bulkhead saved her from sinking as her bow plates were badly damaged along with her bowsprit and cutwater. Survivors told many tragic stories, however on a lighter notes, the Second Mate of the Lady Bird rescued the stewardess of the Champion and they were later married. A racehorse aboard Champion broke loose, swam seven miles to the shore, and raced again in the Western District. The Steam Navigation Board held an inquiry a fortnight later and found that the Masters of both vessels were guilty of want of action and non enforcement of discipline, and that the chief officers of both vessels were guilty of neglect of duty and recklessness, but recorded an open finding. [LO],[LSS],[#MM],[LV],[LAH]
On 23 December 1854, when passing through the Backstairs Passage (Kangaroo Island), collided with SS Melbourne and damaged her so badly that the Champion was forced to tow her back to Adelaide.

Charles Edward.  Iron paddle steamer, 141 tons. Buiilt at Dumbarton, 1864.  Sold to New Zealand interests and wrecked there in 1908. [LPA]
In 1866, saw wreckage of the barque Mandarin. [LG]

Charlotte. Schooner, 39 tons. Built at Melbourne, 1854. Lbd 54 x 15.1 x 6.1 ft. Foundered off Cape Schanck, Victoria, 5 March 1880. [LG]

Cheviot. Ship, wood, 251 tons. Built at Sunderland, 1827; reg. at Hobart Town. Lbd 91.3 x 25.1 x 5.3 ft. Foundered off Wilsons Promontory, 24 February 1854. [LG]

Children. Wooden, three-masted barque, 255 tons burden. Built at Liverpool, 1825. Captain H. Browne. lbd 92 x 25 x 16.7 ft. In poor weather, struck a reef close to a small inlet in the sheer cliffs, later to be known as Childers Cove., 15 January 1839. Left Launceston for Adelaide on 11 January  with 24 passengers including 9 children, 14 crew, a mixed cargo including livestock. As the ship disintegrated those still alive were forced to the forecastle, only to be washed off one by one.  Within two hours the wreck had disappeared. Those drowned included the Captain, six men, and a lady passenger and four of her children;  four other children also drowned. The barque Socrates and schooner Sally Ann returned the survivors to Launceston.  In 1951, shifting sands exposed skeletons believed t be from the wreck.
[LO],[AS1],[#MM],[LV],[LAH],[PR],[RP],[DA]
@ In 1963 divers recovered a cannon four feet six inches in length believed to have come from the wreck. In 1974 an anchor was raised. Bricks and ballast stones mark the exposed site in six metres.
~ Items, including an anchor and cannon, are on display at Flagstaff Maritime Village, Warrnambool.

Chittoor. Barque, 217 tons. Built 1875; reg. Sydney. Attended the wreck of the W.B.Godfrey 1891. [LO]

Christina. Brig .Built 1839. Stranded at Apollo Bay, Victoria, 1856. Sold Overseas 1856.  [LO], [LPA]

Chronos. Steel steamship, 4364 tons. Built Port Glasgow, 1915. Owned by Australian Steamships Pty Ltd. Sold to Hong Kong interests in 1929. Was towing the stricken ketch Eliza Davis when the latter foundered, 1924. [LG]

Chusan. Iron screw steamer, barque rigged, 699 tons. Owned by P. & O. Line. Under Captain Henry Dow, arrived Sydney 3 August 1852 and operated on the UK - Melbourne and Sydney run for only two return trips. Before being replaced by the Madras.   [WL]

Circassian. Schooner, 110 tons. Lbd 82.6 x 19.8 x 10.6 ft.Captain Pallant. Ashore, wrecked in a gale ten nautical miles west of Ram Head, Gippsland coast,  6 October 1864. The crew clung to the wreck for several hours, before one man drowned after jumping overboard and attempting to reach the shore with a line. During the night several others died from exhaustion and exposure. [LG]

Citizen. Paddle steamer, 173/146 tons. Built 1852. Lbd 156.9 x 16.3 x 8.3 ft. Captain Rooke. Left Melbourne for Dunedin, New Zealand on 11 October 1862, passed through the heads, and then disappeared. [LV],[DG - built 1843]

City of Hobart. Steamer, iron, 645/439 tons. Built Glasgow, 1853 for Tasmanian Steam Navigation Co.  Initially barque-rigged. Lbd 184.2 x 24.7 x 18.6 ft. Ran between Victoria and Tasmania. Operated a mail service between Melbourne and New Zealand. Captain Lowrie.   Whilst on a voyage from Melbourne to Sydney, her screw shaft broke and water penetrated her holds; abandoned, sank, about sixty nautical miles north east of Wilsons Promontory; July 1877. Crew picked up at daylight by SS Barrabool.
[LG], [LV - Captain Bowrie],[LPA],[LPW],[LAH],[DG]
In 1857, involved in salvage - see schooner Beacon, lost Swan Island, Tasmania, 1857. [TS1]
In 1860, involved in rescue - see brig Carrymore, lost Tasmania, 1860. [TS1]

City of Florence. Steamer collided with schooner Phillipine off Point Hicks, Victoria, 1916. [LG]

City of Sydney. Iron screw steamer.  Built England for Australian Steam Navigation Company.  [WL]

City of Agra. Barque, 1074 tons. Built 1860. Visited Australia, 1876. Wrecked on Cape Sable, 1907. [LC]

City of Adelaide. Barque. Involved in rescue - see brigantine Victory, 1892. [LG]

City of Rayville. Steamship, steel, 5883 tons. Built at Tampa, Florida, USA, 1920.  Owned by United States Shipping Line. Converted to diesel 1927. Lbd 401.9 x 54.2 x 31.2 ft. Captain Cronin. Foundered off Cape Otway after hitting a mine  laid by German raiders, the first American vessel sunk in World War 2, 8 November 1940. Thirty-seven crew members saved. The vessel sank in 35 minutes, bow first, the only casualty being the third engineer who returned to the vessel to recover personal effects. A bright flash, followed by the rumble of an explosion, alerted the Cape Otway lighthouse, who contacted Apollo Bay seeking help from the fishing fleet; conditions were not good but  three boats containing nine men left immediately to search for survivors. The townsfolk of Apollo Bay gave every assisted to the rescued men and later they were guests of the Governor of Victoria, Sir Winston Dugan at Government House. Minesweeping operations, commenced on 9 November; forty-three mines were recovered from Bass Strait. The crew of the City of Rayville returned to the USA and resumed service on American vessels, some being captured and killed by the Japanese. The City of Rayville was the second victim within 24 hours of an extensive minefield laid by German raiders. Today, the ship lies in about 200 feet of water, probably still intact, its exact location not publicly known. Divers have been searching for the ship for years; a reputed $34,000, pay for the crew in Melbourne, is locked in the strongroom.
@ Her location is known to a few, and salvage may have commenced.
[LO],[#LSW],[LH],[LV],[LAH]

City of Melbourne. Screw steamer, 838 tons. Built for A.S.N.Co. in 1862; then Australasian United Steam Navigation Company Engaged in coastal work and on the San Francisco run.
In 1876, under Captain Paddle, encountered heavy weather when out of Sydney for Melbourne, with passengers and race-horses for the Melbourne Cup, and had to return to Sydney with a damaged ship and seven dead horses out of nine.   [WL]

Clara. Schooner, 28 tons. Built 1870; reg. Melbourne. Stranded at Warrnambool, Victoria, 1847. Attended the wreck of the W.B. Godfrey 1891. [LO]

Cloncurry. Steamship, 2580/1639 tons. Built Sunderland, England, 1884. Traded in Australian and Far East waters for some twenty years. Sold to Japanese intests in 1904, renamed Yoneyama Maru. Wrecked in Japanese waters, 1911. [LWP]
In 1898, collided with schooner Bruthen (qv) off Wilsons Promontory. [LG],[LWP]
On 22 August 1903, stranded but later refloated, Corner Inlet, Gippsland coast. [LV],[LPA]

Clonmel. Paddle steamer, wood, 598 tons. Built Birkenhead, England, 1836; reg. Sydney 89/1840. Lbd 154.8 x 21.5 x 16.6 feet. Schooner-rigged. Captain John Sidney Tollervy (Tollervey). Sailed from UK to Australia, arriving Sydney 5 October 1840. Soon after her arrival in Sydney, engaged in a race with the small, Hunter River built, paddle steamer Victoria. ‘Heavy bets had been made and the Victoria sailed home an east winner’. Left Sydney on 31 December 1840, and after rounding Cape Howe in fine conditions set a course for Wilsons Promontory, however ran ashore near the entrance to Corner Inlet, 2 January 1841. Some cargo was jettisoned but when she refused to move anchors were dropped allowing passengers and crew to land safely on the beach where tents were improvised from sails and stores brought ashore and placed under guard. Two passengers and five crewmen set out later in a whale boat for Port Phillip to seek assistance, leaving the ship’s passengers and crew to explore the nearby coastline. The Sisters and Will Watch left for the wreck on 9 January with the Harbour Master and a detachment of the 28th Regiment.  The favourable reports of those left to explore the region resulted in the 300 ton vessel Singapore being chartered some months later to Corner Inlet, after which Port Albert was founded, and the regions, to be known as Gippsland (after the Governor in office at the time) to be developed.
@ Part of the Clonmel’s hull and some of her machinery, including a boiler, water tank, and cylinder from the steam engine lie on a sandy bottom in about five metres. [LAH]
~ Divers first recovered relics from the paddle-wheeler in 1968. A few items are displayed at the Port Albert Maritime Museum. Boiler may be seen at low tide.
[LG],[LH],[#LPA],[LPW],[AS1],[LV],[WL - 898 tons],[# PH - 524 tons],[DG]

Clyde. Schooner, 48 tons. Built 1874. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1890s. Broken Up 1923.  [LPA]

Clyde. Steamship, wood, 27 tons. Built at Williamstown, 1883. Lbd 59.9 x 13.3 x 5.1 ft. Caught fire and sank off Entrance Point, Gippsland coast, while all hands were ashore fishing, 25 July 1894. Although it was generally thought that thee was indeed something fishy about the whole episode, a Court of Inquiry exonerated the master and crew. [LG],[LPA],[LPW],[LWP]

Clyde. Wooden steamer, 15 tons. Built  Melbourne, 1883. Burnt Corner Inlet, Victoria, July 1894. [ASR],[LPA - 27 tons, built Williamstown]
In October 1869, under Master James Henderson, collided with and sank a whale boat in Hobsons Bay. [WPP]

Coila. Two masted schooner, 108 tons. Built 1845; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 77.8 18.2 x 10.9 ft. Captain Eddington. Was crossing the bar into Port Albert when forced on to the east spit near the remains of the Clonmel, 15 February 1857. Eventually abandoned. The new owners purchased the vessel at auction and succeeded in refloating her, believing she could be repaired and returned to service, however, she disappeared from the records shortly after so is presumed to have been broken up. [LG],[LPA],[LV]

Colchester. Brig, 154 tons. Built at Nova Scotia, 1849. Lbd 78.2 x 20 x 12.1 ft. Captain Williamson. Deliberately run in to shore on the Ninety Mile Beach about eight kilometres east of Shoal Inlet where she became a total wreck, 7 July 1863. The ship had been badly battered in a gale. All hands reached safety. [LG],[LV - 180 tons]
In 1863, aground in Port Phillip. [LR]

Colina. Schooner, 54 tons.Timber carrier, operating out of Sealer’s Cove, Wilsons Promontory, 1840s, 1850s. Lost at the mouth of the Wagonga River, NSW, 1865. [LWP]
In June 1853, capsized in a squall at Geelong, drowning a young lad of eleven (or perhaps fourteen). [WPP],[LC]
In 1860, almost wrecked at Bellambi, NSW.

Collingwood. Iron ship, 1011 tons. In Geelong 1873 and 1876 to load wool.  Sold to Norwegian interests. Sunk by a German submarine, 1917. [LC]

Columbine. Brig, 180 tons. Built at Aberdeen, 1839. Captain McLennan. Inward bound from Liverpool to Geelong with a general cargo, wrecked off Ocean Grove, Victoria, 1 April 1854. Four lives lost. The pilot was aboad but the captain, uneasy about his course, attempted to interfere, with negative results. Pilot Davidson was one of those drowned when the longboat capsized, together with the captain’s wife and two passengers. The pilot schoonr Boomrang rendered assistance. [LO],[LV],[LAH],[LPH]

Comet. Paddle steamer, 80 tons, 50 tons burden. # 36956. Built Williams River, NSW, 1843; reg. Melbourne 1854. Lbd 92 x 15.5 x 6.7 ft. Sold to New Zealand interests; from Melbourne to New Zealand, disappeared without trace, 1862. [LV],[WPP]
On 20 October 1855, under Captain Carder, collided with ironwork of the sunken West Wind, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip. Damage was extensive, so vessel was run on to the beach to prevent her form sinking. Repairs and back in service after several months.  [WPP]
In 1859, a tug of this name attended the Swedish barque Leopold, destroyd by fire at Williamstown, Port Phillip. [LV]

Commissioner. Steam ship, ex-tug, wooden, 79 tons. Built Coode Island, Victoria, 1914. Lbd 84 x 16 x 7.9 ft. Owned by the Melbourne Harbour Trust. Foundered off Wilsons Promontory, 24 December 1966. Crew of seven was rescued by two trawlers. [LG],[LV],[LWP]

Commissioner. Steamship, 32 tons. Built for the Melbourne Harbour Trust in 1878, she was sold by auction to Sydney interests and was being towed to the new owners by the collier Alabama when gale force winds and high seas led to her loss off Point Hicks, eastern Victoria, December 1914. [LG],[LV]

Constance. Ship, 1100 tons. Captain Hewitt. Collided with the ship Tubal Cain which sank off Cape Otway, 1862.  [LO]

Constant. Barque, 525 tons. In a gale at Portland Bay, Victoria, parted her anchors and drove on to the beach where she remained upright with good prospects of being refloated, 19 March 1855. However, a survey a few days later recommended she be broken up. The barque Australasia was wrecked in the same  gale. [LO], [LV - rig, ship],[MM]

Content. brig 125 tons.  Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1877. [LV]

Coquette. Ketch,  41 tons. Built at Ulverstone, Tasmania, 1883; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 66.7 x 15.6 x 6.5 ft. Foundered 7 km from Walkerville in Waratah Bay, Gippsland coast, December 1892. [LG],[ASR],[LPA],[LPW],[LV]

Coquette. Schooner, 72 tons. Built 1840. Wrecked 1872.  [LPA],[LPW]

Coral. Ketch. Involved on rescue - see Zephyr, 1882. [LV]

Coramba. Steel twin-scew steamship, 531/221 tons. Built at Ayre, Scotland, 1911 for N.C.S.N.Co. Lbd 160.3 x 30 x 10 ft.  Sold 1932 to Belfast & Koroit S.N. Co. Captain Dowling. Disappeared without trace in a gale having left Warrnambool for Melbourne on 29 November 1934 with a crew of sixteen. On 1 December, two bodies were washed ashore at Newhaven, Gippsland coast, and several days later, two more bodies and a quantity of wreckage were recovered in the same area. The recovery of a lifeboat and bell confirmed the vessel’s fate. The wreck was eventually located about a mile and a half west of Seal Rocks. [LG], [LO],[MR],[LV],[LAH],[ASR],[#DW]
In 1934, stranded at Warrnambool, Victoria, 1934.

Corilla. Barque. Named Seagull when she sank after a collision, 1878. [LG]

Cornwall. HMS. Kent Class cruiser, 9800 tons. Built 1928.  Reconstructed 1936.  Main armament eight 8" guns. Sunk by Japanese in 1942. [LO],[LSW]
In 1941, 8 May, sank the German raider Pinguin, in the Indian Ocean.

Corsair.  Wooden paddle steamer, 185 tons. Built Glasgow in 1827.  Sold to Hong Kong interests in 1845. [LPA]

Cotopaxi. Steamship, 2583 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1873. Lbd 402.2 x 42.8 x 34.3 ft. Brought out the expert diver Armit from England to work on the SS Sorata stranded near Cape Jervis, 3 September 1880. [LSS]

County Antrim. Steel barque, 1199 tons. Built Londonderry 1890. Lbd 226 x 26.4 x 21.9 ft. Captain Hyland. Ashore on the Ninety Mile Beach 8 km west of Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, 12 January 1897. Ran into problems off the Kent Group and began taking water, forcing the master to run her ashore. Little was salvaged and the wreck was eventually sanded over. Crew of eighteen saved. [LG],[AS6],[LV],[LAH]

Courier. Brig. Stranded at Point Gellibrand, Port Phillip, 12 May 1853. [WPP]

Cremona. Schooner, 127 tons. Built 1842. Lbd  75 x 19 x 11.3 ft. From Launceston to Melbourne, wrecked near Tarwin, Gippsland coast, 1 August 1853. All hands saved. [LG],[LV]

Cromarty. A vessel lost near Warrnambool, Victoria, 1977. [LO]

Curlip. Paddle steamer, 9 tons. Built 1890. Lbd 43 x 10 x 3 feet. Torn from her moorings at Marlo, Gippsland coast, during a flood, washed out to sea, then stranded on the beach, a total wreck, 1918. [LG - indicates lost 1917]]

Dagmar. Ketch. Lost off Gippsland coast, 1885. [LV]

Dallum Tower. Arrived in Melbourne under jury rig after being partially dismasted and badly damaged in a gale during a voyage to Melbourne, 1874. Her bulwarks were gone, poop bulkhead smashed, cabin gutted and her masts broken off about twelve feet above deck. Laid up in Willimastown waiting for new equipment. Also damaged in the same gale were the vessels Loch Ard, John Kerr, and Cambridgeshire.  [LV]
Loney records a letter in LC, mentioning the ‘lovely ship’ Dalin Tower, wrecked on her first voyage out form England, ‘a few miles down the coast’ from Geelong. No date.

Dandenong. Barge, 121 tons. Lost off McHaffie's Reef, Phillip Island, February 1913.  [LG]
Also listed:
Dandenong. Barge, 121 tons. Wrecked near Flinders, Victoria, 1920. [LV]

Dandenong. Steamship, iron, 743 tons. Built 1865 as the Stella; renamed Dandenong 1867. Lbd 210 x 28.2 x 15.7 ft. Foundered off Jervis Bay, NSW, 1876. [LSS],[LWP]
In 1868, under command of Captain Pain, stranded but later refloated, Glennie Group, off Wilsons Promontory. [LV],[LG],[LWP]
In 1870, damaged her figurehead after colliding with SS Edina during a gale, Lady Bay, Warrnambool. [LV], [LO],[LLB]
In June 1871, involved in collision with paddle steamer Hercules, Port Phillip.  [LV],[WPP]
In 1872, involved in collision with  fishing boat,  Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip. [LV]
In 1873, under Captain Lapthorne, involved in collision with fishing boat Whitebait, Victorian waters. [LV],[WPP]

Daniel Sharp. Ship. Collided with the schooner Colina  west of Cape Otway after the Daniel Sharp had approached to confirm her position, 1853.  [LO], [LV]

Daphne. Brig, wood, 151 tons. Wrecked in the Kent Group, eastern Bass Strait, 1819. [LG]

Dargo. Steamer. Collided with SS Gippsland in the Gippsland Lakes, 1912. [LG]

Dart. Auxiliary brigantine, wood, 353 tons. Lbd 139.3 x 24.9 x 15 ft. Formerly named Cruiser, when attached to the Royal Navy as a tender for the training ship John Murray; then owned by the Victorian Government Defence Department for a time on survey work before being sold to a private owner in 1919. She left Sydney in 1920 flying a French flag. [LC]

Dart. Brigantine, 79 tons. Captain Connor. Stranded at Warrnambool, Victoria, 1868. Refloated a day later. [LO],[LLB]

Darwin Trader. Involved in collision with  Australian Trader, Victoria waters, 1971. [LV]

Dawn. Ketch. Built 1869. Broken Up 1893.  [LPA]

Dawn. Steam ship, 522 tons.  Built 1876. Captain Jones.  Operated around the Victroian west coast from 1877 until 1898, finally being condemned and sunk at Suva, Fiji, in 1928.
In 1879, involved in collision with vessel Macedon, Yarra River, Melbourne. [LV]
In 1880, involved in rescue - see Eric the Red, 1880. [#LE],[#MM]
In 1882, struck by the brigantine Yarra in Lady Bay, Victoria, 1882 but only superficially damaged; the brig drifted ashore and was wrecked.
In 1883, involved in the salvage of the barque George Roper off Port Phillip Heads.  [LO]

De Bay. Steamship. Picked up the crew from the wrecked barque Lune on Cliffy Island, 1885. [LG]

Deccan. Captain barrett. Steel ship, 1985 tons. Built 1897. Vissited Australia, (Geelong in 1904). Wrecked near Cape Horn, 1908. [LC]

Defiance. Fishing vessel. Master D. Huggins. Out of Apollo Bay, broke her moorings off New Year Island, King Island, and drifted off with her three crew ashore, August 1975. Crew picked up by the fishing vessel Gurya and taken to Currie. The Defiance went aground on a reef on the western side of Christmas Island, with sufficient damage to her bottom to render her unsalvageable. [TS2]

Defiance. Schooner, 31 tons. Lost in Bass Strait, 1833. [LV]

Derry Castle. Barque, 1367 tons. Lewft Geelong for falmouth with a cargo of wheat in March 1887. After 192 days she was posted missing. On 21 September 1887, eight survivors were landed at Melbourne. She had driven ashore on Enderby Island, south of New Zealand. The survivors lived on seals, rabbits and wheat washed ashore from the wreck, until rescued three months later. [LC]

Derwent.  Iron steamer, 478 tons. Built 1864.  Lbd 196 x 25.3 x 13.3 ft. Hulked in Queensland 1915.  Scuttled 1925. [LG],[LPA],[LWP]
In 1892, collided with SS Despatch (qv)off Wilsons Promontory.
On 19 June 1899, stranded at Basket reef, Port Phillip. [WPP]

Despatch. Coastal trader, government steamer, iron, 237 tons. Built 1869. Lbd 151 x 20.1 x 10.3 ft. Entered the Port Phillip Bay trade in 1869 and then served as a Government steamer and lighthouse tender until 1893 when she commenced to operate off  the Gippsland coast on the Melbourne to Lakes Entrance run. Struck the Lakes Entrance pier, Gippsland coast, floating clear and sinking outside the entrance after the crew had abandoned her, 29 September 1911. No loss of life.
[LG],[LV],[LPA],[LPW],[LWP],[DG],[LC]
In July 1873, under Captain Thomas Webb, collided with the lighter Victoria, mouth of the Yarra River, Port Phillip. The lighter was to blame; badly damaged but salvaged. [LV],[WPP]
In 1881, involved in collision with  Drumlaurig, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip. [LV]
In 1882, searched for the lost brig Bat. [LO]
In 1882, involved in rescue - see Romeo, 1882.
In 1885, struck the pier at Lakes Entrance; salvaged and returned to service.
In 1886, sank the burned hulk of the ship Paul Jones.[LO]
In 1890 or 1893 [LG indicates both dates] struck the boilers of the wrecked paddle steamer Clonmel near Port Albert, Gippsland coast. [LV indicates date of 1892]
In 1891, involved in collision with vessel  Elingamite, Yarra River, Melbourne. [LV]
In 1892, collided with SS Derwent off Wilsons Promontory. [LWP]
In 1892, dented several plates when she struck the boilers of the wrecked Clonmel, 1892.  [LPA]
In 1893, withdrawn from service for extensive alterations, being temporarily replaced by SS Alert, subsequently lost off Cape Schank, 1893. [NH]
In 1897, involved in collision with vessel Barrier,  Port Phillip Bay. [LV]
In 1899, ashore at Cunninghame, Gippsland coast.

Dewdrop. Wooden schooner, 92 tons. Built 1832. Lbd 65 x 18.2 x 11.1 ft. Captain Abson. Wrecked on the Port Albert bar, Gippsland coast, January 1849. No loss of life. [LG],[LPA],[AS1]

Diamond. Barque, 391, Melbourne, 1863. Wrecked Malden Island, June 1888. [ASR]

Diana.  Barque, wood, 199 tons. Built 1823. Mentioned in relation to the loss of the ship Eric the Red, Victoria, 1880. Diana was the first vessel built by the Sewall family, who built Eric the Red. [LE]

Diana. Brig, 103 or 161 tons. Built 1840. Captain Tulloch. Ashore, wrecked, at Port Fairy, 1 October 1844. [AS1],[MM],[LV]
On 3 July 1843, stranded at Portland, Victoria. Refloated on an exceptionally high tide.
[LO],[LV],[LPA],[AS1],[MM]
Also listed:
Diana. Brig, 103 tons. Ashore at Port Albert on 22 August 1850, but was floated off two days later.  [LPA],[LG - reports a brig of this name stranded at Port Albert, 1860]
Speculation - the brig built in 1840 was 161 tons; a second brig of 103 tons was constructed after her loss. Or perhaps the two vessels were identical, with 161/103 tons. Or there is only one vessel and the dates are incorrect.

Dobsons. Wooden schooner, 112 tons. Built at Port Albert 1852; reg. Launceston. Known to have operated to Victorian waters, 1850s. Lbd 76.6 x 21.7 x 9.5 ft. Wrecked on Ninth Island, Bass Strait 1860.  [LPA]

Dolphin. Cutter, 8 tons. Built 1869. Lost off Wingan Inlet, Gippsland coast, 30 August 1874. [LG]

Dolphin. Steamer, 152 tons. Ran between Launceston and Port Welshpool via Flinders Island. No dates indicated. [LPW]

Dom Pedro I. Steamship, 6338 tons. See Wyreema.

Domain. Cutter, wood, 18 tons. Built Hobart 1834; reg. Melbourne 1/1846. Lbd 33.9 x 12.8 x 6.5 ft. From Melbourne to Westerport and Port Albert, capsized in a gale about 4 nautical miles south of Shoal Lagoon, between Wilsons Promontory and Cape Liptrap, Victoria, August 1846. Fifteen occupants, which included five children, were thrown into the sea. Attracted by the waving of a flag on Wilsons Promontory, crewmen on the trader Vanguard, bound for Port Albert, took on board a lad of 14 years named Daniel Anthony, the sole survivor - he had been washed ashore on a hatch.
[LG],[LPA - sloop],[LWP],[AS1 - loss of eleven lives],[LV]

Donald Mackay.  Ship, 2486 tons.  Built 1855. Finished up as a coal hulk at Madeira. [LO]

Dorothy. Wooden steamer, wood, 29 tons. Built at Lake Tyers, Gippsland, 1902 as the Wanda. Lbd 46.8 x 9.4 x 4.6 ft. Lost on a  mudbank in Lake Colac, Victoria, possibly 1916. [LSS],[LV - sank at its moorings, possible sabotage],[LAH - sunk by vandals]

Dorset. Brig, 82 tons. Built 1838. Wrecked in the Kent Group, eastern Bass Strait, 1852. [LG]

Dover Castle. Ship, 1003 tons. Built 1858. Broken up. [LO]

Drumblair. Iron four masted barque, 1907 tons. Lbd 267.4 x 40.2 x 243.1 ft. Captain Goulding.  Captain Golding. Port Pirie for Newcastle, stranded but later refloated, Waratah Bay, west of Wilsons Promontory, 1892. [LV], [LG],[LWP]
Loney reports that she sank following a collision on 22 October 1915, but does not indicate location.

Duke of Bedford. Clipper ship, 720 tons. Captain Dugdale. Disappeared without trace after having cleared Port Phillip Heads, for London via Adelaide, loaded with wool, 1852. The inexperience and poor quality of her scratch crew (due to many mariners deserting for the gold fields), also probable faulty loading of her cargo were presented as the most likely causes of her loss. She may lie off the western Victoria coast. [LO],[LV - 150 tons]

Duke of Wellington. Barque, 388 tons. Built 1840. Lbd 114.5 x 23 x 16.6 ft. Captain Brady. Left Port Phillip for Newcastle in ballast but when about seven nautical miles west of Wilsons Promontory drifted into the breakers and wrecked at Tarwin Beach in seven fathoms of water, 3 April 1853. Crew saved.  See also loss of schooner Favourite, 1852. [LG],[LV]

Dumosa. Steamship. Involved in rescue - see SS Kanowna, lost off Wilsons promontory, 1929. [AS1]

Dundee. Barque, 345 ton. Loaded with 900 bales of wool for London, she was riding at one of the Government moorings but the ropes parted, tearing out her windlass, and she began to drag towards the beach at Armstrong Bay, two miles east of Port Fairy, Victoria, during one of the worst storms in history, fouled the ship Benjamin Elkin,  and became a total wreck on the beach, 17 or 20 February 1854. Wrecked within a 100 yards of, and at the same time as, the barque Inellan. No lives lost. [LO], [LV],[AS6],[MM]
On 21 January 1854, a schooner of this name was involved in a collision with the vessel Osprey at Corio Bay.  [LV],[WPP],[LC]

Dunkeld. Barque, 363 tons. Built 1863. Lbd 170 x 30.3 x 19.3 ft. Captain Hook. Disappeared without trace after leaving Newcastle for Melbourne on 6 June 1870; was last seen about 40 nautical miles east of Wilsons Promontory on 27 June. [LG],[LV - 390 tons]

Dunkery Beacon. Steamer, 7069 tons. Built 1941. Lost her propeller off Wilsons Promontory. Date not recorded. [LWP].

Durraween. HMAS. 271 tons. Built 1919 as the trawler Seville. Comissioned into the RAN, July 1940 as an auxiliary minesweeper. Ended her days when sold for scrap.
In 1940, located and destroyed mines off Wilsons Promontory, 1940. [LSS],[LSW]

Dusty Miller. Schooner, 90 tons. Built Launceston, reg. Launceston 11/1840. Captain Saunders. Bound from Melbourne to Adelaide wrecked in a gale on a reef off Griffith Island, off Port Fairy, Victoria, 25 November 1842.
[LO - from Launceston to Portland,],[LV],[AS1],[MM]
Loney puts the date of loss as 21 November. Bateson indicates that the 25 November came from the Port Phillip Herald at the time of her loss. Loney and MacKenzie list her master as Captain Saunders, and state he nearly drowned; Loney (in LV) and Bateson list the master as Captain Jenkins, who drowned.

Dutchess of Kent. Ketch. Built 1875. Wrecked 1895.   [LPA]

Earl of Charlemont. Three-masted wooden ship, 945/883 tons. Built at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1849. Lbd 147.8 x 30.6 x 22.7 ft. Captain William Garner. Inward bound from Liverpool with 435 emigrants, in fog, went ashore through breakers and on to a reef off The Bluff near Barwon Heads, Victoria, 18 June 1853. Three boats were launched in an attempt to get a line to shore but all capsized, leaving their crews to struggle'ashore.  Other members of the crew clambered down the chains, along the fallen mast, then swam ashore. An undamaged lifeboat was slung to a line by the bow and stern like a cradle, enabling the passengers to land - ladies and children first, then the invalids, married men, single men, and last of all the captain. One passenger died from shock soon after the vessel struck. Pilot Schooner Anonyma and vessel Boomerang attended the wreck. Although a Steam Navigation Board Inquiry decided that Captain Garner and his officers had seemed indifferent to the safety of the ship and the welfare of the passengers, no action was taken. Some believed that the ship was deliberately wrecked to obtain insurance money, and witnesses claimed that the master stood quietly and unconcerned on deck smoking a cigar as the Earl of Charlemont headed for certain destruction on a beautifully clear night with the land distinctly seen. Captain Garner and his wife left for England on the ship Madagascar but it disappeared without trace carrying £25,000 in gold.
@ The wreck site, directly beneath Barwon Heads Bluff beacon, is very shallow and often sanded over. Divers have recovered bottles, crockery and cutlery.
~ An anchor was raised in 1972 and is now on display beside the Barwon River at Barwon Heads.
[LO],[AS6],[LH],[LPH],[DD],[NWR],[LV],[NSC],[LAH],[DA]

Earl of Windsor. Wooden ship, 738 tons. Built 1855; reg. London. Lbd  163.5 x 30.7 x 20.5 ft. Inward bound to Port Welhpool from Otago, New Zealand, wrecked on the Middle Bank inside Rabbit Island, Corner Inlet, Gippsland coast, 12 October 1863. Crew rescued by ship Hydra.  [LG],[LPA],[LPW],[LWP],[LV]

Ebenezer. Cutter. Unloaded cargo from the stricken Laurence Frost, Eden, 1856. [AS6]

Eclipse. Schooner, 19 tons. Lost in Bass Strait, 1900. [LV]

Eclipse. Schooner, 45 tons. Inward bound from Hobart, stranded in the old bar channel at Port Albert, 6 March 1860. While the Geelong Advertiser of 9 March says she had become a total wreck, she was later refloated.  [LG],[LPA],[LPA indicates a schooner of this name which once operated into Port Albert, Victoria, wrecked In New Zealand Waters, 1866]

Ecliptic. (Eclyptic). Three-masted wooden barque, 314 tons. Built Melbourne 1854. Lbd 117 x 23.8 x 16 ft. Captain Eldridge. Struck Clonmel Island near Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 30 March 1874. Eight lives lost, many dropping from the rigging, exhausted. Only a young lad survived. [LG],[LV - built 1870, lbd 101 x 23.8 x 12.9 ft],[ASR],[LPA],[LV]
In 1870, collided with schooner Bessie west of Cape Schanck, Victoria. [LG]
On 28 October 1870, collided with schooner Bessie, Yarra River, Melbourne. [WPP],[LV]
Williams spells the vessel as Ecliptic, Loney as Eclyptic. ASR lists as barque Ecliptic.

Eden. Involved in collision with  Claude Hamilton, Victoria waters, 1879. [LV]

Edinburgh Castle. Barque, 627 tons register. Built 1863.  Lbd 176.3 x 29.5 x 18.7 ft. Captain Darling. From London to Warrnambool, ashore due to ‘an error of judgement’ by the pilot, at Lady Bay, Warrnambool, Victoria, 15 January 1888.  The Julia Percy, sent from Portland, tried vainly to tow her clear, but when the hawser parted the attempt was abandoned.  All crew saved. Commenced to break up as she lay broadside on to the beach. Within a day her back broke, leaving only the bow and stern visible, and scattering wreckage and cargo for miles along the beach.  [LO],[AS6],[LBB],[#MM],[LV],[LAH],[DA]
@ Site located, well sanded over. The iron hull is very badly broken up but the point of the bow is discernable. A deck winch, rows of barels, and timber decking can be seen. An anchor is partly visible. Considering the sand shifts, conditions on the site vary considerably.  [PR]

Edward Bechervaisse. Vessel of 122 tons. Built 1896. [LSS]

Elanora. Brig, 180 tons. Was anchored off Apollo Bay loading sleepers for the Geelong to Ballarat railway when a strong easterly gale sprang up and washed her ashore where she became a wreck, 30 December 1856. [LO],[LV]

Eldorado. Ship, 841 tons. Built 1852. Purchased by James Baines of the Black Ball Line. Visited Victoria. Wrecked in 1877. [LC]

Eleanor Johnstone. Fore and aft schooner, 32 tons. Built at Sandridge, 1872. Lbd 66.9 x 16.1 x 5.2 ft. Captain Dawson. Ashore in a gale shortly after crossing the bar at Mallacoota, eastern Victoria, December 1882. [LG],[LPA]

Eleanor King. Schooner. Sank in Lake King, Gippsland coast; refloated, 1877. [LG]

PPPElentheria. Vessel type not recorded. Sunk, total loss of Frankston, Port Phillip, 1866. ‘A notice to mariners of October 1866 stated that the sunken wreck had her masts removed and was lying with seven fathoms over her’. [WPP],[LV]

Eli  Lafont. (Eli Lafonde). French barque. Stranded between two rocks near Black Head, Western Port, 13 February 1858. Bound from Hong Kong to Melbourne with a cargo of tea valued at about £30,000 but after an inspection by marine surveyors, the vessel was condemned, stores were removed, and the wreck abandoned. [LG], [LV - , 385 tons, name Eli Lfonde]

Eliza Ann. Schooner. Built 1841. Wrecked 1847.  [LPA]

Eliza Davis. (Eliza Davies). Ketch, 61 tons. Built Brisbane Water, NSW, 1887. Lbd 73.6 x 20.8 x 6.2 ft. Foundered off Wilsons Promontory, whilst under tow from SS Chronos, 2 August 1924. One life lost from the crew of four. She had left Wynyard, Tasmania for Melbourne with a caargo of timber when disabled in a galee, and taken in tow by the steamer. However she had become badly strained and waterlogged, and was sunk in a squall by a sea which came over her beam. [LWP],[LG],[LPA]

Eliza Goddard. Brigantine, 192 tons. Built 1851. Wrecked at Port Fairy, Victoria, 1867. Salvaged; condemned 1877. At some stage called Tower Hill.
[LPA],[LPA],[LPW],[LO indicates stranded at Port Fairy, 1868]

Eliza. Schooner, 14 tons. Built 1836; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 33.7 x 10.8 x 5.6 ft. Lost near Cape Schanck, Gippsland coast, 9 January 1873.  [LPA], [ASR],[LG - cutter],[LV - cutter],

Eliza. Schooner, 93 tons. Captain Stobaus. Ashore in heavy winds opposite the botanical gardens at Port Fairy, Victoria, 19 June 1866. The crew took to the rigging to escape the seas, which were sweeping over the wreck but Captain Mills and a crew launched a boat, and eventually took them off.  [LO], [LV],[MM - indicates 17 December 1866]

Eliza. Sloop-rigged decked longboat, 10 tons. Captain Archibald Amstrong (Master of HMS Supply).  Foundered with the loss of all on board after taking on board survivors from the wrecked Sydney Cove in the Furneaux Group, Bass Strait, 1797. On 21 June 1797, sailed from Preservation Island with such crew and cargo as she could carry , in company with the vessel Francis. The Francis arrived back in Sydney on 6 July but the Eliza was never seen again. In 1803 when HMS Calcutta was on survey duties, a large boat was found between port Phillip and Westernport, suggesting it may have been the Eliza. [LG],[LV],[AS1]

Eliza. Steamer. Captain Burn. Sprang a leak when on her way from Mebourne to Geelong and sank, 25 January 1855. The crew took to the boat and were rescued next day by the schooner Susan and taken to Geelong.  [LV],[WPP]

Elizabeth & William. Type unknown. Stranded at Anderson’s Inlet, Gippsland coast, 1872. Apparently salvaged and returned to service.  [LG]

Elizabeth Ann Bright. Ship, 1836 tons. Built 1856. Black Ball Line; purchased by James Baines in 1860.  Later added an extra deck, making her 1920 tons. In 1870, forced to make Lisbon leaking badly; was beached and then set on fire, possibly for insurance. [LC]

Elizabeth Mason. Schooner, 79 tons. Wrecked in the Kent Group, eastern Bass Strait, 1855. [LG]
Elk. HMS. A sailing vessel of 12 guns attached to the East India Station, which included Australia. Searched for the lost sloop HMS Sappho in Bass Strait without success, 1858. [LO]

Elizabeth William. Cutter, 11 tons. Built 1866; reg Melbourne. Lost 1872. [ASR]

Elizabeth. Brig, 230 tons. American built; reg Sydney 33/1846. Rode out a south easterly gale at Portland, Victoria for two days before going ashore on 26 November 1846. No loss of life. She had called to load whale oil and wool for London. [AS6],[LO],[AS1],[LV]

Elizabeth. Brig, 106 tons.  Built at Launceston, 1848. Lbd 64.1 x 18.5 x 11.6 ft. Master Alfred H. Farley. On her second voyage from Geelong to Hobart Town with 600 sheep, was lost during a sudden storm near Cape Schanck, Victoria, 28 October 1848. Crew saved.
[LG], [LV - 200 tons],[AS1 - from Geelong to Launceston]

Elizabeth. Cutter. Captain Hardwicke. Ashore on Seal Island off Wilsons Promontory,  25 April 1816. No loss of life. [LG],[TS1]
Broxam and Nash suggest that ‘Seal Island’ may in fact be Prime Seal Island in the Furneaux Group, [TS1]. Bateson indicates ‘wrecked on Seal Island, largest of the Seal or Direction Islands off Wilsons Promontory’, [AS1]

Elizabeth. Schooner, 80 tons. Captain Wyse. Ashore somewhere near Cape Otway after springing a leak when bound for Adelaide from Williamstown, 14 May 1852. Passengers and crew landed and erected sails for shelter before returning for provisions and a supply of spirits. Some of the crew set out for Geelong; others were rescued by the vessel Colina. [LO]

Elizabeth. Schooner, 58 tons. Captain Tipley. On a voyage from Melbourne to Adelaide, took shelter in a gale at Portland Bay but was blown ashore, wrecked, 18 November 1844. The gale also caused the loss of the schooner Sally Ann. [LO],[AS1],[MM]

Ella. Schooner, 49 tons. Built at Williamstown, 1868. Lbd 69.3 x 18.9 x 5.5 ft. Captain Davidson.  From Melbourne, sprang a leak and eventually capsized on the bar at Lakes Entrance, 21 March 1870. The captain and cook drowned.  [LG],[LPA],[LV]

Ellen & Elizabeth. Schooner. Built 1841. Broken Up 1889.  [LPA]

Ellen Simpson. Barque, 297 tons. Built 1847. Lbd 101.7 x 24.8 x 15.9 ft. Captain Poole. Lost in a gale off Cape Howe, 17 May 1866. As the damaged vessel wallowed helplessly in a huge sea a boat was launched, only to be smashed to matchwood in a few minutes. All the crew clung to the rigging except the second officer who jumped overboard and was eventually washed ashore insensible, but when the masts fell only the first mate survived. Nine lives lost.
[LG],[LV - 310 tons]

Ellora. Steamer. Owned by P. & O. Line. Captain Dundas. The captain ordered the helmsman to steer directly for the shore when approaching Wilsons Promontory, convinced that there was a passage through the rock. The helmsman refused. The Victorian Chief commissioner of Police was aboard, and after a short struggle, the cpatain was subdued. He later could not remember the incident. [LWP]
Loney does not indicate a date for the incident.

Elmgrove. Barque, 255 tons. Built at New Brunswick U.S.A., 1863. Lbd 109 x 24 x 14.5 ft. Captain Leddra. Bound from Newcastle to Adelaide with a crew of nine, ran into a gale off Cape Howe and was buffeted for three days before striking a reef off Wilsons Promontory, 9 September 1876. Immediately she struck, heavy seas washed over her sweeping seven men to their deaths but the captain, who was also swept off her succeeded in reaching the beach he met with second mate Hoyle, who had also been washed ashore. They existed for three days on limpets and pigface before being rescued by the Government steamer Pharos. The bodies of the other men, dreadfully mutilated, were buried in the Alberton Cemetery. [LG],[LWP],[LV]

Elsie Black. Barque. Missing in Bass Strait, 1876. [LV]

Elsinore Schooner. Built 1875. Broken Up 1929.  [LPA]
In 1900, stranded at Apollo Bay, Victoria. [LO - ketch]

Emerald Wings. Steel steamer, 3139 tons. Built at Glasgow, Scotland, 1911. Renambed Kilbaha (qv). [LSW]

Emily Allison. Schooner. Built 1850. Operated in Victorian waters. Wrecked In New Zealand waters 1865.  [LPA]

Emily S. Stern fishing trawler, 240 tons. Length 30m. Scuttled in 24 metres by local dive club, near Lawrence Rocks, off Portland, 1990. [DA]
@ Sitting upright between two reefs, with excellent marine life.

Emily. Brigantine, 46 tons. Built on the River Tamar,1862. Lbd 58.8 x 16.2 x 8 ft. Captain Griffiths. Left Sydney for Melbourne with a cargo of maize and drove ashore in a gale about three kilometres east of the entrance to Shoal Inlet after passing Cape Howe, 7 July 1863. All hands saved.  [LG],[LV - 20 tons]

Emily. Cutter, 14 tons. Built 1891; reg. Paynesville. Disappeared with her crew of two after leaving Eden for Mallacoota, Gippsland coast, 30 July 1898. [LG]

Emily. Cutter, 26 tons. Built Sydney, 1840; reg. Melbourne 7/1844. Lbd 40.7 x 12.6 x 7.3 ft. Master Andrew Murray. Sailed from Melbourne for Circular Head, Tasmania, on 4 April 1846 and was never heard of again, presumably foundering in Bass Strait. [AS1]
Also listed:
Emily. Cutter. Assisted the crew of the stricken William Salthouse, lost in Port Phillip 1841, to return to Melbourne. [LR]
And:
Emily. Involved in collision, Yarra River, 19 January 1841.[WPP],[LV]

Emily. Ketch, 16 tons. Built 1878. Captain Forbes. Ashore when her anchor parted in heavy seas, wrecked, off the Joanna River, western Victoria, 1888. [LO],[LPA]

Emita. Steal screw steamship, 3347 tons. Built 1921. Name changed to Milora (qv) at a later date. Cripled when a boiler explosion burned two firemen. No date, no location but presume off Wilsons Promontory. [LWP]

Emma Paterson. Schooner, 69 tons. Built 1868; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Empire. Schooner, 55 tons. Lost at Warrnambool, Victoria, 1850. [LV]

Emu. Steamer. Stranded at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, 1889. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Encounter HMAS. Cruiser, 5880 tons displacement. Built 1902. Transferred to RAN in 1912. Scuttled. Mentioned in relation to mining operations in Bass Strait. [LSW]

Endeavour. Schooner, 140 tons. Stranded at Breamlea, Victoria, whilst attempting to recover an anchor and chain from the stranded steamer Bancoora, November 1892. [DD],[LO]
In 1903, a schooner of this name attempted vainly to salvage the bulk oil carrier Petriana, 1903. [LG]

Endeavour.  Type not listed. Melbourne to Adelaide, disappeared without trace, 1852. [LV]

Engelkens. Dutch salvage vessel - chartered to salvage the Schomberg, 1855. [LO]

Enterprise. Schooner, wood, 84 tons. Built 1866. Wrecked in the Kent Group, eastern Bass Strait, 1881. In 1877, a schooner of this name was stranded at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast. [LG]

Enterprise. Two-masted schooner, 58 tons. Built Waiheke, New Zealand, 1847; reg. Auckland 25/1847, transfered to Melbourne 23 February 1848. Lbd 49 x 16.6 x 9 ft. Captain James Gardiner Caught. In a gale, wrecked ashore in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, 14 September 1850. An aboriginal named Buckawall swam out with a rope tied around his waist, and despite a terrific buffeting succeeded in getting a line aboard, enabling all crew to land.  [LO],[#LSS],[LLB],[AS1][see also MM],[LAH]
Not to be confused with the historic vessel of the same name which John Pascoe Fawkner used to cross Bass Strait to the Port Phillip District. MacKenzie is so confused.

Eric the Red. Three-masted wooden ship,  1580 tons. Built at Bath, Maine, USA, 1871.  Reconditioned 1879.  Lbd 198.7 x 41.1 x 17.5 ft. Captain Z. Allen. Wrecked the Otway Reef, which extends about two miles out to sea in a south-easterly direction from the Cape Otway lighthouse, 3 September 1880. Four lives lost. Commissioned by American trade representatives, left New York on 12 June 1880, for the International Exhibition in Melbourne, loaded with exhibits, two passengers and a crew of twenty-five. Eighty-four days out, the captain believed the ship to be at least six miles off Cape Otway and steered towards the light but he had badly misjudged his position. The captain, second mate and others clung to the mizzen mast which then fell into the sea, taking them with it. Fortunately the small coastal steamer Dawn, commanded by Captain Jones, was returning to Warrnambool from Melbourne and was about six miles off Cape Otway. Captain Jones spent several hours searching for survivors without success, and soon after dawn signalled the lighthouse with news of the disaster, which was immediately telegraphed to Melboume. All that remained of the ship was a large piece of wreckage awash on the north-east comer of the reef.  An immense quantity of wreckage floated on to Point Franklin.  More wreckage was picked up at Apollo Bay, Western Port, Port Campbell and Peterborough. The Government steamers Pharos and Victoria left Melbourne soon after the wreck to clear the sailing lanes and the Pharos discovered the first large piece of wreckage near the Henty Reef south of Apollo Bay.  The Victoria and the steamer Otway, bound from Adelaide to Melbourne, also recovered wreckage. Several residents at Apollo Bay rebuilt their homes with timber salvaged from the wreck. Within a year of her loss, an auxiliary red warning light was shown from Cape Otway lighthouse, screened so as to be visible only to vessels approaching on a dangerous course.  [#LE],[LO],[LSS],[NH],[LPA],[#MM],[LV],[LAH],[NWR - Captain Jones],[NSC],[DD]
@ The exact location of her final loss is not known but substantial wreckage has been found along the coast.

Erskine. Ketch, wood, 89 tons. Built at Geelong, 1922, as the auxiliary vessel Lorne.  Lbd 88.8 x 23 x 7.2 ft. Spent many years in the Lorne-Melbourne-Geelong timber trade before moving to Tasmania (when presumably her name was changed). Wrecked at Museel Roe Bay, 1935. [LSS],[LC]

Esperance Belle. Ketch. Built 1867. Wrecked at Gippsland Lakes, 1870.  [LPA]

Essie Black. Barque, 281 tons. Built at Bordeaux, 1856 as the Gironde. Lbd 110.6 x 26 x 13.8 ft. Disappeared during a voyage between Newcastle and Adelaide, January 1874. She may have foundered off the Gippsland coast, or she may have struck an island in Bass Strait. In May, a headboard with the name Essie Black, surrounded by various fittings and spars was found washed up on one of the Sisters Islands. In 1881, more wreckage  included a lifebuoy identified as coming from her was found on Hunters Island. [LG]

Essington. Brig, 123 tons. Captain Mills. After springing a leak while anchored at Port Fairy, was beached near the mouth of the Moyne River and eventually became a total wreck, 3 May 1852. [LO], [LV] ,[MM]
MacKenzie lists her as the Essendon.

Ethel B.T. Ketch, 49 tons. Built 1886. Lbd 69 x 19.4 x 5.5 ft. Captain Lemschow.  Struck the western side of Lakes Entrance, wrecked, December 1903. No loss of life. [LG], [LV],[LM indicates schooner],[LV].

Ethel Jackson.  Composite paddle steamer of 159 tons built at Echuca in 1876.  Sold to Gippsland interests in 1884 and used on the lakes.  Hulked and broken up in 1918. [LPA]

Ettrick. Cutter. Built 1842. Register closed 1876.  [LPA]

Eucalyptus. Barque. Built 1852. Wrecked In Bass Strait 1870.  [LPA]

Euphemia. Schooner, wood, 250 tons. Ran on to the Sisters Rocks, off Gippsland coast, during a voyage from Newcastle to Melbourne, 19 July 1858. The master, his wife, servants and crew, totalling sixteen reached safety and were picked up about seven hours later by the schooner Twins. [LG], [LV - rigged as barque]

Euroa. Steamship, steel, 3353 tons. Built at Williamstown, Port Phillip, 1922. Lbd 331 x 47.9 x 26.1 ft.  Renamed Iron Crown, sank after being struck by a torpedo when forty-four nautical miles of Gabo Island, 4 June 1942. [LSS]

Europa.  Steamer, iron, 1533 tons. Built 1879. Wreckage from the ship Eric the Red was initially thought to have been from this vessel. [LE]

Eurynome. Ship, 1346 tons.  Geelong to Le Havre, disappeared without trace, .1882. [LV]
Also listed:
Euroynome. Ship, 1404 tons. Built 1862. Disappeared from Geelong to England, 1881  [LAH]

Eva. Cutter, 33 tons. Built at Port Fairy, 1875. Broken up Port Fairy, February, 1895. [ASR]

Eva. Paddle steamer, 35 tons. Lost near Phillip Island, 30 March 1876. [LG],[LV]

Eva. Schooner, 45 tons. On 30 March 1877, was struck by the steamship General Pell which approached too close, mistaking the schooner for the pilot boat. [LR]
In 1860, a schooner of this name stranded at Portland, Victoria. [LO],[MM - indicates wrecked]
In 1877, November, a vessel by this name was badly damaged in a gale off Cape Howe, but repaired and continued service, November 1877. [LV]

Evergreen. Ketch, 20 tons. Built 1849. Lbd 46.6 x 12 x 5.4 ft. Disappeared without trace after having called at Welshpool, Gippsland coast, 9 June 1906. Wreckage from her was recovered on Cape Barren Island. [LG]

Evergreen. Ketch, 17 tons. Disappeared in a gale off Cape Woolamai, Gippsland coast, 1914. [LG]

Examiner. Barque. Built 1870. Known to have visited Victorian waters in the 1890s. Broken up at Auckland 1910.  [LPA]

Excelsior. Barque, 683 tons. Built Melbourne, 1878. Broken up. [ASR]

Excelsior. Schooner, 47 tons.  Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1878. [LV]
Also listed:
Excelsior. Cutter. Australasian Shipping Register records "Missing Since 1878".  [LPA]

Fair Tasmanian. Brig, brigantine or schooner, 144 tons reg., 200 tons burthen. Built Hobart, 1850. Captain Francis. Ashore, wrecked, in heavy weather, Lady Bay, Warmambool, 27 May 1864. Rocket crews assisted in rescuing all on board, although there were anxious moments when the captain’s four- year-old daughter was tossed in the surf, eventually to be rescued, and his wife had her hair caught in the running block. [LO],[LPA - schooner, built 1848],[LLB],[#MM],[LV]

Falcon. Ketch, 17 tons. Lbd 46.4 x 13.8 x 5.3 ft. Lost near the Snowy River, Gippsland coast, November 1903. [LG]

Falcon. Schooner. Built 1840. Wrecked 1850.  [LPA]

Falls of Halladale. Four-masted iron barque, 2085 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1886.  Lbd 275.2 x 41.6 x 23.9 ft. Captain Thomson. Out of New York with general cargo, grounded on a reef west of Peterborough in hazy conditions, 14 November 1908. Crew of twenty-nine saved. The ship, firmly wedged between two reefs with all sail set, attracted hundreds of sightseers over a period of nearly two months and is perhaps the most photographed wreck on the Australian coast. Several salvage attempts of moderate success were made but the vessel was beyond saving; the paddle steamer Gem was involved in salvage of her extensive cargo for eighteen months and had a diver aboard.  [LO],[NWR@],[#MM],[LV],[NSC],[PR],[RP],[DD],[DA]
@ The wrecksite lies in 10 metres, well flattened, several hundred yards offshore. Most of the hull structure is recognisable, as is her cargo of roofing slate. A huge anchor was recovered in 1974.  ~ Twenty-two thousand roofing slates, part of the cargo of 56,763, were recovered in the 1980s and used on eight buildings at Flagstaff Maritime Village in Warrnambool. The anchor is on display at the village.

Fantome. HM Brig. (HMS 12-gun sloop). Formed part of the British East India Station, based in Australian waters. Dismantled in 1841. Her cannon was purchased and fitted to the brig Sir John Byng, and recovered when the brig was wrecked in 1852. [LO]
On 10 November 1855, came across the stranded barque flying Arrow on King Island. [LSS]

Favourite. Schooner, 96 tons. Built in 1849. Lbd 84.6 x 19.3 x 8.7 ft. Captain Stericker. Went missing after leaving Melbourne on 9 May 1852 for Sydney with 13 passengers, a crew of 8, about 20,000 ounces of gold dust and some general cargo. On the 17th she was seen by the vessels Margaret Howe and Spencer near Cape Howe, under reduced sail, and she appeared to have sustained some storm damage. After a month, SS Acheron searched the coast as some believed she had driven ashore on the Ninety Mile Beach, or perhaps near Cape Liptrap. [LG]

Fear Not. Schooner. Built 1875. Wrecked in Bass Strait 1882.  [LPA]

Fenella.  Iron paddle steamer, 261 tons. Built at Liverpool, 1831. Sold to overseas interests. [LPA]

Ferdinand Fischer. Barque, 1673 tons.  Built 1886. Geelong to Queenstown, disappeared without trace, 1906. [LV],[LAH]

Fezara. Steamship,  5826 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1923. Renamed Orungal (qv). [LSW].

Fiji. Three masted iron barque, 1436 tons. Built at Belfast, 1875. Lbd 229.3 x 36.3 x 23.1 ft. Captain Vickers. Inward bound from Hamburg to Melbourne with a crew of twenty and a general cargo including 200 cases of dynamite, was nearing Cape Otway, Victoria, when she struck rocks at Moonlight Head about 300 yards from the shore, only a short distance west from where the Marie Gabrielle had been lost twenty-two years earlier, 6 September 1891. Within minutes, the twenty-six  crew were driven to the forecastle head, bowsprit and jibboom and there they clung expecting the ship to go to pieces or be washed off into the raging surf. Several men made it to shore whilst others drowned in the surf. Telve lives were lost. Strong criticism was levelled through the press at the complete failure of the sea rescue attempts, and the comparative failure of those by land.  The Warrnambool lifeboat did not arrive, the Goverrunent steamer, Lady Loch, reached the scene a day too late and the tug, Racer, started for the wreck but also failed to arrive. The continuous heavy seas which roll in onto Wreck Beach prevented organised salvage attempts but in 1894 several divers managed to salvage some of the hundreds of tons of coiled wire rope which had formed part of her cargo
[LO],[LSS],[LH],[#LFJ],[#MM],[LV],[NSC],[DD],[NWR]
@ The site is virtually impossible to dive except in the rare situiation of an absolutely flat calm sea.
Florence. Schooner. Built 1865. Broken up 1900.  [LPA]
In 1881, stranded at Portland, Victoria, 1881. [LO]

Flying Arrow. Barque, 1100 tons. Found deserted off King Island with her decks completely swept, her anchors gone and only the lower mizzen mast standing, 10 November 1855. The steamer Marion towed her to Hobsons Bay, where it was found that one of her boats had reached Melbourne to obtain a tug.  The barque was repaired and renamed. [LV]

Flying Cloud. See barque Muscoota.

Flying Dutchman. Brig, 30 tons,. Sprang a leak while going into Port Albert and was run ashore, 15 August 1850. After being repaired on the beach she was refloated.  [LPA],[LG]

Flying Squirrel. Brigantine. Built 1810. Wrecked 1875.  [LPA]

Foam. Ketch, 21 tons. Built 1887. Lbd 45.6 x 17.3 x 4.4 ft. Captain G. Angelo. Capsized off Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, 3 December 1905. No loss of life. [LG],[LV]

Foam. Ketch, 30 tons. Built 1877. Captain William Anderson. During a regular trading voyage between Loutit Bay (Lorne) and Melbourne, disappeared without trace off Bream Creek, Victoria, 30 January 1880.  She apparently ran into a squall and foundered.  Her crew of three and a boy passenger were not seen again, although a few days later a lifebuoy and wreckage was washed ashore. [LO]

Fortunato Figari. (Fortunato Figaro). Ship, iron, 2419 tons. Collided with SS Coogee (qv) south of Cape Schanck, Victoria, 25 December 1903. Both ships made Melbourne for repairs.  [LG],[LSS],[DG]

Four Winds II. Schooner, 21 tons. Lost in Victorian waters, 1928. [LV]

Four Winds. Yawl, 26 tons. On a voyage around Australia, lost her mast off Venus Bay, Gippsland coast,  and was swept ashore, 1 July 1923. Crew of five survived.  [LG]

Fox. Captain Irvine. The captain reported that he had exchanged signals with a French whaler when near Kangaroo Island, and saw her again off Cape Northumberland. Wreckage found near the mouth of the Fitzroy River, Vic, in 1840 could have been from the whaler.  [AS1]

Francis. Schooner. Involved in the rescue of survivors - see Sydney Cove, 1797. See also Eliza, lost 1797. [LG]

Freak. Fore and aft schooner. Ashore, wrecked, in a gale, south west of Cape Howe, Victoria, 1865. Two members of the crew clung to the mainmast and drifted ashore, but the remainder perished. [LG]

Freddy. Schooner. Built 1873. Wrecked 1887.  [LPA]

Frederick. Barque. Built 1846. Known to have operated in Victorian waters. Wrecked in New Zealand waters, 1867.  [LPA]

Freedom. Schooner, 165 tons. Captain Noon. Anchored in Warrnambool harbour (Lady Bay) when her chains parted during a gale and drifted ashore near the jetty, 11 July 1853. She was refloated soon after with some of her cargo still aboard, but on 11 October was again driven ashore where she became a total wreck, her hull being sold by auction. [LO],[LLB],[#MM],[LV]

Freetrader. (Free Tader). Wooden barque, 188 tons gross.. Built Hobart, 1850. Lbd 111 x 22.2 x 11 ft. Captain Bowden. Drifted ashore near the mouth of the Hopkins River, on to the piling which carried pipes connecting with the local swimming baths, and in a short time they had battered a hole in the hull, August 1894. She lay in about four feet of water at low tide, about midway between the remains of the Enterprise and the Olivia Davis, totally wrecked.  [LO],[LSS],[LPA],[ASR],[#LLB],[LPW - 206 tons],[#MM],[LV]

Frolic. Cutter, 17 tons. Built at Bunbury, 1849. Lbd 38.4 x 10.4 x 5 ft. Left Port Albert, then drifted on to Snake Island, wrecked, 24 March 1870.  [LG],[LPA]

Fury. Barque, wood, 378 tons. Lbd 123.4 x 27.5 x 17 ft. Master C. McBurney. From Newcastle to Melbourne with coal, struck a reef nine nautical miles from the Wilsons Promontory light, and sank just off the northern point of Sealers Cove, near Rabbit Island, 26 August 1869.  [LG],[LPA],[LWP],[LV]

G.H.Peake. Brig, 271 tons. Built 1867; reg Melbourne. Lost 1874. [ASR]

Gardner. Fishing boat. Lost near Cape Otway, Victoria, 1980. [LO]

Garthsnaid. Three-masted steel barque, 1360 tons. Built 1892. Dismasted seventy miles south of Gabo Island, then towed to Melbourne and converted into a coal hulk, 1923. [LV], [LG - stranded on the Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast, 1923],[LAH]

Gazelle. Wooden steamer, 47 tons. Built 1852; reg. Melbourne. Ran in the lime trade to Waratah Bay, Victoria, calling also at other Gippsland ports to load general cargo; converted into a lighter and used to carry timber to vessels loading in Apollo Bay.  Blown ashore during a gale, wrecked, February, 1884. [LV],[LPA],[ASR]

Gem. Paddle steamer. Used for salvage on the Falls of Halladale, lost western Victoria, 1908. [#MM]
In 1898, involved in collision with Albert, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip. [LV]

General Nowell.. Ship. Involved in collision with brig Gertrude off Cape Otway, Victoria, 1857. [LO]

Genista. Steamer. Stranded near Hastings, Victoria, 1906. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

George E. Billings. Ashore in Waratah Bay, Gippsland coast, 1904. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG],[LV]

George Kermode. Bucket dredge. Scuttled by Fisheries and Wildlife  to form an artificial reef off Smith's Beach, Phillip Island, circa 1970s. [DA]
@  The dredge is lying on its port side in 25m. Excellent fish life.

George M. Embiricos. Involved in collision with Koonda, Port Phillip Bay, 1943. [LV]

George Marshall. Ship, 1361/1208 tons. #26496. Built at Shields, UK, by her owner George Marshall & Co.,  1854; reg. London. Lbd 179.8 x 34.8 x 28.0 ft. Captain John Davison. Wrecked west coast Flinders Island, Furneaux Group, 14 January 1862. [TS1]
On 8 June 1859, stranded at Gellibrand’s Point, Hobson’s Bay; refloated.

Georgic. Steamship. Collided with SS Potomac in a dense smoky haze about eight kilometres off Cape Patten, 8 February 1912. Damage to either vessel was not serious. [LO]

Georgina Smith. Schooner, wood, 45 tons. Built at Melbourne, 1857. Lbd 63.1 x 15.3 x 6.6 ft. Captain Malcolm Campbell. Was the first vessel to enter Lakes Entrance from the sea, sailing up to Tambo to unload cargo, 13 April 1858. Broken up 1899, [LV],[LSS],[LPA]

Georgina. Barque, 315 tons.  Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1880. [LV]
On 17 October 1852 (a barque of the above name), under Captain Murray, was involved in a mutiny in Corio Bay, whereby the captain shot dead a crewman armed with a knife, he and several others attempting to lower a boat to defect to the goldfields. The captain ws overpowerewd and lashed to the wheel, but soon released when the mutineers left. [LC]

Geranium. HMAS. Minesweeper/sloop, 1250 tons. Built 1915. Served with Royal Navy, then RAN. Scuttled in 1935. Involvd in minesweeping operations off Cape Everard, Victoria, late 918. [LSW]

Gertrude. Brig, 206 tons. Built 1854. Lbd 113.2 x 23 x 13.7 ft. Captain John McArthur. Between Newcastle and Melbourne, struck rocks, wrecked, in Waterloo Bay, Wilsons Promontory, 13 August 1858. Crew rescued by SS Stormbird and taken on to Melbourne. [LG],[LWP],[LV]
In 1857, involved in collision with ship vessel General Nowell off Cape Otway, Victoria. [LO]
Loney is inconsistent with tonnage and dimensions. LWP lists as 119 tons, lbd 74.4 x 19.7 x 11.7 ft.

Gilgai. Steamship. Stranded near Barwon Heads, Victoria, 1920. [LO]

Gippsland. Steamer. Collided with SS Dargo in the Gippsland Lakes, 1912. [LG]

Glasgow Citizen. Paddle steamer, 173 tons. Built on the Clyde, 1852. Lbd 156.9 x 16.3 x 8.3 ft. A popular ferry between Geelong and Melbourne. On 15 October 1862, left for Dunedin loaded with passengers for the New Zealand goldfields, but was not seen again. [LC]

Glaslyn. Barque, 372, Melbourne, 1870. Wrecked Ombay Passage, February 1887. [ASR]

Glaucus. Steamer, 1363 tons.  James Patterson & Co. After useful service in Australia and the Pacific, laid up in Melbourne and dismantled and converted into a hulk, August 1927.  [DG]
In 1893, involved in collision with vessel Kannanook, Port Phillip Bay.
In 1911, collided with SS Wareatea near Point Nepean, Port Phillip Heads, suffering only minor damage. [LR],[LG gives date as 1907]

Glencoe. Barque, 160 tons. Built 1847. Known to have oprated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1850s, in the timber trade around Wilsons Promontory. Wrecked in Gore Bay, New Zealand, 1878.  [LPA],[LWP]

Glenelg. Steamship, 210 tons. Built Glasgow, 1874. Lbd 133.8 x 21.1 x 11.3 ft. Captain Ingles. Out of Lakes Entrance with passengers and a cargo of wool and electric light poles, foundered forty miles west of the entrance, 25 March 1900. Only three men survived - thirty-one lives were lost. The ship had sprung a leak during a gale and sank almost immediately. Two lifeboats were launched, but only one reached safety. [LV],[LSS],[LAH]
This important loss is not listed in LG.

Glenfruin. Steamer, 2981 tons. See Kalgoorlie.

Glengarry. Schooner, 47 tons. Built 1876. Lbd 68.8 x 18.3 x 5.6 ft. Wrecked at Marlo, 1898. [LG],[LV],[LPA],ASR]
In 1877, stranded near Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast; salvaged and returned to service
In 1881, stranded at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast; salvaged and returned to service.
In 1882, ashore  on the Ninety Mile Beach during a storm late in May but was eventually refloated.
In 1886, involved in collision with vessel Trader, Point Gellibrand, Port Phillip.

Glenreach. Steam ship. Attempted to salvage SS Riverina, 1927. [LG]

Glomar III. Oil drilling ship, 5800 tons. Operated in Bass Strait, 1960s. [LPW]

Gneisenau.  German armoured cruiser, 11,600 tons.  Destroyed by the British in South Atlantic, 1914. Mentioned briefly. [LSW]

Golden Age. Barque, 381 tons. Built 1856; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Golden Spring. Brig, 170 tons. Built in America. Captain Kelly. In a gale, dragged her anchors into the surf, appearing to strike the wreck of the Maid of Julpha about 150 yards out, Lady Bay, Warrnambool, 6 July 1863. The brig broke in two. [LO],[LLB],[MM],[LV]

Golden Spring. Motor vessel, 7253 tons. Built 1945. With both engines out of action she drifted toward Skull Rock, off Wilsons Promontory, but was recued in the nick of time by the Burns Philp flagship MV Braeside, 30 March 1969. [LWP]

Governor Macquarie. Brig, 106 tons. Bound from Hobart to Sydney, was lost in eastern bass Strair, December 1829. [LV]

Governor-General. Wooden paddle steamer, 761 tons. Built New York, 1848 as the New Orleans (qv).. Renamed in when purchased by the newly formed Melbourne Steam Packet Company, and later purchased by the A.S.N.Co. Operated on the east coast until 1861, then ssold to China interests. [WL]

Graciosa. See barque Strathgryfe.

Great Victoria. Steamer, full rigged as a ship, 2320 tons. Built Nantes, France, 1854, as the Jacquard. After the Crimean War. sold to the Black Ball Line; lengthened to 300 ft, renamed. Mader several trips between Australia and UK. Later, engines removed, converted to a sailing ship under new owners.

Greyhound. Schooner. Stranded near Tarwin, Gippsland coast, 1855. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Gulf of Carpentaria. Steamship,  2434/1569 tons. Built West Hartlepool, UK, 1881. Lbd 287.7 x 39.1 x 17.7 ft. Captain Thomson. From Sydney to London with a valuable cargo of wool, struck a rock at the western entrance to the channel between Cleft and Anser Islands, off Wilsons Promontory, sinking within fifteen minutes, 15 September 1885. Three lifeboats were launched in a calm sea and the thirty crew members and one passenger rowed to the Wilsons Promontory lighthouse where they remained until a passing ship took them on to Melbourne. A Court of Inquiry exonerated the master of all blame as the rock was uncharted; it is now shown on charts as Carpentaria Rock. The remains of the ship lie in 50 metres of water, and it is not recommended that inexperienced divers visit her The bow is the most broken up section, with the stern reasonably intact. [LG],[AS6],[LWP],[LAH],[DG]

Gunnadale. Steam trawler, 217 tons.  Built 1915. Lbd 115 x 22 x 11.9 ft. Ashore, wrecked, on Cape Howe, 1917. Wreckage from her is still visible on the rocks.
[LG],[LV],[LB],[LH],LSW]
In late 1917, involved in minesweeping operations off Cape Everard.
It appears Loney could not decide on the correct spelling:
LV indicates name Gunnundale, 83 tons.
LB indicates name Gunundael, minesweeper/trawler, 221 tons, served in the RAN 1917-18, wrecked near Cape Howe, 1929.
LH indicated Gunundaal.]

Gurya. Fishing vessel. Involved in rescue - see fishing vessel Defiance.

Hallgrim.  Steam ship, 6,598 tons. Built at Sunderland, England, 1921. Named Selje when sank after colliding with SS Kaituna, 1929. [LO]

Handa Isle. Three masted schooner, wood, 275 tons. Built Auckland, 1881; reg. Hobart. Lbd 125.6 x 26.8 x 12.1 ft Owned by Hobart Sailing Ship Company. Having left Sydney with a cargo for Melbourne, apparently caught fire and was destroyed about midway between Cape Schanck and Wilsons Promontory, September 1918. There were no survivors. Badly charred wreckage indicated a possible explosion and fire; a mine from the field laid by the German raider Wolf was believed responsible. [LG],[LSS],[LB],[LWP],[LV],[LC]

Hannah Nicholson. Barque, 252 tons. Built 1858. Lbd 116.4 x 23.6 x 14.4 ft. In 1873, left Port Louis in Mauritius with sugar for Melbourne. The captain was reported as being mad, firing shots which did some but little injury, and confined himself to his cabin until the vessel made Portland. On breaking down the captain’s cabin door he was found dead, with a note attached saying he had been murdered by the crew. [LSS]

Hannah Thompson. Cutter, wood,14 tons. Built Willimastown, Port Phillip, 1872. Lbd 41.8 x 12.1 x 5.2 ft. A regular trader to Port Campbell for half a century, she had several narrow escapes off the rugged coast west of Cape Otway. However, after being converted to fishing, was lost in Oberon Bay, Wilsons Promontory, July 1923. No loss of life. [LWP],[LG],[LSS]
@ The site, 200 m south of Oberon Point, has been known for many years but only recently identified. The wreck material is scattered amongst boulders in 5 to 8 metres - a small quantity of iron plate, deck bollards and timber. [DUP]

Harcon. Wooden scallop boat, 50 ft. Inward bound from Lakes Entrance, attempted to enter Port Phillip at night; sheered down the face of a wave, borached and bounced across Lonmsdale reef, 15 November 1972. Although the diesel engine was saved, the wreck was burnt to eliminate any damngerous wreckage.  [DD]

Harlech Castle. Ship, 1112/600 tons. Built Liverpool, 1867. Lbd 174.2 x 28.3 x 17.9 ft. Captain Davies. Disappeared after leaving  Melbourne for Newcastle on 26 June 1870 with a crew of twenty-three. A vessel resembling her was seen by the schooner Alcandre about sixty nautical miles south of Cape Howe, and she appeared to be listing badly. The Government steamer Pharos searched Bass Strait and its eastern approaches without result. [LG], [LV],[LAH - built 1870]

Harmony. Local craft.  Known to have operated in the timber trade around Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s, carrying timber from Sealers cove to Port Albert.  [LWP]

Harriet Nathan. Barque. Built 1834. Operated in eastern victorian waters in 1840s. Wrecked 1872.  [LPA]

Harriet. Schooner, 45 tons. Lbd 51 x 16.5 x 7.4 ft. Captain Williams. Left Geelong for Hobart Town on 13 November 1848 and was last seen close in to shore near Cape Schanck. She was on her first voyage, carrying 200 sheep but no passengers. [LG]

Harry Wood. Ketch, 35 tons. Built 1878. Lost at Westernport, Victoria, 1916. [LV],[LPA]

Hauroto. Involved in collision with  King Arthur, Victoria waters,  1889. [LV]

Hazard. Ketch, 25 gross. # 40912. Built at Brisbane Water, NSW, 1851; reg. Sydney 39/1851, Launceston 5/1898.  Lbd 51.0 x 15.4 x 5.6 ft. Wrecked west coast Tasmania, 19 May 1908.  [LPA]
On 27 March 1873, involved in collision with steamer Macedon, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip. [WPP],[LV]
On 22 October 1873, ashore at Portarlington, Port Phillip. [LC]
On or about 6 October 1879, sank after a collision with the brigantine Rachel Cohen, Port Phillip Bay. [TS2],[LV - 1878]

Helen Ann. Schooner, 31 tons. Lost on King Island, 1868. [LV]

Helen Ramsay. Vessel type not recorded. Apprentice Tom Pearce, later to be the hero of the Loch Ard disaster, west coast Victoria, 1877, was on the Helen Ramsay when she was lost off Port Phillip Heads (date not recorded). [MM]
This is incorrect. There is no record of a Helen Ramsay being lost off Port Phillip. Pearce was first wrecked when on the Eliza Ramsden, lost inside the heads 1875.

Helen S. Page. Barque, 217 tons. Built 1847. Lost at Newcastle, 1868. [LSS],[LPA]

Helen. Schooner, 69 tons. Built 1846. Captain Georgeson. Ashore in a gale whilst at anchor in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, 25 September 1856. Not badly damaged, and refloated on next tide. [LLB],[LPA]
Also listed:
Helen. Schooner. Stranded near Point Lonsdale, Port Phillip Heads, 1856. [LO]

Helen. Schooner. Wrecked on the Gippsland coast after being seized by convicts, 1850. She had left Hobart Town in March with passengers and cargo; when only a short distance down the coast she was seized by escaped convicts who escaped into the bush after the wrecking. Vague reports give the wreck site as somewhere on the Ninety Mile Beach. The remains of the burnt vessel still lie buried in the sand and in 1921 were partially uncovered and photographed but more recent searches have been unsuccessful. [LG]

Helen. Whaler. Built Greenoch, 1864.Ran in the Australia-China trade, then took up whaling in 1894.  Last of the Hobart Town whalers. Eventually sold in Melbourne after the turn of the century in a poor condition. [LC]

Hellen. Type not recorded. Lost at Lakes Entrance, June 1971. [LG]

Henry & Edward. Schooner. Lost in Bass Strait, 1849. [LV]

Henry Edward. Brigantine, 83 tons. Built 1839. Foundered after collision 1868.  [LPA]

Henry Leonard. Ketch. Stranded near Mallacoota, Gippsland coast, 1885. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Henry. Ketch, 32 tons. Ashore in a strong wind near Lorne, Victoria, wrecked, 1878. [LO]

Henry. Schooner, 48 tons. Wrecked at Portland, Victoria, September 1853. [LO]
A schooner of this name, 48 tons, involved in whaling visited Portland on several occasions under the command of Captain McLean.[LSS]
In 1834, a schooner of this name went ashore in a gale near Portland, Victoria, waiting to load whale oil. She was later refloated. [LV]

Hercules. Brigantine, 140 ton. Ashore in a gale, Apollo Bay, Victoria, 15 December 1861. No lives were lost. [LO]

Hereford. Three-masted barque, iron, 1524 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1869. Lbd 241.1 x 37.2 x 23.2 ft. Left London for Melbourne with forty passengers and general cargo. In the south-east trades, was signalled by the barque Nonpareil for assistance with a doctor, but the vessels came too close and the Nonpareil’s main yard was carried away; the Hereford sustained minor damage. In a calm, went stern foremost on to the Ingoldsby Reef off Anglesea, Victoria, 9 January 1881. All saved. On 17 January, rough seas trapped some of the salvage crew on board and next morning a policeman and seamen were drowned when a wave capsized a boat carrying nineteen men from the wreck to the shore. She was pumped dry and towed clear of the reef on 17 February 1881. She ended her days under the Norwegian flag when she was abandoned at sea in April 1907. [LSS],[LO indicates her loss as 1882],[DD]

Hero. Ketch, trading vessel. Lost near Cape Woolamai , Gippsland coast, when her cables parted while she was sheltering from a gale, 1904. [LG] A vessel of this name was involved in collision with vessel Eva, West Channel, Port Phillip, 1876. [LV]

Heroic. Steel tug, 268 tons. Built 1909. Lbd 125.3 x 24.2 x 10.8 ft. [LSS]
In 1910, despatched to search for the ship Loch Katrine, well overdue from Melbourne to Sydney. Located her 150 miles south-west of Gabo Island, having been dismasted. [LSS]

Hertford. Steamship, British freighter, 11785 tons. Built 1917. Lbd 520.7 x 64.2 x 38.1 ft. Badly damaged off Spencer Gulf when struck a mine laid by the German vessel passat, 7 December 1943. [LSS]

Hillmeads. Involved in collision with Rahra, Cape Schanck, 1928. [LV]

Hinemoa. Four-masted barque, steel, 2283 tons. Built 1890. Lbd 278.1 x 41.9 x 24.2 ft. Visited Australia between 1894 and 1908. Captain Royan. Stranded at Lorne, 21 January 1908. Fierce fires had been raging in the Otways for more than a week forcing the barque to sail blind through a thick smoke screen as ashes fell on her deck and myriads of birds and insects sought refuge in the rigging. News spread rapidly through the district attracting hundreds of sightseers, but her master seldom appeared on deck, spending most of his time in his cabin playing a phonograph. The tug Eagle towed her free. Bought by American interests in 1916. Torpedoed and sunk  by a German U-Boat in the English Channel while on a voyage in ballast from Falmouth to New York, 17 September 1917 .
[LO],[#LSS],[LC - sunk 7 September 1917]

Hobart Star. Vessel type not recorded. Stranded at Port Melbourne, 13 July 1963. [WPP]

Hope. Ship. See Bee.

Hugh McCulloch.  Steamer. Stranded at Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 1943. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Hugh Roberts. Brigantine, 90 tons. Built 1848. Lbd 68.4 x 20.2 x 10.8 ft. Captain Arnold.
Only two survived the loss of the near Ram Head on 19 October. Wrecked near Taiewi Point, a reef of rocks about 30 kilometres west of Ram Head, Gippsland coast, 19 October 1863. Six of her eight crew lost. [LG],[LPA],[LLB],[LV]

Huntingdon. Steamship. Involved in rescue - see SS Awaroa, 1925. [LG]

Hydra. Barque. Built 1852. Operated in Victorian waters. Foundered off New Zealand, 1872.  [LPA],[LPW]

I-25.  Japanese scouting submarine, 2584/3654 tons. Completed at Kobe in 1941.  Sunk by USS Paterson off the New Hebrides in the Solomons, 3 September 1943. Was a scouting submarine designed to serve as a flagship for a group of submarines. Armed with six torpedo tubes, deck guns, and fitted with an aircraft hanger and catapult. Saw action in Pearl Harbour, December 1941. Entered Bass Strait 1942. [LSW]

Industry. Schooner, 96 tons. Built 1827. Operated in Victorian waters. Lost 1849.  [LPA]

Inellan. Barque, 287 tons. Moored with two anchors and special riding tackle at Port Fairy, parted both her anchors and drove ashore in one of the worst storms in history, and became a total wreck, 17 February 1854. Wrecked within a 100 yards of, and at the same time as, the vessel Dundee.  [LO], [LV - wrecked 20 February 1854]

Innamincka. Steamship. Stranded near Cape Otway, Victoria, 1898. [LO]

Inverlochy. Three-master iron barque, 1330 tons. Built at Glasgow,1895.  Lbd 238.5 x 36 x 21.7 ft. Captain Kendricks (Kendrick). Inward bound from Liverpool, ran onto the Ingoldsby or Hereford Reef off Point Roadknight, Anglesea, Victoria, (two kilometres east of the Anglesea river entrance), 18 December 1902. The vessel remained fast on the edge of the reef in eighteen feet of water and it soon became apparent that she was settling and warping badly.  Most of the cargo was recovered and salvage men used divers during the removal of fittings.
[LO], [LV],[AS6],[NWR],[NSC],[DD]
@ The wrecksite is in six metres, well scattered over the reef.

Iolanthe. Ketch, 41 tons. Built 1886. Known to have operated to Port Albert, Victoria, in the 1890s. Sunk Williamstown. Disappeared from register after 1920.  [LPA],[WPP]

Iona. Schooner, 39 tons. From Hobart Town, operated in Victorian waters. Register Closed 1876.  [LPA]

Irellan. Barque. Lost near Moyne River, western Victoria, 20 February 1854. [MM]

Iron Crown. Steamship, freighter, 3353 tons. Built at Williamstown, 1922/23. Lbd 331 x 47.9 x 26.1 ft. Formerly named Euroa. Captain A. McLellan. Sank after being struck by a torpedo on the port side abaft the bridge when the vessel was forty-four nautical miles ssw of Gabo Island, 4 June 1942. Only five of her crew of 42 survived. Survivors picked up by SS Mulbera.  The freighter SS Barwon was attacked off Gabo Island the same day, but escaped. [LG],[LSS],[LSW]

Iron Hunter. Freighter, steamship, 5547 tons. Built 1948.
In 1970, suffered an engine room fire which killed an engineer. [LWP]

Iron Knight. Steamship, 5547 tons. Built 1948.
In 1970 sprang a leak in her engine room off Wilsons Promontory. [LWP]

Iron Knob. Steamship, 3348 tons.  Stranded near Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 4 January 1930. Refloated and returned to service. A Court of Inquiry found she was off course and not properly navigated.  [LPA],[LG]

Iron Master. Steamer. Aground on the Corsair Rock, Port Phillip Heads, 1927. Salvaged and returned to service. [LG]
On 3 October 1957, stranded in South Channel, off Rye, Port Phillip. [WPP]

Iron Prince. Steam ship, 3116/1992 tons. Built 1909;  originally named Bright Wings. Lbd 331.5 x 49 x 25.3 ft. Wrecked near Cape Howe, 19 April 1923. The collier Saros and liner Runic stood by to render assistance but although the crew were rescued without difficulty the vessel was beyond saving. [LG],[LV],[DG]

Isabella Brown. Ship, 359 tons. Built 1859; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Isabella. Barque, whaler, 380 tons. Captain John Hart. Struck a perpendicular cliff at Lady Julia Percy Island, western Victoria (off Portland) without warning, smashing her bows to pieces, admitting the sea and sank, 31 March 1837. Left George Town, Tasmania for St. Vincent’s Gulf, 29 March 1837 with twenty five people including two women and two children. All escaped in the longboat.  [LO],[LSS],[AS1],[#MM],[LV]
Bateson indicates that there is much doubt as to the date of her wrecking, and lists several sources with varying dates, from 25 to 30 March.

Isabella. Two-masted brig., wood, 124 tons. Built at Macquarie Harbour, Van Diemens Land, for the Government in 1832; sold to private interests in 1845 and registered at Hobart Town. Lbd 72.1 x 21.2 x 11.4 ft. Captain Williams. Lost on the Port Albert bar, Gippsland coast, July 1845. No loss of life. [LG],[LPA]
Also listed:
Isabella. Schooner. Captain Williams. Wrecked on the bar at Port Albert, 1846. [AS1]
Also listed:
Isabella. Schooner. Built 1840. Wrecked on Port Albert bar, Gippsland coast, 1843.  [LPA]

Island City. Barque, 424 tons. Built 1852. Known to have operated off Gippsland coast in 1860s.  Broken Up 1919.  [LPA]

Island Queen. Cutter, 17 tons. Built at Western Port, 1854. Lbd 37.8 x 11.1 x 5.6 ft. Left Western Port, Victoria, for Port Albert on 9 November 1855 with a crew of five and was not seen again.  [LG],[LV-35 tons],[LPA],[LWP - 35 tons, and indicates she left on 5 December]

J.C.Taylor. Ketch, wood, 33 tons. Built 1885. Lbd 60 x 16.2 x 5.4 ft. Renamed Priscilla, 1901. Register closed 1945. [LPA],[LPW]

J.P. Webb.  Steam propelled steel hopper barge, 967 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1954. Withdrawn from serviceby the Port of Melbourne in 1979. Considered for salvage operations on the SS City of Rayville off Cape Otway, but this did not go ahead. She was the last of the steam propelled vessels used by the Port of Melbourne Authority. Withdrawn from service in 1979. Now lies scuttled in Corio Bay, Victoria. Note - she replaced another vessel of the same name which had run aground and lost on the WA coast in August 1951 whilst on her delivery run from Scotland.  [LSW],[LH]

Jacquard. Steamer, full rigged as a ship, 2320 tons. Built Nantes, France, 1854. Operated for a time as a troopship for the French government carrying troops to the Crimean War. Renamed Great Victoria (qv).  [DG]

James Wilson. Barque, 326 tons. Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1883. [LV]

Jane & Emma. Cutter, 33 tons. Built 1835. An unconfirmed report says that the cutter disappeared in November 1841 during a voyage between Melbourne and Western Port. [LG][LV states near Westernport, 1840][LM indicates wrecked in Encounter Bay 1852],[LPA indicated wrecked 1852]

Jane Ann. Ketch, 31 tons. Built 1865; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Jane Spiers. Barque, 309 tons. Stranded off Rodondo Island, eastern Bass Strait, April 1877. She was lost at twofold Bay, NSW, nine months later.  [LG],[LWP]

Jane. Barque, 208 tons.  Captain Lakie. Bound from Adelaide to Otago, wrecked in a squall near Cape Bridgewater, Victoria, 6 June 1863. The vessel lay on a ledge of rocks with her masts gone and surf crashing over her.  Three rockets were fired without success, but eventually a cask with line attached was floated ashore, then a heavy hawser was secured. All crew were saved, however one of rescuers was  washed off the rocks and drowned. [LO], [LV],[LSS],[#MM]

Jane. Brig, 180 tons. Captain Thrussel. Ashore in a gale at Warrnambool, 6 September 1867. The Harbour Master and his crew rescued all hands, but when returning to shore the boat capsized, drowning the cook. The brig went boradside to the beach enabling the gear to be salvaged but she was sold as a hulk. [LV],[LLB],[MM]

Jane. Brigantine. Laden with coal from Newcastle, wrecked west of the jetty in Lady Bay, Victoria, 21 October 1882. No loss of life. The hull was later dynamited. [LO], [LV],[LLB]

Jane. Schooner, 29 tons. Built at Melbourne, 1850. Lbd 43 x 13.2 x 7.3 ft. Captain King. Struck the west spit of Lakes Entrance after the  tug Tommy Norton towed her through the entrance, and sank several days later, August 1864.  [LG],[LV]
In 1851, a schooner of this name went ashore at Port Phillip Heads, and later refloated. [LR]

Jane. Schooner, 80 tons. Wrecked ashore in a gale three miles west of Warrnambool, 21 April 1848. Initial attempts to refloat her failed, but after ten months, she was refloated and arrived at Port Fairy, 28 February 1849. She then went on to Melbourne, arriving 3 June 1849, and converted into a lighter. [AS1]
Also listed:
Jane. Schooner. Built 1846. Broken Up 1886.  [LPA]
In 1848, a schooner of this name was stranded near Warrnambool, Victoria. [LO]
In 1877, a vessel of this name was involved in collision, Port Phillip, 1877. [LV]

Jeanie Dove. schooner 103 tons.  Warmambool to Sydney, disappeared without trace, 1866. [LV]

Jenny. Brig, 224 tons. Builtin 1839. Captain J. Liciss.  From Bristol to Melbourne, drifted ashore during a calm and became a total wreck, near Moonlight Head, Victoria, February 1854. All saved by Government brig Pacifico. An old rusted swivel headed anchor, wedged in a cleft a few feet above high water on an almost inaccessible section of coast a short distance east of Moonlight Head has puzzled the few who have stumbled over it;  its location and size indicate that it probably came from the Jenny. [LO],[LH],[LV]

Jessie. Ketch, fishing boat. Attended the wreck of the W.B. Godfrey 1891. [LO]

Jessomene. Iron ship, 1950 tons. Lbd 270 x 39.8 x 24.1 ft.

Joan. Ketch, 53 tons. Built 1876. Known to have come to Port Albert, Victoria, early 1880. Wrecked at Forth River, 1880.  [LPA]

Joanna. Schooner, 22 tons. Captain Irving (Irvine, Irvin). From Launceston to Port Fairy, wrecked at the mouth of a small river, (now Joanna River), a few miles west of Cape Otway, September 1843. One member of the crew was washed overboard and drowned. Soon after the wreck was abandoned, aborigines forced the hatches and stole most of the cargo which included spirits and wine. Captain Irving attempted to return in the cutter Barbara, from Launceston, but was unable to reach the wrecksite due to bad weather and put in to Port Phillip (where incidentally, he was charged such high pilotage fees when he did not require a pilot, that the regulations wewre subsequently changed to be more lenient). Captain Mills, a well-known Port Fairy whaler, engaged four men to carry out salvage, but when attempting a landing nearby, their small boat capsized and two were drowned. [LO],[AS1],[#MM]

John & Charlotte. Schooner. Built 1840, Stranded and condemned 1851.  [LPA]
A vessel of this name is recorded as being lost at Tarwin, Victoria, no date. [LV]

John & Jane. Schooner, 30 tons. Built 1863. Lost in Bass Strait, 1883. [LV],[LPA - lost in 1882]

John & May. Ketch, 48 tons. Built 1879. Ashore at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, 1885. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. Disappears from Australian Shipping Register after 1930.[LG],[LPA]

John & Elizabeth. Vessel of 40 tons. Built at Williamstown, Port Phillip, 1876. Lbd 67.4 x 17.2 x 5.4 ft. [LSS],[LPA]

John Essie. Schooner. An unconfirmed story suggests she was wrecked at Bore Beach near Western Port, Victoria, 1849. Five lives lost. There are several unidentified graves on the clifftop overlooking the beach, but there are no clues to positively link them with the wreck. [LG],[AS1],[LV]

John Nussey. Brigantine, 148 tons. Built at Sunderland, 1853. Lbd 82 x 20.5 x 10.8 ft. Captain Brodie. Wrecked in a high winds at Western Port, Victoria, 14 August 1858. The captain’s wife and three crewmen drowned. [LG],[LV]

John Pirie. Schooner, 106 tons. Built 1827. Wrecked In Bass Strait 1850.  [LPA]

John Scott. Brig, 157 tons. Captain R. Gunn.  In heavy weather, struck a reef near Flaxman’s Hill, 15 miles east of Warrnambool, Victoria, 14 February 1858. All saved. [LO],[MM],[LV]

John Souchay. Brig, 228 tons. Captain Fallenstein.  Stranded but later refloated, Sea Elephant Bay, King Island, 1848. [LV]

John. Sloop. The second sloop of this name owned by John Palmer. Vanished in Bass Strait whilst on a sealing expedition, c 1806. [GB]

Joseph Cripps. Schooner, 78 tons. Built 1840. Known to have come to Port Albert, Victoria in 1846. Wrecked in New Zealand waters, 1851.  [LPA]

Joseph H. Scammell. Three-masted wooden ship, 1410/1010 tons. Built at Eatonville, Nova Scotia, 1884.  Named after a New York merchant.  Lbd 223 x 39.2 x 22.5 ft. Wrecked  on a reef near Point Danger, Torquay, Victoria, 7 May 1891.  Captain Chapman. Left New York on 13 January with 22 crew and passengers included his wife and daughter. Cape Otway was sighted and a course set for Port Phillip when 114 days out. The lights at Queenscliff, Cape Schank and Arthur’s Seat provided the course but she was apparently forced inshore by a strong current and in the darkness struck a reef with a force that sent a violent tremor through every timber.  Those on board spent a terrifying night holding on to the cabin railings expecting to be crushed by falling spars and swept out into the sea. All were rescued by local fisherman Felix Rosser. Her loss sparked off a wave of smuggling and pilfering without parallel in the Geelong district. Wreckage and cargo littered the beaches for miles; three police set up a camp on the beach to prevent looting.  The remains of the hull had canted over to the weather side, releasing hundreds of articles of cargo which floated in with the tide, including packages of machinery. Three days after the wreck, more than 2000 spectators had gathered, and although many looters were caught and arrested, most escaped detection. Legal salvagers employed several Assyrian divers to recover cargo without the use of conventional diving gear.[LO],[LSS],[LH][#NJ],[NWR],[NMC],[LV],[NSC],[LAH],[DD],[IL]
@ She is well broken up with scattered wreckage beyond the sand channel entrance in only 5 metres, 300 metres south-east from Point Danger bluff.
~ An anchor is on display at Point Danger, and another at Torquay boat ramp.

Joseph Lee Archer. Cutter, 35 tons. Built 1848. Lbd 44.6 x 13.5 x 7.4 ft. Wrecked in Guichen Bay, South Australia, 1855. [LSS]

Julia Percy. Steamer, 580 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1876. Lbd 219 x 24.2 x 13 ft.  'One of the prettiest vessels on the coast'. Was a famous Victorian west coast steamer at intervals from 1876 until 1903. Renamed Leeuwin in 1906, finished her days as a coal hulk on the Yarra River, Melbourne.  Scuttled in Bass Strait in 1934. [LSS],[DG]
On 28 August 1876, stranded at Williamstown, Port Phillip. [WPP]
In 1879, involved in collision with ship St. Joseph off Port Phillip Heads; minor damage. [LR]
In 1880, mentioned in relation to the loss of the ship Eric the Red, [LE]
In 1881, collided with SS Nelson off Apollo Bay, 25 December.
In 1888, involved in attempt to save the barque Edinburgh Castle.
In 1891, attended the wreck of the Fiji. [LO]
In 1892, Involved in rescue - see barque Newfield, lost west coast Victoria. [MM]
In 1895, involved in collision with vessel Albatross,Yarra River, Melbourne. [LV]

Julia. Brig, 111 tons. Captain Dart. From Adelaide to Melbourne when damaged by a gale off Cape Jaffa and forced ashore on the Narrawong coast near Portland, Victoria, 2 August 1863. All saved. However, disaster struck the occupants of a whale boat which left the whaling station at Portland to assist; the whale boat capsized in heavy seas drowning the six occupants. [LO],[LV]

Juliet. Schooner, 49 tons. Built 1848.  reg Melbourne. Known to operate in Victorian waters under Captain Wilkinson in 1860s. Foundered off Queensland Coast 1871.  [LPA],[ASR]
A schooner of this name stranded at Port Fairy, Victoria, 1863. [LO]

Julius. Schooner, 48 tons. Built 1876; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 72.6 x 17.4 x 6.4 ft. Sailing between Refuge Cove and the Gippsland Lakes, sprang a leak and was beached 40 km south-west of Lakes Entrance, 3 May 1892. Although the sea was not rough two lives were lost. [LG][ASR - foundered off Ninety Mile Beach]

Kaituna. British steamship, 2042 tons. Built 1904. Registered at Dunedin, New Zealand. Captain A. Sizer. Collided with and sank SS Selje off Cape Otway, Victoria, 30 March 1929. Badly damaged with her bows stove in and several bad leaks near the waterline,  tarpaulins were fastened around the leaks and over her bows, enabling her to limp to Melbourne. The tug Eagle met her outside the Heads, but she continued under her own steam to Williamstown, and later Victoria Dock. [LO]

Kalgoorlie. Steamship, 2981 tons. Built 1880 as the Glenfruin. Was trading to China when purchased by McIlwraith, McEarcharn & Co, for the West Australian trade, and renamed. After useful service, sold to Singapore interests, and converted into a hulk. Later, engines and boilers from another wreck were fitted and she resumed life as the Hong Hwa, trading in Asia. [DG]

Kanowna. Steamship, 6993 tons. Built Dumbarton, Scotland, 1902. Lbd 415.6 x 52.2 x 28.6 ft. Served as a hospital ship during World War 1. Steaming between Sydney and Melbourne, ran on to rocks in foggy weather near Cleft Island (Skull Rock) south of Wilsons Promontory, 18 February 1929. Boats were immediately lowered and the passengers were transferred to SS Mackarra. It was first thought that the vessel could be saved, but owing to her boiler fires being extinguished she could not be beached. After remaining afloat for several hours, she sank the following morning. Included in the £200,000 cargo lost was a racehorse, dog and three cars. The steamship Dumosa also attended the site, and took aboard the Kanowna’s officers and men. A Court of Inquiry found the master had committed an error of judgement and should have slowed his vessel in the fog.
[LG],[LI],[#LWP],[LV],[LAH]

Karingal. Former Sydney ferry, 106 tons. Built at Sydney, 1913. Lbd 104.1 x 25.2 x 9.7 feet. Capsized in heavy seas off Cape Conran, eastern Victoria, 14 June 1985. Ccrew of seven rescued by helicopter. [LG]

Kate Kearney. Brigantine, 69 tons. Built 1854. Stranded near Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 1884; soon refloated. Wrecked near Cooktown, Queensland, 1884. [LPA],[LG- ketch],[LPA]

Kate Waters. Barque, 580 tons. Built 1855. Operated out of Melbourne in Victoriaan waters in the 1860s. Scuttled off coast of China, 1879.  [LPA],[LPW]

Kelpie. Steamer, 13 tons. Length 58.5 ft. Built Melbourne, mid 1880s. Master Thomas Holyman. Lost in Bass Strait, 1897. From Melbourne to Tasmania, founded when several hours out of Port Phillip Heads. Three crew saved, taking the lifeboat to Penguin, Tasmania. [LV],[#RW],[LV - 5 tons]

Kent. Ship, 927 tons. Built 1853.  Hulked. [LO]

Kerangie. Steamer, iron, 1035 tons. Built in Glasgow, 1877. Lbd 252.1 x 33.4 x 14.9 ft. Ashore, wrecked, in dense fog off Point Hicks, eastern Victoria, 7 February 1879. Crew saved. Government steamer Victoria assisted. [LG],[DG - lost Cape Everard]

Kermandie. Ketch, 37 tons. Built at Huon River, Tasmania, 1883. Lbd 65.8 x 18.5 x 5.2 ft. Disappeared after loading stone from a granite quarry at Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island, to Melbourne, December 1892. [LG],[LV]

Kianga. Yacht. Wrecked at Warrnambool, Voctoria, 1901. [LO]

Kilbaha. Steel steamer, 3139 tons. Built at Glasgow, Scotland, 1911 as the Emerald Wings. Sold overseas 1929. In 1918, nearly struck a mine. Attempted to explode it with gun fire, with no success. [LSW]

King Arthur. Involved in collision with Hauroto, Victoria waters,  1889. [LV]

King David. Steamship, freighter. Attempted to take the stricken collier SS Vicky in tow, 1956. Picked up survivors. [LG]

Konoowarra. Steamship, 1273 tons. Captain Ashford.  Struck rocks off Cliffy Island east of Wilsons Promontory, 1884. [LV]

Koomeela.  Wooden steamer, 191 tons.Built at Balmain, 1912 for William Holyman & Son and owned by the East Coast Steamship Company when she called at Port Albert.  Acquired by the United States Army in 1942.  She served in the Pacific and did not return to Australian waters. [LPA]
In 1920, searched in vain for the missing schooner Amelia J., 1920. [LG - Koomela]

Kooringa. Steel steamship, 339/150 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1902. Lbd  135.2 x 23.2 x 11.2 ft. Destroyed by fire twenty six nautical miles off Cape Schanck, Victoria, 14 July 1926. She left Melbourne with a full cargo of petroleum and oil, but when a few hours outside The Heads several explosions shook her and she sank soon after. Some of the crew were badly burned but no lives were lost. [LG],[LV],[LAH]

Kurara. Steamship. Attempted to salvage SS Riverina, 1927. [LG]

La Bella. Three-masted barquentine, 406/375 tons. Built in Norway, 1893. Lbd 144 x 27.3 x 12.5 ft. Captain Mylius.  Loaded with a cargo of timber from New Zealand, struck rocks south of the Warrnambool breakwater, Victoria, 10 November 1905. Only five of the crew of twelve were saved.A local fisherman, William Ferrier, 25 years of age, peformed two daring rescues, and was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Humane Society.  His son, Frank, received a similar award almost fifty years later, when he helped rescue four members of the crew on the yacht Merlan, after it ran on to a reef near the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse. [LO],[#LLB],[#MM],[LV],[LAH],[PR],[RP],[DA]
@ Wrecksite re-discovered in April 1982, in 13 metres, 325 metres south-east of the Warrnambool breakwater. She is well flattened, and identified only by railway iron and scattered ballast.

Lady Bird. Clipper-bow steamship, iron, 420 tons. Built at Dumbarton, 1851. Lbd 151.2 x 22.2 x 19 ft. Popular Victorian vessel. The Launceston Steamship Company ran her between Melbourne and Hobart, before she was taken to New Zealand. Scuttled in Cook Strait, 1905. [LO],[LSS],[WL - scuttled 1907]
In 1857, 24 August: In fine, calm conditions, collided with  SS Champion  on the Melbourne side of Cape Otway, slicing seveneteen feet into the Champion  near the main and drowning 32 passengers. After searching for survivors the Lady Bird, under Captain White, returned to Geelong; only the forecastle bulkhead saved her from sinking as her bow plates were badly damaged along with her bowsprit and cutwater. [LO],[LSS],[MM],[LC]
In 1859, towed the Portland lifeboat to the scene of the srricken Admella on Carpenter’s reef, 1859. [LV]
In 1860, 11 February, parted her anchor cables during a storm at Portland and driven ashore north of the jetties while her engine room crew battled desperately to raise steam.  She was refloated practically undamaged four days later. [LO]
On 25 March 1862, grounded on rocks near the mouth of the Yarra while outward bound. Raised two days later, refloated, repaired. The accident resulted in the Melbourne At\rgus raising the matter of the river entrance being ‘in a most dangerous state’. [WPP]

Lady Darling. Schooner. Stranded in Gippsland Lakes, 1854. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]
A vessel of this name was involved in a collision with vessel Jeannie Oswald, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip, 1880. [LV]

Lady Denison. Barque, 200 tons. Disappeared between Melbourne and Tasmania, and although wreckage believed from her was found off the Tasmanian coast, many claimed she had been seized by convicts and eventually scuttled. Believed lost in Bass Strait, 1850. [LV]

Lady Doris. Trading ketch, 60 tons. Lbd 71.3 x 21.3 x 6.1 feet. Lost at Ram head, Gippsland coast, 1965. She had spent nearly forty years around the southern coastline, and during her later years was converted for fishing. [LG],[LV]

Lady Harvey. Brig, 146 tons. Captain Curtis. Inward bound from Tasmania with a cargo of timber for the Williamstown jetty, wrecked on rocks off the bluff at Barwon Heads during a gale, 14 February 1858. One crew drowned. [LO],[LR],[LV]
On 29 April, 1854, inward bound from Glasgow under the command of Captain Williams, run ashore at Point Lonsdale, under Shortlands Bluff; after salvage of cargo by steamer Young Australia, she was towed clear by the tug Lioness. [LO],[LR],[LV],[WPH - 300 tons, reg. Glasgow, Captain Robertson, stranded 30 April 1854]
There is confusion on this one - Williams and Searle indicate that she was a total wreck after her stranding in 1854, [WPH]. Could there be two brigs of this name and era?

Lady Jillian. Auxiliary ketch, 242 tons. Operated in Bass Strait. [LPW]

Lady Leigh, Schooner, 118 tons. Built 1835. Known to have operated in Victorian waters in the 1840s.  Lost 1874.  [LPA]

Lady Mary Pelham. Brig, 184 tons. Captain Thomas Wing. Parted her anchors, ashore in a gale, Port Fairy, west coast Victoria, 31August 1849. She was drifting shorewards when her master set all possible sail and ran her high on to the beach sending the crew sprawling over the deck, but everyone reached safety.  Later, she broke her back and became a total wreck. No casualties.
[LO],[AS1],[MM],[LV],[PR]
@ Her stern and portion of a huge windlass appear occasionally but generally she is sanded over.

Lady Mildred. Steamship, 2180/1382 tons. Built Blyth, England, 1902. Lbd 287.2 x 113.3 x 19.4 ft. Captain Wills. Bound from Newcastle to Melbourne, ashore, wrecked, at Waterloo Point, east side of Wilsons Promontory, 14 February 1909. Crew were taken on to Melbourne by SS Moorabool.   [LWP],[LV],[LG - built 1903],[DUP],[DA],[DG]
@ The wrecksite is just under one kilometres south of Waterloo Point, in 6-25 metres, includes an anchor, engine, boilers, anchor chain, hawse pipe, bollards, capstan and parts of the hull. The site has exceptional strata marine life. It appears the wreck may have been used by the RAF during the war as a target for bombing practice. Certainly, when it was rediscoverd in the late 1960s, professional salvage operators used explosives to recover non-ferrous materials.

Lady Nelson. Vessel of 60 tons. Master Lt. James Grant. Believed to be the first vessel to have passed between Cape Otway (Victoria) and Cape Wickham (King Island), thus entering the western entrance of Bass Strait, December 1800. Lt. Grant named Cape Otway, but did not sight Cape Wickham. [CWR]

Lady of the Lake. Paddle steamer, 20 tons. Stranded at Marlo, Gippsland coast, 1880. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. In 1878, involved in salvage of the stricken schooner Latrobe. [LG],[LV]

Lady Palmerston. Wooden barge, 20 tons. Built at Port Albert ,1861. Lbd 56.2 x 13.8 x 5.9 ft. Disappears from the Australian Shipping Register after 1916.  [LPA]

Lady Robilliard. Schooner, 52 ton. Wrecked in a tremendous gale near Whaler’s Bluff. at Portland Bay, Victoria, 1867. [LO],[LV]

Lady Young. Barque, collier, 418 tons. Built 1848. Lbd 124.6 x 26.5 x 18.6 ft. Captain Morrison. Went to pieces after bumping the bar while leaving Corner Inlet, Gippsland coast, 14 July 1865. Crew picked up at Sealers' Cove by SS Ant on 16 July as she returned to Melbourne from Port Albert. Also lost in the same gale: barque Natal, and collier Tomatin. The Lady Young had left Newcastle on 24 June and had been forced to call at Twofold Bay after springing a leak. She resumed her voyage after several days, and then forced to anchor off Rabbit Island.
[LG],[LV],[LPA],[LWP]

Lancashire Witch. Steamer, steel, 762 tons. Built Sunderland, 1887.Renamed Coogee when operating in Victorian waters.

Lapwing. Cutter, 17 tons. Built 1843. Operated in Victorian waters in 1850s, carrying timber from Sealers Cove to Port Albert. Wrecked at Wollongong 1853.  [LPA],[LWP]

Latrobe. Schooner, 37 tons. Built 1863. Lost near Lakes Entrance when she struck the bar, then drifted on to the western spit, 14 March 1878. Crew saved. SS Lady of the Lake salvaged some cargo, but when SS Rosedale pulled the schooner over on to her side to allow sand to work underneath and lift her up, it was found that her back was broken. [LG],[LPA],[LV]

Laura. Trading schooner, 13 tons. Built 1903. Lbd 37 x 12.2 x 4.7 ft. Sank off the Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast, August 1940. [LG]

Laurette. Type not recorded. Lost near Cape Paterson, November 1980. [LG]

Lawrence Frost. See Laurence Frost.

Leederry. Steel motor vessel, 124 tons. Built 1943. Operated in eastern Bass Straitt. [LPW]

Lefkas. Fishing boat. Lost at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, April 1980. [LG]

Leonidas. Brigantine, 111 tons. Built 1863.  Operated in Victorian waters. [LPA]

Lerunna. Ketch, 30 ft. Mentioned in relation to serving the Wilsons Promontory lighthouse, out of Port Albert, Victoria. [LWP]

Leura. Steamship, 1186 tons.  Built Liverpool, 1874. Traded between Warrnambool and Melbourne. Stranded, Lady Bay, Warnambool, 7 June 1912; floated off on a rising tide but again went ashore until towed free two days later by the tug Alacrity.  [LLB],[LV]
In 1880, mentioned in relation to the wrecked ship Eric the Red. [LE]
In 1908, a vessel by this name was involved in a collision with steamer Ajax, Port Phillip Bay. [WPP]
In 1918, a vessel of this name was involved in a collision with vessel Ivy Florence, Port Phillip Bay. [LV]

Leven Lass. Brig, 199 tons. Built in 1839. Known to have operated in the timber trade around Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s. Disappeared off the West Gippsland coast, the stern drifting ashore near Cape Paterson some time later, 1854. [LG],[LV indicates schooner],[LWP - schooner]

Lialeeta. Ketch, wood, 82 tons. Built 1913. Lbd 78 x 22.8 x 6.6 ft. Believed foundered in Bass Strait, 1925. [LV],[LSS]

Liberty. Schooner, 54 tons. Built 1849. Operated in Victorian waters. Sold to overseas interests, 1870.  [LPA]

Light of the Age. Wooden ship, (some references describe her as barque rigged), 512 tons.Built Boston, USA, 1863.  Lbd 133 x 28.5 x 18.2 ft. Purchased by the Black Ball Line in 1862 then sold in 1866. Captain Thomas Reid Porter. Inward bound from Liverpool to Melbourne with 45 passengers and a was wrecked four miles east of Ocean Grove, Victoria, 16 January 1868. A lookout was kept for the pilot as she neared Port Phillip Heads but she missed stays and drifted ashore. The pilot schooner Rip took off the passengers and most of the crew of thirty-four. The tugs Warhawk, Resolute and Titan stood by but the ship broke up rapidly.The schooners Ben Bolt, Result and Phoenix carried out salvage operations for several weeks, the Phoenix herself being wrecked near Point Lonsdale when returning with a load of salvaged goods. Three members of the crew fell overboard during the voyage and were lost.  be done to save them. The captain was found guilty of drunkenness, neglected the navigation of his ship. and was unfit to be in command.
[LO],[LSS],[LV],[AS6],[WPH],[LPH],[DD],[WB],[NWR],[NMC],[NSC],[LAH],[DA],[IL]
@ The wreck lies two kilometres west from Point Lonsdale lighthouse, scattered over a wide area four to six metres deep, and generally identified by the amount if broken crockery. Naylor writes, “Piles of fresh broken crockery bear mute evidence of needless underwater vandalism at this site. Surely no reward nor profit can justify any such irresponsible action.” Relics recovered include crockery, whisky bottles, bottles of preserved fruits, and ships fittings.

Liguria. Type unrecorded, 2993 tons. Built 1874. Involved in rescue - see Paul Jones, 1886. [LO]

Lillias. Schooner, 89 ton. Built in Tasmania, 1839. Traded between Tasmania and Victoria from 1848. Captain Hannah. Attempted to beat out of Lady Bay, Warrnambool during a gale, lost ashore near the Hopkins River, 29 December 1852. [LLB],[LO]

Lily. Brig, 248 tons. Lost off Craggy Islands, Bass Strait, 1873. [LV]

Little Michael. Fishing boat. Lost at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, January 1983. [LG]

Little Nell. Stranded at marlo, 1898. [RW]

Little Pet. Schooner. [LG]
In 1856, involved in rescue - see brig Straun.
In 1858, sighted masts which ccould have been those of the lost brig HMS Sappho.

Little Stranger. Ketch, 77 tons. On passage from the Gippsiand Lakes to Port Albert, was blown ashore by a gale when nearing her destination, 9 April 1889; soon ref loated.  [LPA],[LG]

Lizzie Taylor. Ketch, wood, 77 tons. Built at Devonport, Tasmania, 1892. Lbd 87.5 x 20.7 x 7 ft. [LSS]

Loch Ard. Three-masted iron ship, 1,693 tons. Built on the Clyde, Glasgow, 1873. Lbd 263.7 x 38.3 x 23 ft. Captain Gibb. Wrecked in hazy conditions on the tip of Mutton Bird Island, east of Port Campbell, 31 May 1878. Left Gravesend for Melbourne on 1 March 1878, with fifty-one passengers and crew together with a general cargo valued at more than £53,000. As the haze lifted, rugged cliffs only a short distance away were seen.  More sail was set in a desperate effort to clear the shore, but before the vessel could respond she was in breakers.  Anchors were let go but they dragged on the sandy bottom and just when it seemed she would clear the perpendicular cliffs of an island, she struck a ledge on her starboard quarter and began to sink.  As she rolled her yards struck high on the cliff, dislodging rocks and showering the passengers and crew with spars and rigging. An attempt was made to launch the port lifeboat but the six men it contained were thrown into the sea when a huge wave capsized it.  One of these, an apprentice named Tom Pearce, clung to its side for nearly three hours before it was eventually washed into a gorge 100 yards from where the ship had sunk.  Leaving the boat, he swam through the surf to a small sandy beach and was resting there when he heard a weak cry and saw Eva Carmichael drifting towards shore on a spar.  After helping her to a cave at the western end of the gorge, Pearce returned to the beach to search for more survivors but found no one. After a short sleep, Pearce left her in the cave and climbed the perpendicular cliffs.  Following a track, he met by chance two employees of nearby Glenample Station. In Melbourne, Pearce was hailed as a hero. He and Miss carmichael were the only survivors - she lost all her family. Pearce was  presented him an inscribed gold watch and chain, on behalf of the Government of Victoria, in the Melbourne Tovm Hall before a gathering of 5,000 people. He also received the first gold medal struck bv the Royal Humane Society of Victoria. Some cargo was salvaged by the steamer Napier, before she went on to the rocks in Port Campbell.
In 1874, arrived in Melbourne under jury rig after being partially dismasted in a gale during a voyage to Melbourne. Laid up in Williamstown for many months waiting for new masts, yards and rigging to arrive from England. Also damaged in the same gale were the vessels John Kerr, Dallum Tower and Cambridgeshire.
@ After her rediscovery in 1967, the ship was plundered illegally and was the subject of several court actions. Gelignite was used to blow holes in the hull, until Commonwealth Police moved in early in 1969 and took possession of more than 50 tons of lead, copper and bronze from homes and properties at Cobden, Port Campbell, Peterborough, Timboon and Geelong. It is a fairly rare day that the seas are calm enough to visit the wreck site, in 20-25 metres off the southern tip of Mutton Bird Island, but when such opportunity arises, there are no shortage of divers.
~ Relics are on display at the Flagstaff Hill Maritme Village, Warrnambool, including the magnificent Minton earthenware peacock recovered from the Loch Ard Gorge. On the centenial anniversary of the loss of the ship, a kedging anchor was raised by members of the Scuba Divers Federation of Victoria under the direction of the author and is now on display at the information centre at Port Campbell.
[#LL],[#LSS],[LO],[#NH],[AS6],[MJ],[#CWR],[#MM],[LV],[LC],[NSC][NWR],[LAH],[PR],[RP],[DD ],[DA]

Loch Lomond. Ship. Dismasted off Cape Howe, 1890. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Loch Long. Ship, 1203 tons.  Melbourne to London, disappeared without trace, 1903. [LV]

Loch Maree. Clipper ship, iron, 1581 tons. Built on the Clyde, Scotland for the Glasgow Shipping Co., 1873.  Lbd 255.8 x 38.6 x 22.9 ft. Captain Scott. Disappeared while homeward bound for England after loading wool at Geelong, 1881.The crew on the schooner Jerfalcon were the last to see her off Wilsons Promontory on 30 October. She may lie in Bass Strait, just off the Gippsland coast. Among the theories put forward to account for her loss were fire, mutiny, collision with an iceberg or ship, foundering, or strong ocean currents taking her far south. Officially posted missing 16 May 1882. One account by a (supposed) survivor was that she was hit by a sudden squall off Cape Horn and “went down like a stone” - see ASW6. [LG], [LV],[#LSS],[NH],[#ASW6],[LWP],[LAH]

Loch Ryan. Iron clipper ship, 1200 tons. Built 1877. Ran in the Australian wool trade for thirteen years, then as a boy’s training ship, anchored off Geelong. Renamed John Murray, she was in 1917 refitted as a cargo vessel for use in World War I. Wrecked on Maldon Island, Pacific Ocean, 1918. [LC]

Loch Sunart. Ship, 1231 tons.  Built 1878. One of the famous Loch Line.  Wrecked on Skulmartin Roock, off the Irish coast 1879.  All saved. Tom Pearce, hero of the Loch Ard disaster, Victoria, 1877, returned to England on this vessel having signed on as crew, and was again a survivor of a major shipwreck, this one his third. [LO],[MM]

Loch Tay. Ship, 1191 tons. Built 1869. Operated to Australia from 1889 to 1894. Sold to Huddart Parker. Used as a coal hulk in Adelaide. Broken up in 1958. [LC]

Loch Vennacher. Ship, 1485 tons. Built 1875. One of the famous Loch Line.  Built 1875.  Wrecked off Kangaroo Island 1905. The hero of the Loch Ard disaster, Victoria, 1877, Tom Pierce, lost one of his sons when the Loch Vennachar was wrecked.  [LO],[MM]

Lorne. Auxiliary vessel, 89 tons. See Erskine.

Lottery. Brigantine 150 tons.  Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1878. [LV]

Louis Theriault. Schooner. Stranded in Western Port, Gippsland coast, 1919. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Louisa Lamont. Topsail schooner, 68 tons. Built at Williams River, 1883. Lbd 81.3 x 29.4 x 6.6 ft.  Captin W. Reid. Disappeared with all hands having left Lakes Entrance on 21 march 1901. Some wreckage come ashore near Mallacoota.  [LG]

Louisa. Brigantine, 123 tons. Built 1866. Operated in Victorian waters. Broken up 1901.  [LPA]
A schooner of this name was stranded at Port Fairy, Victoria, 1882. [LO]

Lubra. Steamship, iron, 279 tons net, 467 tons gross. Built 1875. Wrecked at Jurien Bay, Western Australia, 1898. [LSS].
In 1877, towed SS Argyle clear after having stranded in Lady Bay, Warrnambool. [LLB]
On 18 June 1877, under Captain Ashton, stranded at Warrnambool, Victoria; refloated a week later by the tug Albatross, but she was taking more water, so beached again. On 2 July the Albatross again refloated her and towed her to Melbourne for repairs.  [LO - 321 tons, built Glasgow 1860],[LLB]
In 1878, involved in collision with vessel Wandering Minstrel,  Port Phillip Heads. [LV]

Lucy Lee. Cutter 14 tons. Captain Webb. From Melbourne to Apollo Bay, in heavy weather, drifted ashore near Bream Creek, Victoria, 29 October 1868. A passenger drowned.  [LO]
Lulu. Ketch, 30 tons. Bound from melbourne to Geelong with a cargo of galvanised iron, managed to steer under the bows off the steamer Excelsior in the Hopetoun Channel, Port Phillip, 9 January 1897. Lulu sank within two minutes. There is no record of her being raised. [WPP]

Lucy. Sloop/cutter, 15 tons. Built Hobart, 1839; reg. Hobart, then Melbourne 3/1841, 14/1851. Lbd 22.4 x 11 x 5.4 ft. Operated in Victorian waters. Timber carrier, operating out of Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s. Broken up 1896.  [LPA],[LWP],[AS1]
On 25 July 1847, ashore in a gale at entrance to Geelong Harbour; refloated.

Lune. Swedish barque,  499 tons. Built 1874. Lbd 137 x 27 x 18.8 ft. Captain J. Malmburg. Lost on Cliffy Island off the Gippsland coast during a voyage from Newcastle to Melbourne, 17 February 1885. After rounding Cape Howe, gales, heavy seas and fog were encountered and in the early hours of the morning the vessel struck a reef on the eastern side of the island. The crew launched two boats and about an hour later the vessel slid off the reef into deep water and sank. The men landed at the lighthouse station on the island at dawn, although one of the boats was smashed during the landing.Four days later SS De Bay picked up the crew and took them to Melbourne. [LG],[LI],[LV],[DA],[LAH]
@ Little remains to be seen of the vessel; her beams and anchor are covered in seaweed.

Lusitania. A vessel of this name is reported to have been lost in Port Phillip, c 1850s. [LV]

Lydia. Barque, 277 tons. Built Liverpool 1825; reg. Liverpool. Captain Petrie. Run ashore in sinking condition at Port Fairy, Victoria, 2 February 1847. Some time later the hull was sold to Captain Griffiths, who repaired and refloated her, only to lose her when she leaked so badly she was again run ashore and eventually dismantled. [LO],[AS1],[MM],[LV],[PR]
@ Ballast stones are the most prominent feature of her site. Scattered whale bones can be seen.
Macclesfield. Barque, 113 tons gross. Built in Finland, 1850, as the brigantine Wilhilmina. Lbd  78.7 x 23 x 10.2 ft.  Captain Ross. Wrecked on the Clonmel Sands, near the entrance to Port Albert, Victoria, 12 July 1861. The mate and five men left the wreck in the boat and were lost in the breakers. The captain and one man were eventually washed off the deckhouse where they had taken refuge and were picked up by Pilot Phillips. [LG], [LV - schooner, 170 tons burthen],[LPA]

Madagascar. Ship, 835 tons. Built 1837. Disappeared from Melbourne on way to England with £25,000 in gold on board, 1853. Authorities were never certain if  she had been seized by pirates who had shipped aboard and murdered the passengers. A passenger was Captain Garner who was master of the Earl of Charlemont when she went on to a reef at Barwon Heads, Victoria, in the same year.  [LO],[LAH]

Madina. Involved in collision with  Albatross, Port Phillip Bay,1877. [LV]

Magnat. German barque,  1120 tons. Built in 1885. Lbd 206 x 33.5 x 19.2 ft. Formerly the Edward Pembroke. Lbd 206 x 33.5 x 19.2 ft.. Captain Ostermann. Ashore, wrecked, at Cape Liptrap, Gippsland coast, 9 March 1900. The steamer Lady Loch towed the Queenscliff lifeboat to the wreck but it was not required A stockman found some of the crew ashore but the captain and his officers remained  aboard. At low tide a ladder gave access to her from the shore. The captain died on board, of natural causes. Without a captain the barque was put up for sale and hopes were high that she might be refloated. The salvagers used a tug to tow her clear, but before being taken fully out of danger carelessness allowed the line to break and she went ashore again and was lost. [LG],[#LSS],[LH],[LV],[LAH]

Magnet. Brig, 153 tons. Built 1865; reg Melbourne. Lost 1872. [ASR]

Magnolia. Schooner, 42 tons. Built 1877. Lbd 69.4 x 17.7 x 5.3 ft. Bound from Refuge Cove to Lakes Entrance with a cargo of stone, foundered between Wilsons Promontory and her destination, 19 July 1887. [LG],[LPA],[ASR]
In 1882, ashore at Lake Tyers, Gippsland coast. [LG]
In 1882, involved in a collision off Gabo Island with the steamer Pretty Jane. [LG]
Also listed, possibly another vessel:
Magnolia. Vessel of 23 tons. Built 1869. Lbd 56 x 12.7 x 8 ft. [LSS]

Mahogany Ship. Timber vessel of about 100 tons. A supposedly ancient vessel believed buried on the beach west of Warrnambool, Victoria, first seen by white settlers in 1836. There is a theory that Portuguese explorers landed on Australia’s south-eastern coastline about 1522 after the adventurer, Cristovao de Mendoca, was commissioned to lead an expedition to seek the great south land. Although it seems to have been a subject of great interest to district residents, and was visited on many occasions, very little was done to discover its identity during the fifty or so years it lay uncovered. At the time of the discovery by the settlers there were three aborigines about eighty years of age, who had lived most of their life in the neighbourhood, but were unable to say how the wreck came to be there. They claimed it was there when they were children and had always looked the same. There was, however, a tradition among the local Yangery tribe of ‘yellow men’ having once come among them, but when or where they came from, or where they went, no one could say. Many believe the wreck to be that of an early sealing vessel or lighter, while others think she may be Dutch or Portuguese.  The speculation that she could have been the Spanish vessel Santa Anna has been disproved. Since 1880 sand has covered the supposed site and the exact position has been lost despite regular extensive searches. But these have so far failed to uncover any authentic material associated with the wreck. In the early 1990s, the Victorian government posted a substantial reward for its re-discovery but it was never claimed.
[#LG],[LSS],[#MJ],[HH2],[AS1],[#MM],[LV],[LAH],[LN]

Maid of Julpha. Brig or brigantine, 197 tons register, 300 tons burthen. Captain R. Beauvais. Destroyed by fire the following day after arriving in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, from Singapore on 15 January 1859. All saved. The crew of the Peveril raised the alarm. Most of her cargo of tea, sugar, spices, tobacco, ale and spirits was destroyed, or stolen when  it floated to shore. [LO], [LV - barque rigged],[LLB],[MM]

Maldon Lewis. Schooner. Stranded at Western Port, Victoriaa, 1870. Apparently salvaged and returned to service.  [LG]

Mallow.  Minesweeping sloop,1200 tons.  Built for Royal Navy in 1915. Presented to Australia 1919.  Scuttled 1935. In November 1918, involved in minesweeping operations off Cape Everard, Victoria. [LSW]

Manapouri. (Manapourie?) Steamship, 1020 tons. Captain Logan.  Stranded but later refloated, near Cape Schanck, 1891. [LV], [LG - has ‘e’ on end of name.]

Mandarin. Barque, 333 tons. Built at the Scilly Islands, 1849. Lbd 116.4 x 24.7 x 16.2 ft. Captain Hammond. Probably wrecked on the rocks at Glennie Island off Wilsons Promontory, March 1866. After clearing Port Phillip Heads in company with the barque Ann & Jane, also bound for Newcastle, a gale parted them when about eight nautical miles west of Rodondo Island off Wilsons Promontory. A few days later, portion of the Mandarin was seen by Captain Darley from the steamer Charles Edward and later, portions of her masts, figurehead, deckhouse, whaleboat, and a lifebuoy were found on or near the Five Mile Beach between Rabbit Island and Corner Inlet.. The same gale destroyed the ketch Surprise, and the schooners Pomona, Victory and Bitter Beer. [LG],[LWP],[LV]

Maori. Barque, 289 tons. Built 1833. Lbd 102 x 20.6 x 16.8 ft. Sprang a leak and foundered off Western Port , 10 September 1863. Crew saved. [LG], [LV]

Maquasha. Brig, 151 tons. Built 1834. Operated in Victorian waters. Left for California, USA, 1849.  [LPA]

Marco Polo. Ship, 2039 tons. Built St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1852.  Lbd 184-1 x 36-4 x 29-5 ft. Captain James Forbes Bought by James Baines for the Black Ball Line; soon to become the largest ship at the time to carry passengers to Australia - she could carry up to 930 passengers and a cargo capacity of 2000 tons. Larger ships meant greater profits, and Baines stated that she will be an excellent ship for speed and will prove useful in returning to England with fine Australian wool. He also concluded that Australia was a splendid place for sending the best of the able-bodied poor who were such a social problem in England, as Australia would provide an opportunity for them to ‘improve their lot’.  Most of the passengers on the Marco Polo’s first voyage to Australia had assisted passage, paid for by the Emigration Commission. Her captain predicated a round trip of less than six months - and fulfiled the prediction with five months and twenty-one days. On her first voyage to Australia, the Marco Polo carried 603 adults, and 327 children.The tragedy of the outward voyage of the Marco Polo was that fifty-two infants died due to an epidemic of measles among the children -most of the tiny  victims were under two years of age. Crowded conditions spread the disease and resulted in the high death toll. The Emigration Commissioners decreed that, in future, very  young children would not be accepted aboard the ships chartered by the commission for emigration purposes. The Marco Polo made many fast and memorable voyages to Australia from England, her best 24-hour run being 428 nautical miles. In 1867 she failed to pass her passenger survey and was relegated to gneral cargo. Sold to Norwegian interests in 1883. Wrecked Cape Cavendish, Prinve Edward Island, Canada, 22 July 1883. [LO],[LR],[NH - describes the ship as ‘not much more than a square box above water’],[AS6],[#CWR],[MM],[LC - built 1850]
In 1852, with 650 immigrant passengers, stranded but later refloated, Port Phillip Heads. [LV]
On 25 January 1854, under Captin Charles McDonnell, stranded inside Port Phillip heads, near Popes Eye. All 630 passengers and luggage were transfered to other vessels, and the ship hove off six days later. [WPH]

Marechal Davout. Steel barque, 2192 tons. Built 1898. Lbd 275.4 x 40.4 x 22.6 ft. French owned. Left Geelong for Dakar with whwat; on 14 December 1917 sighted by the German raider Wolf off the Afrocan coast, chased through the night, and boarded by a prize crew. Her stores and crew were taken off before she went to the bottom as a result of two time bombs. [LC]

Margaret & Agnes. Brigantine, 103 tons. Ashore, wrecked in a gale, Portland, Victoria, 23 May 1852. [LO],[LV]

Margaret Howe. Unknown type. Searched for the missing schooner Favourite, 1852. [LG]

Margaret Russell. Schooner, wood, 84 tons. # 31722. Built Nova Scotia, 1845; reg. Melbourne 1859. Lbd 73.1 x 19.7 x 10.1 ft. Reported to have been wrecked near Brighton, Port Phillip, some time after 8 July, 1861.  [LV],[WPP - brigantine]
In 1860, ashore near Yanakie, Corner Inlet, Victoria, 22 April 1860.[LV]
[LG],[LV],[LPA],[LPW],[LWP]

Margaret. Two masted wooden schooner, 49 tons. Built Twofold Bay, NSW, 1839; reg. Melbourne 1/1848. Lbd 47.5 x 15.2 x 8.5 ft. Stranded in a gale at Apollo Bay, Victoria, 18 June 1850. Refloatd with little damage a few days later. [LO],[AS1]

Margretha. See barque Strathgryfe.

Marguerite.  Minesweeping sloop, 1200 tons.  Built for Royal Navy  in 1915. To RAN. in 1919.  Scuttled 1935. In November 1918, involved in minesweeping operations off Cape Everard, Victoria. [LSW]

Maria. Barque, 450 tons. From Antwerp to Sydney, lost with no trace of the vessel, August 1851. The discovery of eleven mutilated bodies on the beach near Cape Bridgewater led to the discovery of her loss. There were no survivors of the fourteen crew.. [LV]

Maria. Schooner, 23 tons. Reported lost near Portland, 1839. [LO],[LV]

Marie Gabrielle. (Marie Gabriel). Three-masted French barque, wood, 258 tons. Built at Nantes, France, 1864. Captain Blanchard. Out of Foochow for melbourne, ashore in a gale, wrecked, at Wreck Beach near Moonlight Head, Victoria, 24 November 1869. She was carrying 302,400 lbs. of tea. Fortunately, the barque was driven through a narrow channel in the reef to a sandy basin, and at dawn all landed safely by boat. The hull split in two from stem to stern, the keel having disappeared, and the bow lying between two large rocks.  The figuurehead was lying on the beach and hundreds of chests of tea were floating in the surf. A principal salvor of the cargo was Hugh Gibson from Glenample Homestead, later to be involved in the rescue of Eva Carmichael from the wrecked Loch Ard in 1878.
[LO],[LH],[NWR@],[CWR],[#MM],[LV],[NSC@],[DD]
~ Anchors from the Marie Gabrielle can be seen embedded in the rocky shore, to kilometres west of Moonlight Head.

Marie Laure. Built Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean. Arrived Australian waters 1849, and whaled out of Hobart. In 1887, converted into a collier, then carried timber between Tasmania and melbourne. Hulked in 1883, serving as a coal bunker then as a lighter. [LC]

Marie. German barque, 450 tons. Captain Rathje. Wrecked near Cape Bridgewater, Victoria, September 1851. From Antwerp to Sydney via Adelaide, she was carrying 25 passengers and crew. None survived.  It was almost a month before reports circulated through the district that a vessel had been lost on a wild section of coastline about 12 miles west of Portland. A search of the coast recovered a large quantity of cargo and wreckage whiclh lay scattered over more than 30 miles.  Six badly mutilated bodies were subsequently washed ashore, followed by three more a few days later, while large sections of the vessel were washed up weeks later at Cape Otway and Apollo Bay. [LO],[MM]

Mariner. (Marriner?) Schooner, 65 tons. Broached outside Lakes Entrance, Victoria, and drifted on to beach, 1889. [LV],[LG]

Mariposa, Schooner, 164 tons. Built 1843. Operated in Victorian waters in 1850s. Wrecked in Broken Bay, NSW,  1870.  [LPA]
On 9 December 1855, stranded on the bank near the entrance to Port Albert, Victoria; refloated undamaged three days later.

Marosa. Steamer. Stranded at Cape Liptrap, Gippsland coast, 1942. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Marroro. Trading vessel. Lost Victorian waters, 1927. [LV]

Martha & Elizabeth. Schooner, 81 tons. Operated in the timber trade off Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s. From Melbourne to Newcastle, lost off Jervis bay, NSW, 1855.

Martha Ellen. Schooner, 124 tons. Built 1840. Operated in Victorian waters. Register closed 1919.  [LPA]

Martha. Schooner, 109 tons. Built 1847. Lbd 69.5 x 17.8 x 11.9 ft. Ashore, wrecked, on the eastern side of Point Franklin, Victoria. She was unloading timber at the mouth of the Parker River for extensions at the Cape Otway lighthouse when an easterly gale broke without warning. Crew landed safely and made their way overland to Geelong. [LO],[LE],[LV]

Maruma. Stranded near Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 1904. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Mary & Rose. Schooner. Involved in rescue - see brigantine Ariel, 1860. [LG]

Mary & Ellen. Schooner, 183 tons. From Sydney to Melbourne vla Port Albert with 25 passengers, struck the Port Albert bar, 10 June 1853.  The pilot boat reached her, landed Captain Tucker and was returning to the stranded vessel when it overturned with five lives lost. After most of her cargo had been jettisoned the Mary & Ellen was refloated next day and continued her voyage.  [LPA]

Mary & Agnes. Brigantine. Stranded at Port Fairy, Victoria, 1852. [LO]

Mary Ann. Schooner, 25 tons. Built in 1850. Lbd 46 x 14 x 6.7 ft. Reportedly lost shortly after loading all that had been salvaged from the schooner Sylvanus near Port Albert, Gippsland coast, 1850. [LG],[LPA]

Mary Ann. Schooner, 18 tons. Built 1853.  Grounded on Snake Island near Port Albert, Victoria, 5 August 1866.  The Harbour Master and his boat crew freed her with little damage. Listed as mising, 1877.  [LPA]

Mary Ann. Schooner, 52 tons. #  41453. Built at the Williams River, NSW, 1841: reg. Melbourne 21/1853. Lbd  53.8 x 16.0 x 8.2 ft. Master-owner Captain Matthew Absom. Sailed with timber from Corner Inlet, Victoria, for Melbourne on 18 May 1868 with captain and four crew but failed to arrive.  After she was several weeks overdue the Victorian Government sent its SS Pharos to conduct a search  but returned without success.  The Pharos had not visited King Island as it was considered to be too far off the vessel’s course, but public opinion was not satisfied and the Pharos was sent of to investigate again, and there found the missing schooner’s crew safe and well at New Years Island. In heavy weather, she had been blown well south of her intended course, sprang a leak, and finally foundered fifteen miles north-east off Cape Wickham, 28 May 1868. The schooner Dove and returned to New Years Islands.
[TS1],[LK - 42 tons, abandoned off Disappointment Bay],[LPA - 116 tons]

Mary Ann. Barque, 330 tons. This hisstoric vessel arrived in Port Jackson in 1791, and was immediately sent on a sealing expedition by Governor Phillip, the first vessel to leave an Australian port for sealing. She returned with a profitable cargo, convincing the government of the viability of the sealing trade. Wrecked in a storm on Mill’s Reef, at Port Fairy, Victoria, September 1840.  [LO],[MM],[LV]

Mary Bernadette. Fishing boat. Wrecked  on the Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast,  near Lake Tyers, 12 March 1985. [LG]

Mary Cummings. Schooner, 106 tons. Built 1861; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 81.3 x 21.1 x 10.3 ft.Captain Wigmore. After being battered by huge waves, went ashore near Cape Patten, Victoria, 1872. With the heavy seas which break off Cape Patten rolling over her, two anchors were let out to hold her shortly before the crew of six took to the boat which was provisioned with gin and biscuits. The crew rowed the boat east for 30 hours in travelling 40 miles to Barwon Heads, where they landed, narrowly escaping being capsized in the surf.  From Barwon Heads, the crew walked overland to Point Lonsdale lighthouse, and the news was telegraphed to Melbourne. When the tug Mystery arrived the schooner was still holding on the edge of the breakers, but while preparations were being made to take her in tow, a large roller tore away one anchor and she drove ashore. [LO],[LV],[ASR]

Mary Grant. Brig, 166 tons. Built 1850. Wrecked near Newcastle 1878.  [LPA - also lists as schooner]
On 9 July 1868, stranded at Port Fairy, Victoria, 1868. Refloated on nxt full tide. [LO],[MM - 1866]

Mary Jane. Schooner, 81 tons. Destroyed in a gale at Portland, Victoria, 1 May 1852. [LO]

Mary. Barque, under 50 tons. Reported lost in Portland Bay, Victoria, September 1840. No loss of life. [LO],[MM]

Mary. Brig, 162 tons. Built 1854; reg Melbourne. Lost 1874. [ASR]

Matador. Barque, 295 tons. Collided with SS Queen two miles off Cape Patten, Victoria, 12 December 1855.  Both vessels were extensively damaged but reached port.  [LO]
On 13 August 1857, involved in collision with steamer Royal Charter, Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip. [LV],[WPP]

Mathewan. Barque. Named Seagull after she sank after a collision, 1878. [LG]

May Jennings. Schooner, 61 tons. Built 1882; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 74.8 x 19.3 x 6.4 ft.Captain Rawson. Left Penguin, Tasmania, on 13 August 1890, on her regular run to Sydney, and was lost in heavy squalls two days later, when she would have probably been off the East Gippsland coast. [LG],[ASR]

Meander. Barque, 377 tons. Built 1850. Broken up c 1900. [LSS]

Meg Merrilies. Two-masted schooner, wood, 79 tons. Built Macleay River, NSW, 1850. Lbd 69.7 x 18.6 x 8.9 ft. Master E. Green. Wrecked near Port Albert, at the entrance to Corner Inlet,  24 May 1856. Four lives lost, including the captain and his wife. The schooner Eclipse attempted attempted to rescue the crew and saved three as the others were swept away.
[LG],[LSS],[LPA],[LWP],[LV]

Melbourne. Steamship,115 tons. Built 1852.  Lost at the mouth of the Murray River, 1859.
In 1854, 23 December, collided with SS Champion; both vessels survived with SS Champion towing SS Melbourne back to Adelaide.  [LO]

Merope. Barque, 311 tons.   Built at Fort Gloster, Bengal, 1818; reg. Hobart on 12 November 1835, re. Sydney 14 March 1840. Lbd 90-10 x 27 x 5.3 ft. Left Portland on 16 February 1853 for Swan River with 125 passengers and a mixed cargo, ashore near the mouth of the Fitzroy River soon after. No lives lost. [LO],[MM],[LV]
On the Merope night of 28-29 February 1845, as a whaler under Captain J. Hogg, ashore on Parmelia Bank, off Fremantle, WA, in a gale. Later refloated. [AS1]

Merope. Cutter. Lost at Portland, August 1839.  She left for Adelaide in February and apparently struck a reef near Lawrence Rocks.  All crew and passengers saved. [LO],[AS1]

Midge. Cutter, 11 tons. Built 1840. Wrecked 1853. [LSS]

Milleeta. Auxiliary schooner, steel, 74 tons. Built 1909. Lbd 93 x 22.1 x 8.7 ft. [LSS]

Milleeta. Ketch, wood, 82 tons. Built 1913. Lbd 78 x 22.8 x 6.6 ft. [LSS]

Mimmie Dyke. (Minnie Dike). Schooner,  87 tons. Built at Dundee, 1854. Lbd 78 x 18.9 x 9.4 ft. Ashore, wrecked, on the East Gippsland coast during a gale, 16 August 1866. Crew saved.  [LG],[LPA]

Mimosa. Wooden schooner, 18 tons. Built Port Albert, 1859. Disappears from Australian Shipping Register 1874.  [LPA]

Min. Barque or barquentine, 651 tons. Renamed W.B.Godfrey when wrecked in 1891. [LO]

Minah. Steel steamship, tug, 92 tons. Built 1924. Lbd 90.5 x 18 x 8.2 ft. Formerly employed as a tug at Geelong, broke adrift at Western Port and became a total loss, 1950. [LC],[LG - built 1900]
In 1936, assisted in refloating the ketch Defender, Port Phillip, 1936. [LC]

Minerva. Two masted schooner, wood, 83 tons. Built Bellinger River, NSW, 1847; reg. Sydney 73/1847, 74/1847. Lbd 60.2 x 18.4 x 8.7 ft. Captain Thomas Hovenden. Destroyed by fire some forty miles west of Cape Otway, Victoria, 27 March 1849. The vessel carried a large quantity of gunpowder, so was hurriedly abandoned. Crew saved after setting out for Port Phillip.
[AS1],[LO - 110 tons],[LV]
In 1839, December, under Captain James Fawthrop, stranded near the mouth of the Surrey River, Portland Bay; subsequently refloated 1840, beached, then repaired. [LSS],[LO],[AS1]

Minna Bell. Schooner. Stranded at  Portland, Victoria, 1876. [LO]

Minor. Brig, 288 tons. Abandoned in a leaking condition near Cape Howe during a voyage from Clarence River to Melbourne, 23 June 1888. [LV]

Miranda. Brigantine, wood, 127 tons. Built at Hobart Town, 1846. Lbd 76.1 x 20.6 x 11.3 ft. Captain Bentley. From Hobart to Port Albert, ashore in a gale after parting her anchors while sheltering under Rabbit Island off Wilsons Promontory, 7 August 1852. All saved. Her remains lie on the beach on Wilsons Promontory near Rabbit Island and may be seen if  sand has not temporarily buried it. [LG], [LV - 150 tons],[LPA],[LWP]

Miranda. Schooner, wood, 40 tons. Built 1877. Ashore at Apollo Bay below the site of the present golf house, 16 August 1881  Prior to her stranding, she had been engaged collecting wreckage from Eric the Red (1880). [LO].[LE],[LV]

Miss Evelyn. Ketch, 12 gross. # 117414. Built Port Pirie, SA, 1903 as the Evelyn. 47.0 x 14.2 x 4.4ft. Remeasured and renamed at the time of being reregistered at Port Adelaide10/1948; auxiliary ketch, 27/22 tons, lbd 50.4 x 14.1 x 4.6 ft. Sailed from Port Adelaide for a cruise to the Pacific Islands on 12 August 1949; encountered gales two days later which left her dismasted, her engine broken down, and the deck badly damaged.  The derelict vessel drifted eastwards for a further nine days before being abandoned some 30 miles from Curtis Island in Bass Strait. Crew of two landed safely. Rescued by the fishing boat Loch Lomond. Wreckage from the sunken ketch drifted ashore at Phillip Island on the Victorian coast towards the end of the month.  [TS2]

Mizam. A vessel lost near Apollo Bay, western Victoria, 1978. [LO]

Moana. Steel tug, 15 metre.  Built 1963. Used originally as a work boat at Port Stanvac, South Australia. From Adelaide to Brisbane, wrecked on a reef off Tullaberga Island, Gippsland coast, 14 December 1976.  [LG],[LH]

Mobil Australis. Motor vessel, 16890 tons. Built 1972. Loaded with oil and thirty-two crew, was running very close to rocks near citadel island, off Wilsons Promontory, before being taken in tow, 19 May 1982. She had been drifting with a jammed rudder. [LWP]

Moegaera. Steam ship. Attended the wreck of the barque Grange off Apollo Bay, 1858. [LO]

Moerangi. Schooner.  Operated in Victorian waters, 1860s. [LPA]

Monarch. Barque, 269 tons. # 32574. Built at Southampton, UK, 1836; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 142 x 23.8 x 11.7 ft. Captain T. Blake. Outward bound for Newcastle, ashore inside Port Phillip Heads on a bank between the West Channel and Cole’s Channel, 17 July 1867. Attended by the tugs SS Resolute and SS Titan, several attempts were made to tow her free but all failed and she became a total wreck. [LV],[WPP - inward bound from Newcastle]

Montezuma. Brig, 136 tons. Operated in Victorian waters in the 1860s under Captain McIntyre. Wrecked in New Zealand waters, 1865.  [LPA]

Moonah. Steamship, 95 tons. Built Melbourne, 1890. Wrecked at Swansea, east coast Tasmania, 1925. [ASR]
In 1918,  lay stranded near the entrance to Port Albert for several days when on a voyage from Melbourne.  The pilot boat Pewit helped refloat her, then after temporary repairs at Port Albert she continued her voyage.  [LPA]

Moonbi. Fishing vessel, 90 tons. Built Sydney, 1914; unregistered. Length 60 ft. Missing with a crew of five out of Port Franklin, Victoria, after she left on a fishing trip towards the Furneaux Group on 2 January 1945. Extensive air and sea searches failed to find any trace of the missing vessel.  Waterfront rumour was that she had been accidentally sunk by RAAF aircraft which used the islands south of Wilsons Promontory for target practice. [TS2]
In December 1934, ashore at West St. Kilda, Victoria.
Loney lists:
Moonbi. Fishing vessel. Left Port Welshpool, Victoria in 1943 with a crew of three but was not seen again. [LPW]

Moorabool. Steamship. Involved in rescue - see SS Lady Mildred, 1909. [LG]

Moresby. HMAS. Vessel of 1320 tons. Built 1918. Originally a convoy sloop in the Royal Navy; transfered to the RAN in 1925 and used as a survey vessel until 1939. During WW2, served as an escort vessel around the Australian coast during 1939-1941.  Tried to locate the enemy submarine that attacked a convoy 19 miles off Cape Howe, 11 April 1943. [LSS]

Mount Alexander. Schooner, 88 tons. Operated in Victorian waters in the 1850s. Wrecked in New Zealand waters 1865.  [LPA]

Mount Macedon. Ship, 1539 tons. Reg. Melbourne, 1854. Converted into hulk, 1891. [ASR]

Murray. Paddle steamer. Stranded at Lakes Entrance,1877. Stranded near Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, 1881; apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]
In May 1874, ivolved in a collision with the paddle steamer Kangaroo, Yarra River, Melbourne. [WPP],[LV]

Muscoota. Four-masted barque, 2668 tons. Built Liverpool, UK, and launched by Queen Victoria in 1888, as the Buckingham (qv). Lbd 307.7 x 45.1 x 24.2 ft. From Melbourne for Sydney with timber, collided with SS Yarra off Wilsons Promontory, 24 December 1922. The sharp steeel bows of the barque tore through the steamer. For several minutes the two vessels ground together tearing out rigging, railings and deck fittings, and putting a huge hole in the steamer’s funnel. In spite of the damage, both vessels were able to proceed unaided, and arrived in Sydney 28 December 1922. The Muscota never returned to service. Converted to a hulk by the Wallarah Coal Company in 1924. In World War 2, was towed to Milne Bay and used as a coal hulk for American ships, before being broken up. [#LWP],[LG],[LV]

Musgrave. Steamer, 467 tons. From Geelong to Hobart with wheat, struck St. Georges Reef east of Portarlington, Port Phillip, 2 October 1920. After 200 tons of cargo had been transfered to lighters, towed off by the tug James Paterson. [LC],WPP]

Napier. Wooden steamer, rigged as a two masted schooner, composite, 98 tons. Built 1874. Lbd 120.6 x 17 x 8.6 ft. Captain Limschow. Chartered to work the wreck of the Loch Ard, she was wrecked on rocks in Port Campbell Bay, 16 September 1878. Two divers, one of them Carl Erickson, who examined her believed she could be refloated, but after everything removeable had been removed and she lay waiting for a pump to arrive from Warrnambool, another gale destroyed her.  Portion of her boiler may still be seen opposite the jetty at low tide. Her loss resulted in the jetty being built at Port Campbell.
[#LL],[LO],[#MM],[LC]
@ The rusted boiler of the vessel can be seen in shallow water on the oppoisite shore to the jetty in the bay at Port Campbell. It is a reasonable snorkel on a good day. [lAH]
Also listed:
Napier. Steamer. Stranded at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, 1877. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]  Could this be the same Napier wrecked at Port Campbell in 1878.

Natal. Barque, collier, 178 tons. Built 1849. Lbd 99 x 20.7 x 12.7 ft. Captain P. Le Neven. Wrecked in a gale on rocks at Sealers Cove, Wilson’s Promontory, 14 July 1865. Crew picked up at Sealers Cove by SS Ant on 16 July as she returned to Melbourne from Port Albert. Also lost in the same gale: colliers Lady Young, and Tomatin.
[LG], [LV - Captain Le Neveu],[LPA],[LWP]

Nautilus.  Schooner, 48 tons. Built 1871. Operated in Victorian waters. Disappears from Australian Shipping Register after 1874.  [LPA]

Nautilus. Schooner, 82 tons. Built 1839. Lbd 59.4 x 17.7 x 10 ft. Wrecked high and dry on the beach near Cape Liptrap, Victoria, 15 January 1856. Four of the crew managed to cross the ranges after three days travel and reached Port Albert. The master and one woman passenger remained at the wreck and were later rescued.  [LG]

Neilgabar. Shark boat. Sank after striking rocks off Little Glennie, off Wilsons Promontory, having left San Remo on 20 August 1966. One fisherman rescued on Great Glennie island after ten days, having existed on raw penguin. Two other fishermen, brothers, drifted off and are pesumed drowned. [LWP]

Nell. Ketch. From Eden.  Attempted to salvage SS Riverina, 1927. [LG]

Nelson. Steam ship, 649 tons.  Built at Glasgow, 1876.  Lbd 200 x 25.5 x 19.4 ft. Employed in the West Coast trade from 1876 until 1890. Sank when she struck Porpoise Rock at the entrance to the Tamar River soon after transferring to Tasmanian run, 1890. No lives lost. [DG]
In 1878, stranded near Cape Otway, Victoria.
In 1881, 25 December: collided with SS Julia Percy off Apollo Bay. Both vessels were in sight of each other for some time but for reasons never satisfactorily explained the Nelson veered into the Julia Percy near her funnel, buckling her plates but otherwise causing little damage.  However, the Nelson sustained serious injuries having her bows stove in and stem carried away.  At the moment of impact forty passengers jumped from the Nelson on to the Julia Percy, one man being crushed badly between the two vessels and another falling overboard and drowning. [LSS]
In 1886, involved in rescue - see Paul Jones. [LO]
In 1891, stood by the barque Hereford as she was being towed through Port Phillip by tug Albatross.

Nene Valley. Ship. Lascar divers inspected the hull of the sunken barque Nestor, lost Portland October 1854, and found auger holes bored in her hull. [MM]

Neptune.  Schooner, 221 tons. Built 1867; reg. Sydney. Lbd 119 x 26.3 x 14.9 ft. Captain Rice. Left Melbourne with 400 cases of dynamite; wrecked on the Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast, between Pearl Point and Sydenham Inlet, due to poor navigation, 6 February 1889. [LG], [LV],]ASR - built 1875]

Nereus. Dredge. Built 1897. Lbd 175 x 35 x 15 ft. Left Eden in February 1931 in tow from the tug St Olaves; foundered in Bass Strait, February 1931. Master and mate drowned. [LV]

Nestor. Barque, 458 tons. Built 1840. Captain Brown. The wreck of the Nestor at Portland, Victoria, on 27 October 1854 caused some concern when three auger holes were found in her hull.  The Captain.  Second Mate and Carpenter were committed for trial on a charge of deliberately scuttling the vessel, but were found not guilty. She had arrived at Portland ten days previously with 166 immigrants and a cargo of railway iron for Madras, and was lying at anchor preparing for her outward voyage when the leak was discovered. The pumps were kept going night and day while the vessel was lying on the beach but the ship eventually went to pieces; but not before Lascar divers from the ship Nene Valley went down and discovered the three large auger holes in the hull under the captain’s cabin. [LO],[AS6],[MM],[LV]

Nestor. Launch; licensed to carry 83 passengers. Sank in the Hopkins River near Warrnambool, Victoria, 9 January 1921. Left from the lower reaches for Jubilee Park with a near capacity load of mainly women and children, but after travelling about two kilometres upstream sprang a leak, became unmanageable and sank. Rescue boats hurried to the scene and helped people from the water, but ten lost their lives. [LO],[LLB],[LV]

Neva. Yacht. Owned by Martin Weiberg, arrsted in connection to the stolen bullion on SS Avoca in 1877.  Supposedly capsized, drowning Weiberg, off the Glennies, off Wilsons Promontory, sometime after his release from jail in 1883. [LWP]

New Orleans. Wooden paddle steamer, 761 tons. Built New York, 1848, and initially perated to California for the gold rush, then sent to Australia in March 1853 for the Australian gold rush under Captain Wakeman; arrived Sydney from San Francisco on 14 May 1853. After being renamed Governor General, operated for several years on the east coast. Sold to China interests in 1861. [WL]

New Zealander. Ship, 1309 tons. Captain Brown. Fire destroyed this emigrant ship as she lay at anchor in Portland Bay, Victoria, 16 December 1853.  Harbour Master, Captain Fawthorp, and a party succeeded in cutting her anchor cables and towing her to the beach off Whalers’ Bluff where she continued to burn throughout most of the next day. The fire could have originated in her cargo of 450 tons of coal.
[LO],[AS6],[MM - named as New Zealand],[LV],[LAH - wooden barque],[DA],[RP]
@ Her exposure in shallow water to south easterly gales has ensured that very little remains of the vessel, but it is an interesting dive.
~ In 2002, it was reported in the press that the local council was considering an imaginative plan to built a glass 'room' on the seabed next to the wrecksite so that landlubbers could see a genuine wreck insitu.

Newfield. Three-masted iron barque, 1386 tons. Built at Dundee, Scotland, 1889.  Lbd 248.6 x 35.3 x 21.6 ft. Captain George Scott. Left Liverpool for Brisbane on 1 June 1892, wrecked ashore about one mile east of Curdie’s River, west coast Victoria., 29 August 1892. The captain mistook the Cape Otway light for that of Cape Wickam, King Island, some forty miles to the south,  altered course to the north-east, expecting to run through the western entrance to Bass Strait, but instead ran the ship ashore on the Victorian coast.The vessel struck heavily three times before grounding on an inner shoal with six feet of water in the holds.  Extensive use was made of the rocket lifesaving equipment brought from Port Campbell, but an attempt to place a line on the ship failed. The lifeboats were prepared, and the first launched was smashed against the side of the vessel before being swept away.  Twenty-three men crowded into the second boat, but it was pounded against the ship’s side. A third boat later landed with eight men, although it capsized when returning to the ship for the remainder and was lost. Nine lives in all were lost. The steamer Julia Percy assisted. The news that the cargo consisted of salt was a great disappointment to the hundreds who gathered on the cliffs, anticipating plunder similar to that taken from the Fiji less than twelve months earlier.
[LO],[#NH],[AS6],[#MM],[LV],[NWR],[LAH],[PR],[DD],[DA]
@ She lies 100 metres offshore in about seven metres, well flattened. Nayler describes the wreck site as badly battered, with little of interest, in 5 to 7 metres. Relics recovered include portholes and a bell.
~ The steering mechanism is on display at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Villaage, Warrnambool.

Niagara.  Steel steamer, 13,415 tons. Built at Clydebank, Scotland, 1913. Destroyed by a mine laid by the german raider Orion, in New Zealand waters, 1940. [LSW]

Nil Desperandum. Schooner, wood, 12 tons. Built London, 1855. Captain Vanett. Left Belfast (Port Fairy), Vic, on 20 September 1870 bound for Sydney with a cargo of potatoes and flour, and was signted by the brig Tower Hill battling a gale off Wilsons Promontory; apparently foundered off Wilsons Promontory and may have struck one of the Glennie Islands during the gale, late September 1870. [LG][LV indicates 80 tons],LWP - cutter]

Nith. Schooner/ketch 41 tons. Built Yarra River, Vic, 1866. Lbd 66.2 x 17 x 6.1 ft. Operated in Victorian waters. Stranded at  at Sealers Cove, Wilsons Promontory, 12 August 1866. Refloated. Broken up 1904. [LPA],[LG],[LWP]

Nonpareil. Barque, 399 tons. Built in 1865. Lbd 125.7 x 29.8 x 17.5 ft. In late 1880, collided with the barque Hereford when the Nonpareil requested assistance of a doctor to attend her captain. The Nonpareil came in too close, the collision causing her main yard to be carried away. The hereford was only slightly damaged, but went aground near Cape Otway as she neared the end of her voyage. [LSS]

Norfolk. Steamship, 5310/3358 tons. Built Sunderland, UK, 1900; reg. London. Lbd 420.7 x 54.1 x 28.8 ft. Federal Steam Navigation Co.From Melbourne to Sydney, fire in the coal in her hold resulted in her loss on the Ninety Mile Beach, 30 km south west from Lakes Entrance, 8 November 1914. After she was run ashore, salvagers removed most fittings of value before she finally broke up late in December. [LG],[LV],[LAH],[DG]
On 27 May 1910, under Captain Corner, left Durban for Albany. All went well until 10 June 1910 when the propeller and boss fell off 'with an awful jarring'. Being at the mercy of the wind, sails were made from tarpaulins and under jury rig, made Fremantle some 800 miles distant, where she was repaired.  [DG]

Norkoowa. Steamer. Struck sunken object off Cape Liptrap, Gippsland coast, 1889. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Nowra. Schooner, 50 tons. Built 1874. Lbd 68.4 x 18.7 x 6 ft.  Well known in the Melbourne-Lakes Entrance trade. Captain Lancaster. Inward bound from Tasmania, ashore in heavy weather, wrecked, at London Bridge near Sorrento, Victoria (back beach), 12 July 1891. The captain and cook drowned. [LR],[LG],[LM gives date 1890],[ASR],[LPA],[WPH]
A vessel by this name was involved in a collision with vessel Hugh Fortescue,  Williamstown, Port Phillip, 1880. [LV]

Nut Brown Maid. Schooner, 35 tons. Left Melbourne early September 1853, and never seen again. Four crew lost.  No wreckage was ever discovered. [WPP],[LV - name Nut Brown Mayde]

Nymboida. Iron steamer, 563 tons. Built Glasgow 1872. Lbd 203 x 25.2 x 12 ft. Originally called Otway. Hulked in 1913, finally broken up in 1919. [LSS]

Nyora. Tug, 306 tons. Built 1909. Huddart, Parker & Co. Foundered off Cape Nelson, Victoria, July 1917. Only one survivor.
On 30 June 1910, involved in collision with steamer Wakefield, Yarra River, Melbourne. [LV]
In 1912, towed free the barque Joseph Craig, aground inside Point Nepean, Port Phillip. [LR]
Interestingly, Loney nor any else lists the tug has having been lost.

Oberlin. Brig, 242 tons. Built 1865. Lbd 109.5 x 26 x 12.9 ft. Captain Anderson. Ashore, wrecked, on the north-east tip of Hogan’s Island, eastern Bass Strait. All saved. [LV] Indicates that the master and crew sailed the ship’s boat to Kent Island lighthouse for assistance - there is no such island - should read as Deal Island, Kent Group (eastern Bass Strait).

Oberon. Iron steamer, 102 tons. Built at Dumbarton, 1853;  accommodation for 22 cabin and 15 steerage passengers.  At some stage called Guiding Star. Registered at Melbourne in 1858, Hobart in 1859, then transferred to New Zealand owners.  Wrecked 1862. [LPA]
In  the 1850s, the crew of the Maria Ann, from Newcastle, found the remains of a tent, sail and a bag marked ‘OBERON’, on Rabbit Island near Wilsons Promontory. [LG]

Ocean Chief:. Ship, 1026 tons register.  Burnt at Bluff, New Zealand, 1862. [LO]

Ocean Rover. Schooner, 139 tons. Built 1884. Operated in eastern Victorian waters. [LPA],[LPW - 214 tons]

Oceans. Steamship. See Gambier, lost Port Phillip, 1891.

Octopus. Dredge, 969 tons. Built 1895. Captain T. Ogilvy. Left Durban 13 October 1906 to replace ageing dredges in Port Phillip, with crew of twenty. She had proceded only hours into the long journey when she began to leak, and then drifted ashore north of the Tongaat River, where she became a totla loss.  [LSS]

Olivebank. Four-masted steel barque, 2795 tons. Built Glasgow, 1892. Lbd 326 x 43.1 x 24.5 ft. Mined and sunk, 8 September 1939. Loss of 14 lives. [LC]

Olivia Davis. Wooden barque, 523 tons gross. Built 1874; reg. Geelong. Lbd 135.1 x 31.2 x 17 ft. Captain J.G. Sipple. Caught by a south-easterly, was driven ashore near the Warrnambool lighthouse, wrecked, 7 May 1882. All saved. [LO], [LG],[LLB],[#MM],[LV],[LAH]
In 1877, stranded at Cape Paterson, Gippsland coast, Victoria.

Opossum. Cutter, 18 tons. Built 1849; reg Sydney. Lost 1872. [ASR]

Orara. HMAS. Originally a steamer of 1297 tons. Built 1907 for the North Coast Steam Navigation Company.. Commissioned into the RAN October 1939. Saw war service as an auxiliary  minesweeper 1939- 1945.  Sold to Chinese interests 1946 or 1948.  Sank off Woosung, 1950.
[LO],[LSS],[LSW],[LPA],[LPW]
In 1940, involved in rescue - see SS Cambridge, 1940. [LG]
In 1940, located and destroyed mines off Wilsons Promontory. [LSS]

Orbost. Schooner, 45 tons. Built 1885. Lbd 79 x 17.6 x 5.4 ft. Carrying maize, pigs and turkeys from Mallacoota to Melbourne, parted her anchors during a south easterly gale and drove ashore in Waratah Bay, just west of Wilsons Promonotry, 1905. [LG],[LV]

Oregon. Barque,  396 ton. Loaded with cattle for New Zealand, ran ashore near the entrance to Corner Inlet, Victoria, 10 May 1863, but was soon refloated. She did the same thing the following year.  [LPA]

Orion. Steamship, 214 tons. Built 1900. Lbd 123.9 x 21.5 x 1-.2 ft. Holyman Line.  Left north-west Tasmania for Melbourne on 7 May 1908 but was not seen again. [LV],[DG - foundered in Bass Strait]

Orme. Cutter, 10 tons. Left Lakes Entrance for Mallacoota with six men and foundered somewhere off Point Hicks on 15 June 1909. All crew lost.  [LG],[LV]

Ormiston. Steamship,  5,826 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1923. Sister ship to SS Orungal, lost off Barwon Heads in 1940. Ormiston continued in the coastal trade until 1955 when she was sold to overseas interests. [LO]
In 1934, involved in collision with SS Edina, Yarra River, Melbourne. [LV]
On 5 September 1951, involved in collision with steamer Carron Park, Yarra River, Melbourne. [LV]

Oronite. See schooner Anieura.

Orungal. Steel screw steamer, passenger freighter, 5826 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1923; reg. Melbourne 1927. Originally named Fezara, owned by Eastern Traders Company.  Lbd 390.6 x 55.2 x 28.1 ft. Australian United Steam Navigation Company. Captain Gilling. Inward bound to Melbourne from Sydney, struck rocks and stranded on Formby Reef,  three-quarters of a mile east of Barwon Heads, Victoria, 20 November 1940. Despite a solid battering throughout the night, the vessel held together well and the passengers and crew were landed safely in Queenscliff after two trips. Commonwealth salvage experts examined the vessel and decided she could be salvaged but on 13 December a serious fire broke out on board and several working on her were injured. The fire damaged the ship beyond repair. The (later) famous Whelan the Wrecker purchased the hulk and spent three years cutting it to pieces. Naval experts retrieved the stern gun which was undamaged. A lifeboat nicknamed Black Bess was used to ferry hundreds of tons of material ashore. The hulk was a major tourist attraction for many years. Salvage operations ended when the RAAF used the remaining hulk as target practice, sending the three remaining salvors running for cover. By 1945 she had practically disappeared.
[LO],[ASR],[DD],[LG],[LSW],[NWR],[NSC,][LAH],[IL]
In 1937, involved in rescue - see SS Saros.
@  The wreck lies widely scattered one kilometer east from Barwon Heads. Four boilers may occasionally be seen at low tide.

Orwell. Schooner. Stranded at  Port Fairy, Victoria, 1873. [LO]

Oscar. Steamship. Collided with SS Great Britain, near Cape Otway, Victoria, 21 September 1860.  Both ships suffered considerable superficial damage but were not in any real danger. [LO] A vessel of this name was involved in a collision with vessel Secret, Yarra River, Melbourne, 1896. [LV]

Osprey. Three-masted schooner, 149 tons. Built 1834. Lbd 78.8 x 20.7 x 13.7 ft. Captain Hawkins. Ashore in a gale near the mouth of the Erskine River, near Lorne, Victoria, 18 June 1854. Her owners believed she could be salvaged, but their attempts failed and she became a total wreck. All saved. [LO
On 21 January 1854, involved in collision with vessel Dundee, Corio Bay. [LV],[WPP]

Otago. Screw steamer, 800 tons. Built Glassgow, 1863, for the Panama Compaany; arrived NZ 14 February 1864. ‘A pretty ship with two masts and two funnels, apinted ports and a clipper bow.’ Operated on the Dunedin - Melbourne service. Captain Calder. Lost at Chasland’s Mistake, NZ, 4 December 1876. It was her seventy-ninth trip across the Tasman.  [WL]
Also listed:
Otago. Steamship. Stranded in the Yarra, 4 December 1876. [WPP]

Otama . Fishing boat. Ashore, wrecked,  on the Sand Patch, Gippsland Coast, 3 March 1992. [LG]

Ottawa. See barque Muscoota.

Otway. Lighter, 33 tons. Sank in Lady Bay, Warmambool, 9 June, 1880. [LV],[LLB]

Otway. Schooner, 33 tons. Reg.at Geelong. Ashore, wrecked in a gale, Lorne, Victoria, 1862. [LO]

Our Hope. Brigantine, 237 tons. Built 1862; reg Melbourne. Lost 1872. [ASR]

Owen Glendower. Blackwall frigate, 852 tons. Built 1839. ‘Well known for her her splendid appearance and reputation as one of the most comfortable ships to operate during the gold rush years’. [LC]

O’Bertha. French barque. Loaded with brandy and sardines, wrecked, so the story goes, near the entrance to Shallow Inlet, west side of Wilsons Promontory, ‘sometime last century’, ie late 1800s. It is said that an Irish policemen was sent to destroy the cargo.  The story of this mystery wreck has not been substantiated, and a search has found no trace of her. [LG],[LWP}
Loney agrees that it is a nice story but there is no record of such a vessel being lost.

Pacific Wanderer. Yacht. Foundered in Bass Strait soon after leaving Melbourne on a voyage to Brisbane, November 1988. All three crew saved. [TS2]

Pacific. Iron paddle steamer. Built London for the Melbourne Steam Packet Company. Lb 260 x 32.5 ft. Arrived Sydney 1853. Became a ‘white elephant’ for the company as she was ‘too good for the Australian trade’. Returned to England after a year in Australia, and then operated in the Atlantic. [WL]

Palace. Barque, 339 tons.  Built 1866.  Hulked 1892.  Burned and scuttled off Westemport, 1932. [LV],[LC]

Paringa. Steel steamship, 1359 tons. Built Kinghorn, England, 1908 for the Adelaide Steamship Company. Lbd 230.2 x 36.1 x 13.9 ft. She had been laid up in Port Adelaide until sold to Chinese interests in 1935, when her register as a British ship closed. In late December 1935, whilst towing the old tanker Vincas (qv) out of Western Port, the ships met a gale off Wilsons Promontory; when the line parted the Paringa disappeared in the darkness and apparently foundered in Bass Strait shortly after, taking five European officers and twenty six Chinese crewmen to their deaths. The Vincas, with a skeleton crew of four Chinese aboard, drifted toward the Gippsland coast and dropped anchor near Lakes Entrance.
[LG],[LWP],[LV],[LAH]

Passat. German minelayer. Originally the Norwegian tanker Storstad, captured off the north-west coast of Australia by the German raider Pinguin, 7 October 1940, and renamed Passat. She laid fields in Banks Strait, Tasmania; and off eastern Bass Strait and Wilsons Promontory. Forty mines were laid off Cape Otway on 31 October 1940. Returned safely to german in February 1941; lost in air attack 1942. The first victim of the German mines was SS Cambridge (qv) off Wilsons Promontory, on 7 November. [LO],[LSS],[LSW],[LWP]

Paul Jones. Wooden clipper, 1258 tons. Built at Portsmouth, New Haven, U.S.A. 1877. Lbd 221.4 x 41.2 x 24.6 ft. Captain Winn. Destroyed by fire when off Lorne, Victoria, 19 March 1886. Left Melbourne in ballast on 19 March with a crew of ‘dead beats’ and ‘no hopers’. The Captain was finally forced to abandon the ship several hours after the outbreak and eventually all were landed at Port Melbourne. The British ship Antiope rescued the crew, while the vessel Liguria and SS Nelson stood by to offer help. The Government steamer Despatch, sent to sink the hulk, found it floating but burnt almost to the water-line about six miles off Lorne.  A hole was cut in the side and it sank two hours later, leaving a considerable amount of wreckage floating over a wide area; charged wreckage floated ashore during the followingt week but the only items of any value recovered were the boats used by the crew when they left the ship.  [
LO],[LV - 1206 tons],[LAH - 1206 tons, lost only a few kiloemtres outside Port Phillip heads]

Paul Pry. Schooner, wooden, 56 tons. Built 1838. Lb 49.4 x 16 ft. Captain Jenkins. Left Launceston for Melbourne but sank in a squall  seven nautical miles off Cape Schanck, Victoria, October 1841. The partly swamped lifeboat was launched with difficulty, twelve passengers and crew escaping, a passenger drowned. The survivors landed 2 km east of Cape Schanck, walking to McDonald’s lime kilns and obtaining passage to the Pilot Station, then on to Melbourne. [LG],[AS1],[LV]

Paynesville. Paddle steamer, 41 tons. Built 1880. Lbd 80 x 13 x 7 ft. Sprang a leak and foundered off the Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast, March 1881. [LG]

Pearl. Ketch. Stranded at Western Port, Victoria, 1917. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Pearl. Schooner. Stranded at Port Fairy, Victoria, 1852 and (apparently) 1854. [LO]

Pengana. Ketch. Stranded near Portland, Victoria, 1940. [LO]

Penola. Steamer, iron, 499 tons. Built 1863. When lengthened in 1885 and renamed Perth, her lbd was 192.1 x 22.5 x 12.6 ft. Wrecked off the north-west coat of Western Australia, September 1887. [LSS],[DG]
In 1865, under Captain Snewin, struck and sank ss City of Launceston (qv). [LV],[AS1]
In 1865, a vessel of this name was involved in collision with Queen of the Thames,  Wilsons Promontory. [LV]

Perseverance. Schooner, 82 tons. Built 1863. Disappears from Australian Shipping Register after 1874.  [LPA]
 

Perseverance. Schooner, 21 tons. From Melbourne, was wrecked at Western Port, September 1874. [LG]

Persian Empire. Ship, 1532 tons. From Melbourne to Newcastle, collided with the vessel Victoria Regina, also Melbourne to Newcastle, off Wilsons Promontory, five miles west of Hogans Island, 23 August 1887. The weather was fine and there was plenty of sea room. The Persian Empire suffered severe damage to her hull and rigging. A hole was patched with timber and cement and she returned to Port Phillip. , and was towed to Melbourne by the tug Albatros. The Victoria Regina continued her voyage. [LWP],[LG]

Perth. Steamer, iron, 499 tons. Built 1863 as the Penola. When lengthened in 1885 and renamed Perth, her lbd was 192.1 x 22.5 x 12.6 ft. Wrecked off the north-west coat of Western Australia, September 1887. [LSS]

Peternell. Wooden ketch, 32 tons. Built Williamstown, 1888. Lbd 68.6 x 17.6 x 4.8 ft. Traded around the Australian coast till just after World War 2. Lost off the east Gippsland coast, 1899. [LV][LC]

Petrel. Schooner, 29 tons. Built 1865. Known to have operated in Victorian waters in 1860s. Broken up 1917.  [LPA]

Peveril. Sloop, 71 tons. Ashore in a gale  while loading at Warrnambool, 6 July 1863.  She was repaired on the beach and about a month later refloated at high tide, however, having been towed clear, the towing chain broke and she was again washed ashore.  After this she was abandoned by the insurance company and purchased back by her former owner who successfully effected repairs and refloated her several months later. Previously: In 1859, noticed the burning of Maid of Julpha, Lady Bay, Warrnambool. [LO],[LM - cutter, 59 tons],[LLB]

Pewit. Pilot boat at Port Albert, Victoria. Assisted in refloating the steamer Moonah. Near the entrance to port Albert, 1918.   [LPA]

Philippine. Unknown type. Survived a tremendous gale in Portland Bay, Victoria, that saw the loss of the schooner Lady Robilliard, 1867. [LO]

Phillipine. Schooner. Collided with SS City of Florence off Point Hicks, Victoria, 1916. [LG]

Phillips. Pilot boat. Involved in rescue - see barque Macclesfield. [LG]

Phoenix. Two-masted ketch, 24 tons. # 32242. Built Western Port, Victoria, from the wreck of the Violetta, launched 5 November 1866; reg. Melbourbe 1866. Lbd 54.4 x 13.6 x 6.1 ft. Employed on the salvage of the wreck of the Light of the Age when she herself went aground nearby, off Ocean Grove, Victoria, and soon broke up, 13 March 1868. [WPH],[LO],[LV],[LPA]
In LG, Loney indcates she was lost at Western Port, Victoria, 12 October 1876.

Piako. Ship, 1136 tons. Built 1876. Disappeared after having left Melbourne for South Africa, 1900. [LAH]

Pilot. Schooner, 1101 tons (?). Built 1845; reg Melbourne. Lost 1874. [ASR]

Pilot. Schooner, 90 tons. Built 1847. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in 1850s. Wrecked at New Caledonia, 1870.  [LPA]

Pinguin. Motor vessel, Germain raider, cruiser, 7766 tons. Built in 1936. Formerly the Kandelfels of the hansa Line. Captain Ernst Kruder. Sent to operate around the Australian coast in 1940, and the Antarctic during the whaling season; disposed of twenty-eight Allied vessels before she was destroyed in the Indian Ocean by HMS Cornwall, 8 May 1941. Captured the Norwegian tanker Storstad (qv) in the Indian Ocean, 7 October 1940,  and converted her for minelaying. Sunk by HMS Cornwall on 8 May 1941.  [LO], [LG],[LSS],[LSW]

Pioneer. Brigantine, 158 tons. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1870s. [LPA]

Pioneer. Composite steamer, 75 tons. Built in 1870. Involved in salvage of cargo from Eric the Red, Victoria, 1880. [LE]

Pioneer. Cutter, wooden, 22 tons. Built at Melbourne, 1856. Broken up 1899. [LSS]
In 1887, stranded in Corner Inlet, Gippsland coast, 1887. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG],[LPA]

Pioneer. Fore-and-aft schooner, 88 tons. Built 1854. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1850s. Listed as ‘Missing For Years’ in the Australian Shipping Register of 1891.  [LPA]

Pomona. (Pomora). Schooner, 39 tons. Built at Sandridge, 1864. Lbd 64.4 x 18.2 x 5.5 ft. Ashore, wrecked, in a gale near Lake Tyers where she broke in two, 7 March 1866. One half was later used to build huts at the Aboriginal settlement, and the other half drifted to the mouth of the Snowy River. She was lost in the same gale that destroyed the barque Mandarin, ketch Victory, and the schooners Victory and Bitter Beer on 7 March. [LG]

Port Patrick. Full rigged ship, 1740 tons. Built 1889. Lbd 260.2 x 38.2 x 23 ft. Captain Wilson. Eastbound in balast through Bass Strait, was driven off course in a south-westerly gale and came within six feet of rocks at Wilsons Promontory, 11 January 1902. She was abandoned. Three days later the tugs Eagle and Champion arrived, with the crew of the latter first aboard to claim salvage rights, forcibly preventing the Eagle’s crew aboard. As the Port Patrick was derelict, the Champion were in their rights, and after a successful salvage was awarded £5924. The Champion was a Sydney-based tug, but had been in Melbourne after towing then four- masted schooner Louis from Sydney to Melbourne. The Port Patrick was finally broken up in 1925. [NH],[LWP - puts the event in 1901]

Portenia.Brig/schooner. Built 1829. Register Closed 1868. In 1841. Involved in salvage from the stricken  paddle steamer Clonmel, near Port Albert, Victoria.  [LPA]

Potomac. Steamship. Collided with SS Georgic in a dense smoky haze about eight kilometres off Cape Patten, 8 February 1912. Damage to either vessel was not serious. [LO]

Pretty Jane. Steamer, 101 tons. Built at Rutherglen, Scotland, 1870. Lbd 112.6 x 20.1 x 6.8 ft. Arrived in Sydney from New Zealand in 1879 and bought by the ASN Company.  Transferred to Melbourne and ran to the Gippsland Lakes via Port Albert in 1881-82.  Captain Patrick. Run ashore in a sinking condition, wrecked on the Ninety Mile Beach, 30 km west from Lakes Entrance, after 31 May 1882. No lives lost.She was heading to Melbourne for repairs following a collision with the Magnolia near Gabo Island began taking water.  [LG],[LPA],[LV]

Pride of the Tamar. Vessel of 14 tons. Sank in Bass Strait following a collission, 1875. [LV]

Prince of Wales. Brig, 112 tons. Left Melbourne for Sydney on 23 May 1853 and foundered in eastern Bass strait, May 1853. Three hundred ounces of gold dust were lost. The hull was found bottom up off Cape Howe on 18 June 1853. Crew and seven passengers lost without trace. {LV]

Prince Victor. Barque, 294 tons. Built 1864. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1870s. Abandoned at sea, 1881.  [LPA]

Prinsesse Marie. Danish barque, 1,408 tons. Built 1893. Lbd 229.2 x 35.3 x 21.3 ft. Disappeared while bound from Sydney to Smoky Bay in South Australia to load wheat, and was last sighted passing Wilsons Promontory late in February, 1910. Debris seen floating off the Gippsland coast more than a year later, and wreckage recovered in Tasmanian waters in July were believed to have come from her. [LG]

Priscilla Ketch, wood, 33 tons. Built 1885. Lbd 60 x 16.2 x 5.4 ft. Originally name J.C.Taylor., changed 1901. Register closed 1945.

Promise. Ketch, 31 tons. Built 1866. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1870s. Wrecked 1891.  [LPA]

Prospector. Barque, 235 tons. Built 1878. Captain Anthony. She rode out the storm that saw the loss of the barque Olivia Davis, Lady Bay, Wartrnambool, Victoria, 30 March 1882.   [LO],[#MM]

Protector. Gunboat of 960 tons displacement. Built for South Australian Government in 1884. Transferred to Commonwealth in 1901. Hulked in 1931, and apparently renamed Sidney. Abandoned 1943 off Heron Island, Queensland, as a breakwater. [LWP],[LC]
In 1919, on passage from Sydney to Melbourne, suffered an engine breakdown off Wilsons Promontory, and required the towing services of the tug James Paterson. [LWP]
In March 1919, involved in minesweeping operations off Gabo island, March 1919. [LSW]

Queen of the Thames. Involved in collision with  Penola, Wilsons Promontory, 1865 [LV]

Queen. Iron steamer, 207 tons. Built at Dumbarton, 1853. Commenced in the Victorian west coast trade in 1853. [LPA]
In December1855, under Captain Doran, saw the distress rockets and attended the wreck of the ship Schomberg near Peterborough, Victoria. [NH],[CWR],[MM]
In 1855, involved in collision with barque Matador two miles off Cape Patten, Victoria, 12 December. Both vessels were extensively damaged but reached port.  [LO]
In 1856, ran down the brig Mountain Maid (qv) in the West Channel, Port Phillip, 24 September. No lives lost, but the brig became a total loss. [LV]
In 1858, collided off Cape Schanck, Victoria, with steamer Stormbird, 1858. [LG]
In 1860, involved in rescue - see brigantine Ariel, 1860. [LG]
In May, 1863, suffered fire damage whilst lying below the Falls, Yarra River, 7 May 1863. She was undergoing repairs at the time, next to the clipper to steamer Kate Hooper (qv). Extensively damaged, but repaired ‘at great expensse’ and went back into sservice toward the end of the year.  [LV],[WPP]

Queen. Schooner, 23 tons. Built 1840. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1850s. Lost 1868.  [LPA]

Queensland. Steamship, 2263/1437 tons. Built Newcastle, England, 1875 for the Eastern & Australian Line. . Lbd 325.3 x 36.7 x 25 ft. Captain R. Craig. Struck amidships by SS Barrabool when off Wilsons Promontory, sank by the stern within 35 minutes, 2 August 1876. A steward drowned, but 16 crew and 107 passengers went across to the damaged Barrabool.  The second-mate of the Barrabool was found guilty of neglect of duty.  [LG],[NH],[LWP],[LV],[DG]

Quiraing. Steamship. Touched bottom when entering Port Phillip Heads, 1855. No further dteails. [LR]

Rachel. Barque, 283 tons reg., 328 tons burden. Built in the Clarence River 1864. Lbd 127.4 x 24.1 x 14 ft. Ashore in a gale in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, between the jetty and the bathing boxes, 8 April 1889. She was later refloated. [LLB],[LO],[ASR - built Sydney, wrecked April 1889]

Rahra. Involved in collision with Hillmeads, Cape Schanck, 1928. [LV]

Rangitoto. Steam ship, 449 tons. Built 1865; reg Melbourne. Lost 1873. [ASR]

Ras Elba. Steamship, 2735 tons. Built 1895. Broke her propeller shaft when off Cape Otway, January 1902. She drifted east across the entrance to Port Phillip and was in danger of going ashore on Wilsons Promontory when finally taken in tow. [LWP]

Rebecca Jane. Brig, 219 tons. Built Manning River, NSW, 1871; reg. Sydney. Captain H. Kermode.  At 3.00am, the steamer Wentworth collided with the brig, carrying away her cutwater, bowsprit and all head gear, off  Wilsons Promontory, 20 October 1876 . No charges were laid on either master. The Wentowrth took the Rebecca Jane in tow to calm water under Wilsons Promontory where the damage was repaired, and the brig proceded on to Melbourne. [LG],[LWP]

Rebecca. Barque, 261 tons.  From Denedin, NZ. Known to have operated to eastern Victorian waters in the 1860s under Captain Melton.   [LPA]

Rebecca. Barque, 400 tons. Captain McTaggart.  Stranded but later refloated, east of Cape Wickham, King Island, 1843. [LV]
A vessel by this name was involved in a collision with vessel Wentworth, Wilsons Promontory. [LV]

Rebecca. Schooner, 75 tons. Built 1846. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1840s. Wrecked on Queensland coast, 1863.  [LPA]

Rebel. Schooner, 104 tons. Built 1833. Reg. Geelong. Lbd 71.8 x 17.9 x 11.9 ft. Wrecked in a gale, Loutit Bay, Victoria, 17 February 1855. [LO],[LV]

Recina. Steamship, 4732 tons. Built 1930. Lbd 400.8 x 54.2 x 24.8 ft. Was leading a column of ships in convoy from Melbourne to Newcastle when struck on the starboard side and sank in less than a minute off Cape Howe, 11 April 1943. Thirty-two lives were lost from her compliment of forty-two. The remaining twelve ships escaped unharmed. [LSS]

Red Jacket. Schooner, 91 tons.  Melbourne to Hobart, disappeared without trace, 1863. Believe foundered in Bass Strait. [LV]

Red Rover. Schooner, 29 tons. From Hobart to Warrnambool, lost on Cape Barren Island, September 1855. [LSS],[LLB]

Regia. Brig. Ashore in a gale, wrecked,  near the remains of the barque Australasian in Portland Bay, 16 November 1860. All saved. The gale also calimed the barque Temora and schooner Eva. [LV],[MM]

Reindeer. Brigantine, wood, 104 tons. Built at Belfast in Maine. Lbd 91 x 21.4 x 7.9 ft. Out of Melbourne on 14 September 1862 for Hobart Town, was last seen hugging the coast near Cape Paterson, Victoria, the following day. SS Victoria  searched the coast as far as Cape Liptrap without finding any trace. Keepers at the Kent Group lighthouse said they saw a vessel on 15 September trying to beat into Murray’s Pass between the islands nearly all day. Four days later the bodies of several sheep washed ashore, and as the Reindeer carried some sheep it was concluded she had foundered nearby. This seemed confirmed when some wreckage from her washed on to the islands in June of the following year. However, in 1901, thirty nine years after she disappeared fishermen walking on the rocks under Cape Liptrap stumbled across the remains of a sailing vessel, later positively identified as the Reindeer. [LG]

Reliance. Paddle steamer, 84 tons. Built 1865. Lbd 97.4 x 17.4 x 6.5 ft. Captain Paxton. Sank three nautical miles south east of Cape Schanck, 17 July 1869. As the was leaving Western Port Bay by the eastern passage, she had struck a submerged rock near Woody Point causing her to list heavily to starboard but proceeded to Mussel Rocks, then Fisherman’s Point where she remained for the night. When she left Cowes next morning, she soon began to fill rapidly. Crew saved. [LG]
Also listed:
Reliance. Tug.
On 24 June 1866, went to the assistance of the stranded screw steamer Barwon at Queenscliff, but could not assist. [WPH]
In 1868, attempted to free the stranded barque Sea Nymph, Corio Bay. [LC]

Rembrandt. Barque,  481 tons. Built at Bremen, 1858. Captain Ficke. Sank when off the Ninety Mile Beach, east Victoria (Gippsland coast), 18 April 1860. A boat containing the captain, first mate and two crew members was lowered and had cleared the vessel when she foundered suddenly, drowning the remaining nine crew and the one, female, passenger. [LG],[LV]

Resource. Cutter, 13 tons. Built 1842. Wrecked southern waters (SA or Victoria), 1858. [LSS]

Restorer. Cable-laying steamer, 3180 tons. Built 1903. Lbd 358.4 x 44 x 20.8 ft. [LSS]

Result. Barque, wood, 724 tons. Built 1852. Lbd 146.6 x 30.2 x 22.8 ft. Captain McMasters. Disappeared after leaving Newcastle for Geelong on 30 September 1880. On board were the captain, his wife, child and a crew of twelve. She was sighted by the Sydney Griffiths as she entered Bass Strait on 4 October, but then she vanished. The steamer Victoria searched the coastline and Bass Strait islands without success. [LG],[LV]

Result. Lighter. Lost at Curdie’s Inlet near Warrnambool, Victoria, 1866 [LO]

Richard & Ann. Schooner, 59 tons. Built 1838. Lbd 65.2 x 15.1 x 8.2 ft. Sank in Waterloo Bay after spinging a leak off Wilsons Promontory, 6 April 1855. Its signal of distress was seen by the steamer Yarra Yarra, which towed it into Waterloo Bay, but the anchor has scarcely dropped when she sank. [LG],[LWP],[LV]

Ridge Park. Steamer, 1000 tons. Built 1878. Lbd 214 x 31 x 15.5 ft. From Adelaide to Sydney with a cargo of brandy, wine and flour, was wrecked on Beware Reef near Cape Conran, 10 February 1881. The crew landed safely and most of her cargo was salvaged. [LG],[LV]

Ringarooma. Steamer, 1100 tons. (Sister Arawata). Built on the Clyde, 1875 for McMeckan and Blackwood. Lb 245 x 30 ft.  One funnel and two masts gave her ‘a handsome appearance’. Engaged on the Melbourne-Dunedin service. In 1888, sold to German interests, renamed Samoa, then to the Japanese who re-engined her in 1903 and named her Geiho Maru.  [WL]
In 1878, stranded in Yarra, Melbourne. [WPP]

Ripple. Cutter, 15 tons. Built 1863. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1860s. Wrecked 1877.  [LPA]

Ripple. Vessel of 29 tons. Built at Brisbane Water, NSW, 1872. Lbd 57.6 x 16.2 x 5.1 ft. [LSS]

River Chief. Brig, 145 tons. Lost near Western Port, Victoria, 1857. [LV]

Riverina. Steel steamship, 2883 tons. Built at Newcastle, England 1887. Lbd 325 x 40 x 25.7 ft.  Lund's Blue Anchor Line. From Hobart to Sydney, struck rocks at full speed and became wedged in the reef, ashore at Island Point, 11 km east of Point Hicks,  26 January 1890. Bushfires in Gippsland were responsible for her loss, limiting visibility. SS Wendouree took the passengers on to Sydney while the officers and crew camped on the beach for about a week before also heading for Sydney. Cargo valued at more than £12,000 was salvaged including, 1000 cases of brandy, 400 cases of paint, cases of whisky and softgoods. SS Aldinga made several salvage trips to the vessel. [LG],[LV],[AS6],[LAH],[DG]

Romeo. Barque, 644 tons. Built at Liverpool, 1869. Lbd 174.4 x 29.8 x 18.5 ft. Ashore, wrecked, five kilometres west of Ram Head, Victoria, 14 February 1882. She was sailing between Hamburg and Sydney when the captain mistook land for a fog bank and ran the vessel ashore. All nineteen on board, including the captain’s wife and child, wre saved. The coastal trader Rosetta notified officials at Melbourne that the vessel was ashore with all sails loose, and the Government vessel Despatch was sent immediately to the scene. [LG]

Romeo. Woden barque, 644 tons. Built 1869. Lbd 174.4 x 29.8 x 18.5 ft. Wrecked three miles west of  Ram Head, eastern Victoria, 1882. All nineteen hands saved. The master had mistaken land for a fog bank and went ashore. [LPA],[LV],[lAH]

Roonganah. Auxiliary schooner, 99 tons. Built 1909. Lbd 95 x 25.1 x 7 ft. Destroyed by fire, southern waters, 1927. [LSS]

Rose & Mary Jane. Schooner, 27 tons. Built 1864. Known to have operated on eastern Victorian coast in the 1880s. Broken up 1928.  [LPA]

Rose Marie. Fishing boat. Lost near Cape Nelson, Victoria, 1979. [LO]

Rose of Sharon. Wooden steamer, 78 tons. Built on the Bellinger River, 1884. Captain Carless. Ashore in Corner Inlet, Gippsland coast, 3 August 1889 and again 7 August; and later in the same year three times near Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast, 1889. Wrecked off the NSW coast, 1892. [LPA],[LG],[LPW]
Renamed Endeavour in December 1890.  Driven ashore and lost at the entrance to the Brunswick River in February 1892. [LPA]

Rosedale.  Iron steamer, 274 tons. Built at Dundee,1877. Purchased by the North Coast Steam Navigation Company and disappeared at sea in September 1911.[LPA]
In 1878, stranded near Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast. [LG]

Rosedale. Schooner, 47 tons. Captain Plummer. Bound from Melbourne to Lakes Entrance, wrecked 4 km east of the entrance,  4 March 1872. Her remains were blown up by a diver on 9 March 1880. Peviously: Attempted to salvage schooner Latrobe, 1878.[LG],[LPA],[LV]

Rosetta. Schooner, 73 tons. Built 1847. Known to have operated in eastern victoian waters in the 1850s.  [LPA]
In November 1877, a schooner off this name lost her masts in a gale off Port Phillip Heads. [LV]
In 1882, a ‘coastal trader’ of the same name notified officials of the wreck of the barque Romea, 1882. [LG]

Rostrevor. Steamship, 140 tons. Built 1883. Lbd 159.3 x 24.3 x 11.4 ft. Wrecked at Point Hicks, (Cape Everard) eastern Victoria, August 1919.  [LG],[LV]

Rothley. Involved in collision with  Corio,Corio Bay, 1937. [LV]

Rover. Lugger, 12 tons. Built 1884. Lbd 37.6 x 12.4 x 5.3 ft. [LSS]
In 1892, stranded at Blanket Bay, Victoria, 1892. [LO]

Rovers Bride. Cutter, 49 tons. Built 1838. Wrecked 1852. In 1841, involved in salvage from the stricken paddle steamer Clonmel, near Port Albert. [LPA]

Rowitta. Steamer. Built Hobart, 1908.  Preserved as an exhibit at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum at Warrnambool, Victoria. [TS2]

Royal Charlie. Ketch, 28 tons. Lost in Bass Strait, 1879. [LV]

Rubicon. Schooner, 80 tons. Stranded in Waratah Bay, Gippsland coast, 1887. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG],[LV indicates vessel lost.]

Ruby. Brig, 147 tons. Built 1834. Lbd 73.8 x 21.6 x 13.4 ft. Captain McPherson. Bound from Newcastle to Geelong, was disabled near Cape Howe during a gale and foundered soon after, 12 February 1859. Crew saved. [LG]
On 23 July 1855, stranded in South Channel, Port Phillip. [WPP]

Runic. Steamship, liner. Involved in rescue - see SS Iron Prince, 1923. [LG]
No, not the vessel lost on Middleton Reef in 1961.

Salacia. Ketch, 7 tons. Reg. Geelong 1899. Lost Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip Bay, 1919. [LV],[WPP]

Sally Ann. Schooner, 52 tons. Stephen Henty and his brode had sailed from Princess Royal Harbour, WA to settle in Portland. Driven on to rocks in a gale, near the lighthouse at Portland Bay, Victoria, 18 November 1844. The gale also caused the loss of the schooner Elizabeth. [AS1],[LO],[#MM]
Previously: Involved in rescue - see Children, 1839.

Sally. Schooner or brigantine, 34 tons. Built Sydney 1838; reg. 36/1838. Lbd 45 x 12.4 x 7.6 ft. Wrecked on Seal Rocks, western entrance to Westernport Bay, Victoria, September 1843. [AS1]
Bateson indicates some doubt as to the accuracy of the information.

San Francisco. Fishing boat. Wrecked near Wingan Inlet, Gippsland coast, 16 December 1982. [LG]

San Rocca. Fishing boat. Lost on the Lakes Entrance bar, Gippsland coast, March 1975. [LG]

Sanjore. P. & O. Liner. Eva Carmichael, one of only two survivors of the loss of the ship Loch Ard, Victoria, 1877, embarked for Ireland in August 1878. [MM]

Santa Ysabel. Panama trading galleon, 50 to 150 tons. Formerly known as Tres Reyes Magos. One of the four ships of the Spanish expedition of 1595 led by General Alvaro de Mendana, with the chief pilot Don Pedro Fernandez de Quiros. The vessel has been noted in the context of the famous ‘mahogany Ship’, near  Warrnambool , Victoria. [MM]

Sappho H.M.S. Brig/sloop, 428 tons. Built at Plymouth, 1837. Lbd 100.5 x 32.3 x 15.2 feet. Commander Fairfax Moresby, son of Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby. Crew of fifty and armed with sixteen guns. Disappeared on the final stages of a voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to Sydney sometime in February, 1858. Left England for Australia late in 1857 and after calling at Capetown, resumed her voyage to Sydney, intending to pass through Bass Strait.  She was sighted a few miles off Cape Otway, Victoria, heading east, on 18 February 1858, but was not seen again. The master of the schooner Little Pet had seen two masts projecting from the sea between Cape Liptrap and the Glennies, near Wilsons Promontory; and some gratings which could have belonged to a vessel of her type were found washed up on Flinders Island more than a year later, indicate that she may have foundered off the Gippsland coast. HMS Elk and Boscawen searched the Strait without success. [LG],[LO],[AS6],[LWP],[LV],[LAH]

Saracen. Schooner, wood, 86 tons. Captain Hodge. Ashore on the beach west of the Kate Kearney Channel near Port Albert, Victoria, 23 April 1860. As soon as the weather moderated the Port Albert Harbour Master and Pilot hurried to the scene. The vessel had then broken up. Not a soul was saved, nor were any bodies found. [LG],[LPA]

Sarah Ann. Cutter/ketch, 34 tons. Built 1850. Disappears from Australian Shipping Register after 1916.  [LPA]

Sarah Ann. Cutter, 46 tons. Wrecked at Port Fairy, Victoria, 14 January 1836. Probably the first recorded wreck at Port Fairy. [LO],[AS1]

Sarah Hunter. Ketch ,78 tons. Built 1910. Lbd 84 x 25.2 x 5.8 ft. Loaded with timber from Tasmania, she lost her sails in Bass Strait during a gale and sought shelter in Waratah Bay; Victoria, after waiting for two weeks for a new set of sails from Melbourne, a gale drove her ashore, wrecked, at Tongue Point, June 1919. [LG],[LWP]

Sarah Louisa. Brig, 216 tons. Captain Charles Mills (later Harbour Master at Port Fairy). Dragged her anchors in a storm, ashore, wrecked, Port Fairy, Victoria, 6  July 1849. Two drowned.
[LO],[AS1],[MM - four lost],[LV]

Sarah Scott. Ship. On a voyage from Sydney to Melbourne, stranded near Corner Inlet, Gippsland coast, 17 January 1845. The exact location of her stranding is not certain, however it was reported as being almost sixteen miles from the wreck of the paddle steamer Clonmel. SS Vesta went to her assistance but found she could not help, however later the sarah Scott floated free on a high tide and was towed into dep water, and continued her voyage to Melbourne. [LG],[LWP]

Sarah. Sloop, 22 tons. Built 1854. Operated in Victorian waters. Converted to a lighter, 1882.  [LPA]

Sardomene. Ship. Involved in collision with ketch Vision off Warrnambool, Victoria, 1889. [LO], [LV - off Cape Otway]

Saros. Steamship, steel,  2044 tons. Built 1910. Lbd 350.1 x 46.5 x 22.4 ft.  Captain Aitken. LeftGeelong for Sydney on 23 december 1937; ashore in heavy fog, at Point Hicks (Cape Everard), Gippsland coast, directly in front of the memorial commemorating James Cook’s first sighting of the Australian mainland,  December 1937. A distress signal brought the Orungal, Canberra, Burwah and other ships to the scene. All crew rescued. Wreckage from the Saros lies on the rocks near the lighthouse, and submerged a short distance offshore. At some stage called Balti Sten. [LG],[LH - 3304 tons],[LV],[LC - 3304 tons]
Previous incident: In 1923, involved in rescue - see SS Iron Prince.

Sartuna. Fishing boat. Lost near Cape Nelson, Victoria, 1981. [LO]

Saucy Jack. Cutter, 19 tons.Built 1854. Operated in eastern Victorian waters. Wrecked, 1878.  [LPA]

Saxon. Fishing vessel. Scuttled in 9 m as an artifical reef, near Portland (now known as Saxon Reef). [DA]
@ Diveable on most days; excellent marine life.

Scammell. Name frequently used, incorrectly, to describe the American ship Joseph H. Scammell.

Schah. Brig, 91 tons. Lbd 80.1 x 18.3 x 8.6 ft. Captain Milligan. The Schah had been a slaver, condemned as a prize in the Spanish and British Court of Mixed Commission at Sierra Leone on 20 March 1832. She arrived at Port Adelaide on 4 May 1837 from London and eventually reached Sydney on 27 July. Her register was transferred from London to Sydney and she was put into the Sydney-Hobart trade. From Hobart to Sydney, was blown ashore in a gale about two nautical miles east of Ram Head, Gippsland coast, 20 December 1837. She carried ten passengers and a crew of nine. When the vessel struck she was swept by heavy seas and the four female passengers and a child disappeared in the raging waters immediately. One male passenger was lost when trapped in the steward’s cabin, while another was lost endeavouring to save his cash box. The survivors managed to reach the rocks and clambered ashore, near naked and exhausted, suffering many cuts and bruises. The vessel disintegrated almost immediately and they were only able to salvage a small quantity of food and clothing. After resting the small party set out for Twofold Bay which they reached five days later. The Revenue Cutter Prince George was despatched from Sydney to the wreck but little remained to salvage. A popular Gippsland story says suggests that the schooner Shaw was also thought lost in the same area about this time, but perhaps the name Shaw has been confused with Schah. [LG],[#ASW1],[LV - schooner]

Scharnhorst. German armoured cruiser, 11420 tons. Destroyed by the British in the South Atlantic, 1914. Brief mention. [LSW]

Schomberg. Three-masted wooden ship, 2284/1977 tons. Built at Aberdeen, Scotland, 1855.  Lbd 288 x 45 x 29.2 ft. Captain James Nicol ‘Bully’ Forbes. Wrecked a mile east of Curdie;s Inlet, near where present-day Peterborough, Victoria, stands, 27 December 1855. The captain described the Schomberg as ‘the noblest ship that ever floated on water’, was regarded as a devil at sea but a pious man ashore and the originator of the slogan, “Melbourne or Hell in 60 days”. It was rumoured that he cared little for the comfort of his passengers and often carried too much sail, causing his ship to be awash in brisk weather.  The Schomberg left England for Australia on her maiden voyage on 6th October, 1855, flying the signal, ‘Melbourne in Sixty Days’. Eighty-one days out she struck the reef 35 miles west of Cape Otway. Forbes, on being told that his ship was hard aground, is reputed to have said angrily, “Let her go to Hell and tell me when she is on the beach," and went below. The mate safely disembarked the passengers aboard the steamer Queen, which hove in sight the following morning on her way from Warrnambool to Melbourne. The wreck was abandoned. A Dutch galliot named Engelkens was chartered but reported the seas too dangerous for salvage work. Over a hundred people camped on the beach opposite the wreck anticipating big hauls, but when the ship went to pieces on 6 January 1856, , scattering timbers for miles along the coast, little of real value was recovered. A quantity of the cargo eventually drifted ashore where it was sold by auction along with portion of the wreck and 2,000 tons of rails originally meant for the Geelong to Melbourne railway to a Warrnambool syndicate. Although no lives were lost in her wrecking, in 1864 six men were inspecting the wreck when a huge wave smashed their boat, drowning two of them. Such were the complaints from passengers that the Passenger Act of 1855 was invoked for the first time, however, so many of the witnesses contradicted each other that the magistrate dismissed all charges. Forbes was committed for trial under the Merchant Shipping Act for neglect of duty on several charges but was acquitted when it was proved that the boatswain had been bribed by a number of passengers to testify against him. He was not  given another major command with the Black Ball Line and died on 4th June, 1874, at the age of 52. A part of the wreckof the Schomberg is said to have drifted all the way to New Zealand.
[LO],[#NH],[AS6],[#CWR],[#MM],[LV],[NWR],[LAH],[PR],[RP],[DD],[DA]
@ The wrecksite is widely spread in shallow water swept by heavy seas, 800 metres south-east of Curdie’s Inlet, Peterborough.  The wrecksite is well flattened, and although occasionally dived, is exposed to the Southern Ocean.
~ A beautiful Brazilian cut diamond ring was found when a communion challis raised by divers from Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village at Warrnambool was cleaned several years later.It is on display at the village.

Scotland. Barque, 375 tons. Built 1865. Disappeared having left Geelong for England, 1881.  [LAH]

Scottish Chieftain.. Ship.  Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1883. [LV]

Sea Bird. (Seabird). Schooner, 13 tons. Captain Jeffery. Built 1851; reg. Melbourne. Lbd 40.5 x 12.3 x 4.8 ft. Ashore in rough seas, wrecked near Cape Patten, Victoria, 6 March 1895.
[LO],[LSS],[ASR],[LV]

Sea Flower. Schooner, 18 tons. Built 1852; reg Melbourne. Lost 1872. [ASR]

Sea Gull. Cutter, 19 tons. Built 1859; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Sea Nymph. Brig, 289 tons. # 50399. Built at Shoreham, UK, 1865; reg. Sydney 101/1882. Lbd 119.0 x 26.5 x 14.9 ft. Captain John Moreton. Sailed from Maryborough, Queensland for Melbourne on 10 February 1883 with a cargo of cedar but failed to arrive. In April the Victorian Government steamer Despatch was sent out in search of the Sea Nymph and the schooner John & Jane, missing on a voyage from Melbourne to Cape Barren Island, but found no trace of either.  It does, however, appear possible that she capsized west of the Furneaux Group and her upturned hull was mistaken for the Louisa, (qv), missing late the previous year. On 27 April 1883 the lower mast of a large sailing vessel was reported off Eddystone Point from the Allenshaw, and may also have been a relic from either the Louisa or Sea Nymph.[TS1]
On 9 June 1882, was run down and sank in Sydney Harbour by SS Arawatta, but later refloated and repaired.
In 1877, involved in collision, Port Phillip, 1877. [LV]
Also listed:
Sea Nymph. Barque. From Geelong for Newcastle, stranded Corio Bay, Port Phillip, 20 October 1868. The steamer Reliance made several unsuccesful attempts to free her; the steamers Express and Mystery took her off and she was docked at Williamstown with little damage. [LC],[WPP]

Seahorse. Paddle steamer, 540 tons. Built in 1837.  Used by Benjamin Boyd for the coastal trade.  Badly damaged in the Tamar River, Tasmania, in 1843.  Auctioned 1849.  Hulked 1850. Involved in rescue - see schooner Truganini, 1842. [LO]

Secret. Ketch, 30 tons. Built Launcston, 1874. Lbd 53.4 x 13.4 x 5.4 ft. Disappeared after leaving Port Albert, 5 August 1898.  Wreckage was discovered at Snake Island and near the entrance. Crew were never found. [LG]. In 1896, a vessel of this name was involved in a collision with the vessel Oscar, Yarra River, Melbourne. [LV],[LM indicates 19 tons],[LPA - 21 tons]

Selje. Steel steamship, 6598 tons. Built at Sunderland, England, 1921; originally named Hallgrim. Registered at Bergen, Norway. Lbd 420 x 54 x 34 ft. Captain Endressen. Homeward bound from Melbourne to Norway with 114,000 bags of wheat, was rammed by SS Kaituna which sliced a huge hole about sixty feet from the stem,  a few miles south-west of Cape Otway, Victoria, in clear weather, 30 March 1929. Sank twenty minutes after the collision. All crew saved. The Kaituna stood by to assist. [LO],[LV],[LAH]

Senna. Fishing boat. Involved in salvage - see fishing cutter Irene, lost Kent Group, 1936 - herslef being wrecked on the way back to Victoria, off Wilsons' Promontory, 7 October 1938. [TS2]

Seville. Trawler. Built 1919. Operated by the RAN during WW2 as the auxiliary minesweeper Durraween (qv). [LSW]

Shandon. Wooden paddle steamer, 186 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1853. Left Scotland on 6 December 1853 and arrived in Me!bourne on 24 April 1854 after a voyage of 140 days under sail.  Later sold to. oveseas interests.

Shark Ace 4. Foundered off Ram Head, Gippsland coast, 12 May 1990. Three lives lost. [LG]

Shark. Fishing trawler. Capsized on the Lakes Entrance bar, Gippsland coast, 18 March 1978. Three crew drowned. [LG]

Shaw. Schooner. Lost at Wingan River, north of Rams Head, Victoria, 1838. The vessel had been plundered by aborigines, and the bodies of several sailors found nearby. [LV],[AS1]
Perhaps confused with the vessel Schah, lost on the Gippsland coast, 1837. [LG]

Shibboleth. Schooner. See Sibboleth.

Sibboleth (Shibboleth). Ketch. Was reported as blowing ashore at Hastings during a gale but its loss cannot be confirmed, 1938. [LG],[LV lists as vessel Shibboleth.]

Sidney. See Protector.

Sierra Nevada. Ship, iron, 1523/1474 tons. Built  at Southampton, 1877. Lbd 233 x 37.6 x 23.5 ft. Captain Scott. Wrecked off London Bridge on the Portsea back beach, Victoria, 9 May 1900. Captain Scott. She was 113 days out from Liverpool bound for Melbourne when she drifted into danger while awaiting a pilot at The Heads. Fourteen men manned the port lifeboat, but after being swamped, nine drowned. As another boat was being launched the ship disintegrated, and all remaining on board were lost, the captain's body being among those recovered next day; five survived out of a crew of twenty-eight. A wall of wreckage and cargo about two metres high and seven metres wide stretched for about 200 metres along the beach, and when word of the wreck spread throughout the district hundreds hurried to the coast in search of plunder.
[LG],[LR],[AS6],[LV],[WPH],[DD],[WB],[NWR],[LAH],[IL]
@ Portion of the bow remains intact, but generally the site is flattened and sanded over. She lies in a precarious position, 150 metres from shore, exposed to Bass Strait, and is only occasionally dived. Bell recovered in 1977
 

Silversteam. Steel barque, 1242 tons. Built 1891. Visited Australia, (Geelong in 1904). [LC]

Singapore. Barque, 343 tons. Arrived at Port Albert with a party of potential settlers after hearing of the  excellent lands in the vicinity from the survivors of the wrecked paddle steamer Clonmel, lost near Port Albert in 1841. [LPA],[LPW]

Sir Jamsetjee Family. Barque, wood, 1049 tons.  Stranded but later refloated, Otway Reef, 1884. [LV],[LE]

Sir John Byng. Brig, 177 tons. Captain Frith. Lost at Port Fairy during the same gale, 1852.  She carried a small cannon which her master had purchased in Sydney from H.M. Brig Fantome, which had been dismantled in 1841.  Thirteen years later high tides exposed the wreck and the cannon was located and put on display at the Port Fairy Mechanics Institute.  The hull was eventually broken up and burned to recover copper bolts and metal sheathing. [LO], [LV - Captain Firth, wrecked 22 May 1852],[MM]

Sir Wilfred Lawson.Ketch, 52 tons. Built 1878. Wrecked 1908. In 1886, stranded on Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast. Salvaged and returned to service. [LG],[LPA]

Sisters. Cutter, 9 tons. Lost in Bass Strait, 1882. [LV]

Sisters. Schooner, 48 tons. Built 1840. Wrecked 1852.  [LPA],[LG - cutter]
In 1841, involved in rescue - see paddle steamer Clonmel.
In 1841, involved in rescue - see cutter Isabella.
Socrates. Barque, 152 tons. Built Scarborough, UK, 1821. Arrived Australia 1832. Captain Grant. In March 1841, the first large vessel to navigate the inner waters of Corio Bay (Geelong), Port Phillip.  Ashore, wrecked in a storm, Port Fairy, Victoria, 28 August 1843.
[LO - 30 August], [LV],[AS1],[MM],[LC],[PR]
In 1839, involved in rescue - see Children.
@ Site is known, and occasionally 'emerges' from the sand.

Soukar. Iron ship, 1304 tons. Built 1864 for Shaw Saville Company. Captain Croker. In Australia in 1879, perhaps other times also. Sold to Sapnish interests and renamed Humberto. Eventually broken up. [LC]

South Australian. Vessel of 236 tons. Captain McFarlane. Mentioned in reference to early whaling. [LSS]

South Milton. Barque, wood,  598 tons. Built at Sunderland, 1877. Lbd 159 x 30.7 x 17.9 ft. Captain Trinnick. Struck Charlemont Reef near Barwon Heads, Victoria, due to poor navigation, 10 April 1886. The seas forced the barque over the reef into calmer water, enabling the crew to launch the boats and escape with a few bundles of clothes. The pilot schooner Rip picked up survivors. Tugs Albatross and Avon also attended but could not be of assistance.
[LO],[LV],[DD]

Southern Cross. Barquentine, wood, 257 tons. Built 1891. Lbd 131 x 26.6 x 14.2 ft. Disappeared without trace possibly eastern Bass Strait, 1920. [LG],[LSS]
In 1883, a vessel of this name was involved in collision with vessel Rescue, Yarra River, Melbourne. [LV]

Speculant. Three-masted iron barquentine, 393/274 tons. Built 1895.  Traded under the Russian flag until 1902. Lbd 150 x 24 x  11.4 ft. Captain Jacobson. From Portland to Melbourne in ballast, driven ashore by a strong south-westerly gale at  Cape Patten, 10 February 1911. Heavy seas broke over the ship and she was dumped on jagged rocks and her bottom smashed in. The crew managed to fasten a line to a large rock a few yards from the ship and from here they climbed across to a second rock, before dragging themselves ashore. The vessel was gradually battered to pieces by the heavy seas.
[LO], [LV - rigged as barque],[LWR],[NSC],[LAH],[DD],[IL]
@ Constant roadworks over the years have caused many tons of rubble to cover whatever little is left of the wreck. Access is extremely difficult from the cliff and too distant from any suitable shelter by boat. Wreckage lies scattered amongst the rocks and in the gullies close to shore.

Speke. Three masted barque steel, 2876 tons. Built in Wales, 1891. Lbd 310 x 35 x 25 ft. Captain Tilson. Due to faulty navigation, drifted broadside on to a reef on the eastern side of Kitty Miller Bay, near The Nobbies, on Phillip Island, Victoria,  22 February 1906.Immediately she struck a boat was launched, but it capsized drowning one of the four occupants. Those remaining finally reached the beach exhausted.Heavy seas battered the Speke for several days until it broke in two and rapidly disintegrated. Wreckage from the ship, including part of the bow still lies high on the rocks, and more debris lies scattered along the edge of the reef in shallow water. For many years, the Speke and her sister ship Ditton were the largest three masted barques in the British maritime fleet.
[LG],[LI],[LH],[LV],[NSC],[DA],[IL]
@ Compeletely destroyed with small wreckage sections amongst the rocks. May be snorkelled.

Spencer. Brig, 222 tons. Built 1829. Lbd 88.7 x 23.9 x 16.1 ft. Captain Wooton. Outward bound from Melbourne to New Zealand with 28 passengers and a general cargo, was wrecked on the Ninety Mile Beach, about 60 nautical miles east of Port Albert on 13 January 1854. Five persons were washed overboard and drowned in the surf, but the remainder reached the beach where they camped under sails for nine days before being taken to Port Albert and later conveyed to Melbourne. [LG],[LPA],[LV]
Believe possibility that ‘east of Port Albert’ should be ‘west of Port Albert’ making it off Waratah Bay, Cape Liptrap area; inquiry held at Yanakie.
In 1852, searched for the missing schooner Favourite. [LG]

Spindrift. Ketch, 71 tons. Stranded at Waterloo Bay, Wilsons Promontory, 1881. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG],[LV]

Spray. Fishing boat. In July 1892 it was reported that the Victorian fishing boat Spray had been wrecked at New Years Island, off King Island, western Bass Stait, and the Victorian Government requested the Tasmanian Government to place moorings there.  As no Tasmanian boats anchored there, no action was taken. [TS1]

Sprightly. Tug and salvage vessel, 800 tons. Built USA, 1942 as a fleet tug; served time in the Royal Navy before transfer to RAN in 1944, remaining ijn opertaion till 1961. In 1969 sold to private interests; worked as an oil expoloration vessel, then research-servey vessel under charter to CSIRO.

Squatter. Two masted schooner, 50 tons. Built Manning River, NSW 1845.  Lbd 53 x 14.6 x 7.9 ft. Master-owner Thomas Hovenden. Battered by heavy weather after leaving Melbourne for Portland, wrecked on a reef about two miles west of Port Fairy, Victoria, 21 May 1846. [LO],[AS1]

St. Kilda. Three-masted wooden schooner, 189 tons. Built at Paisley, Scotland, 1868. Collided with and sank the barque Sea Gull (qv) off Wilsons Promontory, 27 December 1878. The St.Kilda was bound for Melbourne, out of Greymouth, New Zealand, with passengers and cargo. [LG], [LWP]

Stag. Barque, 258 tons.  Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1903. [LV]

Star of Mallacoota. Ketch, 13 tons. Built 1891; reg. Melbourne. Left Genoa on 16 May 1892, crossed the bar at Mallacoota, eastern Victoria, but was not seen again. [LG]

Storm Bird. (Later spelling Stormbird). Brig-rigged steamer, 97/67 tons. Built Glasgow, 1854. Alterations later raised her gross tonnage to 217 tons.  Registered at Port Albert in 1857.  Entered the Westernport trade from Melbourne, and then sent to New Zealand in 1862 where she traded for sixty years, at one time being the oldest steamer operating in the Pacific. Lost on Wanganui Bar, September 1916. Three men drowned. [LPA],[WL lost about 1914]
In 1858, collided with steamer Queen off Cape Schanck, Victoria. [LG]
In 1858, involved in rescue - see brig Gertrude.  [LG]
In June 1862, involved in rescue - see White Swan, lost Flat Point, NZ. [WL]
Possibly the oldest operational steamer in the world when lost.

Stormbird. Schooner, 50 tons. Foundered in Bass Strait, 1870. [LV]

Storstad. Steamship, Norwegian freighter, 8998 tons. Built 1926. Captured by the  German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin in the Indian Ocean, 7 October 1940; renamed Passat, and converted for minelaying. She laid mines in Banks Strait, off Cape Otway, and both approaches to Wilsons Promontory, and was no doubt responsible for the sinking of the freighters Cambridge off Wilsons Promontory,  and the City of Rayville off Cape Otway, both in 1940. Returned safely to germany in February 1941; lost in air attack 1942. [LO],[LG],[LSS],[LSW]

Strathgryfe. Four-master barque, steel, 2276 tons. Lbd 279.4 x 41.9 x 24.4 ft. Captain McIntyre.  From Cape Town to Sydney, stranded in a gale on the magnificent beach north of Darby River, Waratah Bay, west of Wilsons Promontory, 1902. A salvage crew from Melbourne took three months to set her free, on an exceptionally high tide. In 1910, the Strathgryfe was sold to German interests and renamed Margretha. During World War 1, she was seized by Portugal and her name changed again to Graciosa. She was finally sunk by a U-Boat in 1918. [#LSS], [LV],[LWP],[LV]

Strathspey.  Barque, 498 tons. Built 1876. Mentioned in relation to ship Eric the Red. [LE]

Struan. Brig, 207 tons. Built 1846. Lbd 85.2 x 20.7 x 13.5 feet. Captain Paterson. Sprang a leak (apparently off the Gippsland coast) and sank, 16 August 1856. Crew rescued by the schooner Gem, and later transferred to the Little Pet and taken on to Melbourne. [LG],[LV]

Suffolk. Barque, 231 tons. Built 1863. Lbd 118 x 26.3 x 11.5 ft. On fire off Cape Howe, May 1879. [LV]

Surprise. Ketch. 25 tons. Built at Williamstown, 1862. Lbd 53.5 x 15.9 x 4.9 ft.Captain Ross. Left the Gippsland Lakes for Melbourne on 2 March 1866 and was not seen again. It appears she was lost in the same gale destroyed the barque Mandarin, and the schooners Pomona, Victory and Bitter Beer on 7 March. [LG]

Surprise. Schooner. Lost in Sisters Rocks, Bass Strait, 1802. [LV]

Susan. Schooner, 36 tons. Timber carrier, operating out of Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s. May have been wrecked in 1865. [LWP]
In 1855, involved in rescue - see SS Eliza. [LV]

Sussex.. Three-masted wooden ship, 1305 tons. Built at Glasgow, 1853. Lbd 230 x 32.2 x 22 ft.  Captain Collard. Ran on to a reef one and a half miles west of Barwon Heads, Victoria, 31 December 1871.  A light seen was mistaken for Cape Schank; the ship’s course was changed and the mistake discovered too late. She hd left Plymouth on 9 October with forty-seven passengers and general cargo on her  twenty- eighth visit to Australia. Immediately the ship struck blue lights and rockets were fired and all passengers were warned to prepare to abandon her.  The seas drove her over the rocks on to sand before a boat was launched but this capsized and six crew drowned. Nothing could be done from the shore as the sea was sweeping over the ship. The tug War Hawk arrived from Queenscliff and passengers and crew were transfered. The ship’s dog swam ashore. Other vessels to attend included the paddle steamers Titan and Challange, tug Mystery, and the Queenscliff lifeboat. The ship and cargo were sold at auction; a wire rope from the foremast to the beach was used for hauling boats loaded with cargo to and fro, the boats being towed into shallow water by a team of twelve bullocks, and an iron tramway was laid down the sandhill to haul the goods from the beach to drays which carried them to the Customs. [LO],[AS6],[LV],[DD],[NWR],[NSC],[LAH]
@ Wreckage lies often buried in sand, four kilometres west of Barwon Heads.

Sutlej. Barque, 1749 tons. Renamed, Antares, wrecked 1914. [LO]

Swan. HMAS. Sloop, 1060 tons. Built 1937. Paid off in 1962 and broken up 1965-66. [LSS]
In 1940, involved in minesweeping operations in Bass Strait. [LSW]

Swan. Ketch, 23 tons. Built Tasmania, 1862. Lbd 60 x 14 x 4.6 ft. Rammed by SS Queenscliffe off Cape Schanck, Victoria,  and sank in a few minutes, 28 October 1906.  [LG],[LSS], [LV]

Swan. Ketch. Beached near the Apollo Bay jetty, Victoria, and wrecked, 29 October 1882. She had left Apollo Bay on 28 October 1882 for Melbourne, but sprang a leak, and returned due to bad weather. [LO]
In 1880, stranded at Western Port, Victoria. [LG]

Swift. Three-masted schooner, 120 tons. Captain Watlins. Bound from Launceston to Port Fairy, with a cargo of timber,  struck a reef on the south side of Griffiths Island, wrecked, 19 June 1855. [LO], [LV],[MM]

Swordfish. Brigantine, 155. Built 1850. Operated out of Hobart; know to have visited Victorian waters in the 1860s. Wrecked In Tasmanian Waters, 1882.  [LPA]
On 1 June 1868, involved in a collission with the barque Tasman, West Channel, Port Phillip. [WPP]
In 1868, involved in collision with the sunken Black Swan, Williamstown, Port Phillip. [LV]

Swordsman. HMAS. Searched in vain for the missing schooner Amelia J., 1920. [LG]

Sybil. Schooner, wooden, 150 tons. Built 1879. Lbd 95 x 23.8 x 10.1 ft. Disappeared while returning from Guadalcanal to Townsville, Queensland, Fenruary 1902. [LSS]

Sydney Cove. Bound from Bengal to Sydney, beached after springing a leak off Preservation Island in the Furneaux Group, Bass Strait,  8 February 1797. Two officers and fifteen of the crew, twelve of whom were Lascars, set out for Sydney in the ship’s launch, but were driven ashore to the south of Cape Howe on 2 March. The launch capsized in the surf and was badly damaged, but all hands reached the shore and after resting, commenced the trek overland to Sydney. Two white sailors and all the Lascars died during the two months' journey, but the survivors were picked up by a fishing party near Botany Bay and taken to Sydney. Of the remainder of the crew at the wreck, twenty five were rescued in July by the schooner Francis, and several others by the Eliza which foundered with the loss of all hands during the voyage back to Sydney.  [LG],[#CC]

Tam O'Shanter. Schooner. Lost in Portland Bay. Date not listed. [LO],[MM]

Tamora. Barque, 419 ton. Whilst at anchor, ashore, wrecked, after having bumped heavily in four fathoms during a gale, Portland Bay, Victoria, 16 November 1860. All fourteen crew saved by the harbour master, Captain Fawthrop. After salvage of her cargo, she was blown up with dynamite. Two other vessels wrecked in the same storm were the brig Regia and schooner Eva. .  [LO],[AS6],[LV],[MM - Temora]

Tanjil. Wooden paddle steamer, 109 tons. Built Melbourne, 1877. Lbd 115 x 17 x 6.4 ft. Designed specially to operate on the shallow waters of the Gippsland Lakes. Destroyed by fire at Bairnsdale, Victoria, 29 January 1885. [LSS],[LG],[LPA],[LG also indicates sank at Bairnsdale wharf, but refloated, 1895. Two ships perhaps.]

Tarbet Castle. Barque, 169 tons. Built at Dumbarton, 1836. Loaded with stone for Gippsland roads, went ashore west of the swashway at the entrance to Port Albert, Victoria, 6 March 1860 but was soon refloated.  She finished her days as a hulk at Dunedin, New Zealand, 1880.  [LPA],[LG - Tarbot Castle],[LPA]

Tarra. Wooden steamer,20 tons. Built at Melbourne, 1869. In 1886, stranded at Lakes Entrance, Gippsland coast. Transferred to towing on the Gippsland Lakes in 1888. Later abandoned on river bank near Bairnsdale and engine used in a saw mill. Disappears from the Registers after 1916. [LPA],[LG]

Teazer. Schooner, 58 tons. First seagoing vessel built on the banks of the Yarra, 1844. Timber carrier, operating out of Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s. Lost Twofold Bay, NSW, 1854.
In 1845, 20 March, bound for Portland, ran ashore near Point Lonsdale; later floated off after throwing ballast overboard.
[LO], [LR indicates brigantine],[LPH - indicates 22 tons, possibly confused with ketch of same name]
In November 1847, under Captain Rogers, took forty-three men from Geelong to Cape Otway in order to built the lighthouse. The master was drowned when the ship’s boat capsized attempting to reach shore in unfavourable weather. [CWR]

Telegraph. Iron paddle steamer, 521/367 tons. #31799. Built Scotland, 1854; reg.Sydney, 27/1859. Length 221 ft. Owned by A.S.N.Co. Arrived Australia 1854. Became the fasted ship on the coastal run between Melbourne and Brisbane. Struck a rock about a kilometre off Point Perpendicular, south of Port Macquarie, 8 October 1867. The 20 passengers and their luggage were landed but the vessel broke up completely within a week. [LN],[SAN - lost 9 October 1867],[WL]

Temora - see Tamora.

Templar. Trading ketch, 29 tons.  Built Melbourne, 1879. Lbd 57.7 x 16.3 x 5.4 ft. Wrecked near Cape Paterson, Victoria, 2 January 1892. Three lives lost.  [LG],[LSS],[ASR - lost off Cape Schank],[LPA]

Tenasserim. Barque. Stranded near Point Addis, Victoria, 1848. [LO]

Texaco Rochester. Motor vessel, 21877 tons. Built 1959.
In 1978, drifted close in to Wilsons Promontory after a temporary power failure. [LWP]

Thistle. Paddle steamer, iron, 278 tons. Built at London, 1840 for the Hunter River trade; entered the Melbourne-Port Albert trade in 1859. Lbd 148.7 x 19.5 x 11 ft. Captain Sydserff. Wrecked in a gale on the west bank of Port Albert heads, 23 December 1859. All hands immediately set about lightening the ship by throwing the cargo overboard and breaking up everything suitable for fuel. The scene on board was chaotic - women and children screaming, men looking on in dismay at their property being destroyed and all of their other possessions being thrown into the sea to lighten the ship; but the total complement of seventy reached safety.  [LG],[LPA],[LV],[DG]

Thistle. Schooner,  64 tons. Built Calcutta, 1750. Ran for the East India Company for many years, brigantine rigged. Came to Fremantle 1830. Bought by the Henty brothers, Stephen and John, in 1832; made several visits to Portland and took Edward Henty there in 1834. Master Charles Mills. Ashore in a gale, wrecked, close to the old jetty at Port Fairy, Victoria, 25 December 1837.  [LO], [LV],[AS1],[#MM],[PR],[#DA]
@  Site discovered on 1 September 1984 by divers Terry Arnott and Harry Reed. Formal survey work has been performed.

Thomas Bent. Dredge, 709 tons. Built 1885. Lbd 200 x 35.1 x 11.2. Origianlly named Melbourne. Scrapped 1953.  [LSS]

Thomas. Cutter, 20 tons. Built Launceston, 1839; reg. Melbourne 11/1843. Lbd 31.3 x 10.5 x 6 ft. Drifted ashore at Port Fairy, Victoria, and became a total wreck, 12 December 1843. [LO], [LV],[AS1 - 15 tons]
Bateson states that the cutter, if correctly identified, was refloated and operated to at least 18 September 1847. Her register was closed during a housekeeping purge on 31 December 1876, with the notation, ‘missing’. [AS1]

Timaru. Ship, 1306 tons. Built Greenock, 1874. Shaw Saville Line. Operated in Australian waters. In February 1894, took the first load of refrigerated mutton, some 16,000 carcasses, to London. Sold to South African interests during the Boer War, and finsihed her days as a freezing hulk at Durban. [LC]

Time. Steamer. In 1893, towed the stricken steamer Wodonga to safety after she had broken a propeller shaft when near Cliffy Island, off Wilsons Promontory. The Wodonga was towed back to Melbourne. [LWP]
Loney gives details of the Time, built 1913, which is obviously incorrect, and is confused with the steamer listed below.
Also listed:
Time. Type not listed. Involved in collision with vessel Wastewater,  Hobsons Bay, Port Phillip, Port Phillip, 1890. [LV]

Tom Thumb. Two small boats had this name, under command of Matthew Flinders in exploring the south-east coastline of Australia in the late 1790s. [HH2]

Tomatin. Barque, collier, 322 tons. Built 1839. Lbd 133.5 x 25 x 17.5 ft. Captain Watson. In a gale, struck rocks off Rabbit Island, Gippsland coast, July 1865. Crew saved. Crew picked up at Sealers' Cove by SS Ant on 16 July as she returned to Melbourne from Port Albert. Also lost in the same gale: barque Natal, and collier Lady Young.   [LG],[LPA],[LWP],[LV]

Tommy Norton. Paddle steamer, 28 tons. Built 1859. Lbd 62.9 x 12.5 x 5.5 ft. Captain A. McAlpine. Ashore, wrecked, while sounding the bar at Lakes Entrance, October 1877. [LG],[LV - 18 tons]

Tommy R. Trawler. Foundered south-west of Portland, 1991. [LO]

Tommy. Schooner, 59 tons. Built 1856. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1870s. Broken up 1928.  [LPA]

Topsy. Ketch. Burnt to the waterline at Mallacoota, Gippsland coast, 8 April 1906. The captain and two crewmen, survivors from the Foam which had been lost in the previous December escaped unharmed. [LG], [LV - wrecked April 1905]

Toroa. Schooner, 58 tons. Left Warrnambool for Melbourne on 6 August 1858 with twelve passengers and a full cargo but failed to arrive.  Part of her cargo, a case of toys, washed up at Barwon Heads indicated that she had probably foundered after rounding Cape Otway, night of 6-7 August 1858. [LO],[TS2]

Toroa. Steamer. Owned by William Holyman & Son. Wrecked Bass Strait, 1916.[RW]

Torrens. Ship, 1276 tons. Built 1875.  Broken up, 1910. [LO]

Tower Hill. Brig. Last to see the missing schooner Nil Desperandum off Wilsons Promontory, 1870. [LWP]

Trader. Topsail schooner, wood, 45 tons. Built Launceston 1870. Captain Stanton.  Wrecked four miles east of Lorne, Victoria, 2 April 1889. All saved. She had a colourful career which included strandings at Warrnambool and St. Leonards.
In 1880, reported on the status of the wrecked Eric the Red, Victoria. [LE]
In August 1880, a schooner named Trader is reported to have stranded at  Warrnambool, Victoria; refloated on 4 September. [LO],[LLB]
In 1886, a vessel of this name was involved in collision with vessel Glengarry,  Point Gellibrand. [LV]
On 17 November 1888, left Melbourne to load lime at Sorrento, sank in a squall when opposite St. Leonards. Later raised. [WPP],[LC]

Trancoolah. Barque. Lost on the Ninety Mile Beach, 1884. [LV]

Tres Reyes Magos. See Santa Ysabel.

Trident. Ketch. Unregisstered. Captain Thompson. Sailing from Melbourne to the New Hebrides was lost in Oberon Bay, Gippsland coast, while sheltering from a gale, June 1904. Captain returned to Melbourne on SS Queencliff. He then returned to the wreck, refloated it, but again it was driven ashore, 23 June 1904. This time however, Thompson and his two crew dismantled the ketch, and waited for a passing ship. [LG],[LWP]

Trinculo. Barque, wood, 231 tons. Built at Quebec, 1863. Lbd 119 x 26.3 x 11.5 ft. Captain Williams. Sailing from King George’s Sound to Newcastle, met a heavy gale off Wilsons Promontory which forced her ashore at Stockyard Hill, on the Ninety Mile Beach, 40 km west of Lakes Entrance, Victoria, 30 May 1879. A crew member managed to get a line ashore. The captain swam ashore with his sixteen month old baby on his back, but after he was ‘dumped’ in the breakers, the child was unconscious when he reached the beach. Mrs Williams was also unconscious when she reached the shore, but she and the child both recovered. The remains of the Trinculo were visible on the beach for many years. [LG],[LV - 318 tons, lbd 138.1 x 23.7 x 14.4 ft]

Trio. Steamer. Stranded in Gippsland Lakes, Victoria, 1866. Apparently salvaged and returned to service.  [LG]

Triton. Brig. Stranded at Port Fairy, Victoria, 1853. [LO]

Trochurus. Steamship, tanker. Involved in rescue - see collier SS Vicky, 1956. [LG]

Truganina. (Truganini). Two masted wooden schooner, 62 tons. Built Hobart Town, 1839. Lbd 56.2 x 17.2 x 10 ft. Captain Thomas Griffiths. Bound from Portland to Hobart, sheltered in Lady Bay (Warrnambool) from rough weather, drifted on to rocks, wrecked, 2 December 1842. Crew and passengers reached shore. A small boat despatched to Melbourne was met by the steamer Seahorse outside Port Phillip Heads. [LO],[LLB - Truganini],[AS1]
Some records show her to be lost at Lady Bay, but it is believed that this could be Lady’s Bay, on the east side of Wilsons Promontory, now Sealers Cove.  [LPA],[LV]

Truganina. Vessel of 40 tons. Built 1846. Lbd 61 x 19 x 5.9 ft. Owned by Captain J. Lock. Trading from Westernport, Victoria. [LSS]

Trusty. Schooner, 61 tons. Built 1877. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1880s. Wrecked at Manning River, NSW, 1885.   [LPA]
On 20 March 1883, was tied up to the Nepean jetty, Port Phillip Heads, when she broke free in rough weather and went ashore. Her cargo of building bricks for the Nepean batteries, then under construction, had to be unloaded before she could br refloated a day later.
[LR] [LG],[WPH - 59 tons, built Dunedin, NZ, 1864, reg. Dunedin]

Tubal Cain. Ship, iron-framed, planked, 787/564 tons. Built at Liverpool, 1851.Captain Clarke. Immediately sank after collided with the ship Constance  200 miles west-southwest from Cape Otway, Victoria, 26 August 1862. Twelve crew drowned, including her captain; the only man saved was working in the rigging at the time of the collision and managed to leap on to the deck of the Constance. Captain Clarke, a popular and well-known figure in Melbourne shipping circles, caused wide regret; he  was 70 years of age and had indicated his intention to retire soon after the fateful voyage. [LO],[LV]

Tui. Cutter, 18 tons. Lost off Portland, Victoria, 1883. [LV]

Turbo. Fishing boat. Swamped off Ocean Grove, Victoria, 1992. [LO]

Twins. Ketch, 40 tons. Built 1880. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1880s. [LPA]

Twins. Schooner, 41 tons. Built 1849. Known to have operated in eastern Victoriaan waters in the 1850s. Wrecked Near Timor.  [LPA]
In 1858, a schooner of this name was involved in a rescue - see schooner Euphemia. [LG]

Tyro. Schooner, 53 tons. Built at Westernport, Victoria, 1877. Lbd 75 x 18 x 6.5 ft. Beached near Phillip Island, Victoria, 1906. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG],[LSS]

Uganda. Steamship, 5431 tons. Built 1898. Lbd 410 x 50.7 x 28.7 ft. [LSS]
In 1914, involved in collision with ss Coogee, Corio Bay, 1914. [LV]

Union. Brigantine, 251 tons. Built 1857. Disappeared at sea 1876. In 1868, was taking in water fast and sheltered in Refuge Cove, Wilsons Promontory, to make temporary repairs before making her destination of Melbourne.  [LPA]

Unique. Schooner. Captain Robinson. Struck the Port Albert bar but apparently escaped with only minor damage although some reports claimed she was lost, 1894.  [LPA]  Dragged her anchors and went on to Snake Island, Gippsland coast, where she became a total wreck, 24 July 1895. [LG]

Unity. Schooner, 28 tons. Built 1875. Lbd 70.7 x 16.9 x 4.6 ft. Captain Stafford. Run ashore  in a gale ‘on a narrow strip of beach’, wrecked, having left Apollo Bay for Melbourne, 12 July 1891. [LG],[ASR - built 1867, wrecked Sorrento, Vic, 1891].
In 1884, stranded at Apollo Bay. [LO]

Valiant. Schooner, 142 tons. Operated in the timber trade off Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s. Lost off Circular Head, Tasmania, 1868. [LWP]

Valmarie. Wooden schooner. Master  J. Harris. Stranded 25 kilometres north-east from the Port Albert entrance, Victoria, 30 September 1919.  [LPA],[LG]
Stranded on the Ninety Mile Beach, Gippsland coast, 1923. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Vanguard. Brigantine, 61 tons. Built 1839. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1840s. Disappeared at sea 1851.   [LPA]
In 1846, involved in rescue - see cutter Domain. [LG]

Venus. Paddle steamer, 9 tons. Burnt at Port Albert about 1863. [LV]

Veronica. Trawler. Missing off the otway coast, western Victoria, 1967. [LO]

Vicky. Coastal collier, steel, 760 tons. Built 1930; formerly named Caldare (Caldara); registered Panama. Lbd 165.5 x 36.6 x 11.2 ft. Captain Barrientos. From Sydney for Melbourne with coal, developed engine trouble in heavy seas, capsized and sank off Wilsons Promontory on 25 June 1956. Eight seamen lost their lives. She developed such a dangerous list that the crew could not lower the lifeboats and were forced to leap into the sea. The freighter King David, responding to her distress calls, made several unsuccessful attempts to take her in tow before she capsized. The King David picked up fourteen survivors including the master, and the tanker Trochurus also picked up three men, but two died soon after rescue. No trace was found of the remainder of the crew.
[LG],[LWP],[LV],[LAH]

Victoria Regina. Ship, 1942 tons. From Melbourne to Newcastle, collided with the vessel Persian Empire, also Melbourne to Newcastle, off Wilsons Promontory, five miles west of Hogans Island, 23 August 1887. The weather was fine and there was plenty of sea room. The Persian Empire suffered severe damage to her hull and rigging, but was patched and returned to Melbourne. The Victoria Regina continued her voyage. [LWP],[LG]]

Victoria Tower. Ship, 1750 gross. Built at Liverpool, 1869.  Lbd 247 x 40.1 x 23.7 ft. White Star Line. Captain Kerr. Ashore, wrecked,  near Bream Creek, near torquay, Victoria,  17 October 1869. Eighty-five days out from Liverpool, had run into dense fog soon after rounding Cape Otway and this had prevented an accurate estimate of her position. She struck without warning, the force driving the mainmast through her keel and breaking her back; drove broadside on to the sea about 400 yards from the shore. Most of the crew and forty passengers were still on board but as the sea calmed all were landed, using the ship’s boats and local fishing craft. Luggage and ship’s fittings were loaded on to the tug Titan.
[LO],[AS6],[LV],[NWR],[NSC],[LAH - iron barque],[DD],[DA]
@ The wreck is a popular recreational dive site, moreso at one stage when the adjacent shore became a nudist beach. She lies in seven metres maximum, some 150 metres offshore, and although well flattened, is an interesting dive.

Victoria. Barque, wood, 255 tons. Built at Greenpoint, New York in 1858 as the barque Catalina. Lbd 116.4 x 26.1 x 12 ft. Described as the best looking vessel ever seen at Port Albert. Missed the channel and went aground on the  the sands near Port Albert, 25 February 1863.   [LG],[LPA],[LV]

Victoria. HMVCS,  Government steam sloop, wooden, 580 tons.  Main armament six 32 pounders and one 32 pounder swivel gun.  Built on the Thames, England, 1855. Lbd 166 x 27 x 15 ft. Presented to the Australian colony by the British Government. Arrived Hobsons Bay from England in 1856. Spent 20 years employed by the Victorian Government, as a war ship, mainly searching for lost ships, and then in the 1870s, as a lighthouse tender and coastal survey ship, searching for lost ships once again, surveying unknown waters, laying cable, supplying remote lighthouses and finally finishing as a bay steamer.  Dismantled in 1895. [LE],[LPA],[LWP - broken up 1888],[LC]
In 1856, under Captain Norman, assisted the stranded ship Laurence Frost, Port Phillip.
In 1857, involved in collision with Black Eagle,  Footscray, Melbourne. [LV]
In 1857, located the floating wreckage of the schooner Amicus in Bass Strait and towed it to shore. [LR]
In 1863, involved in rescue -see barque Amazon, 1863. [LG]
In December 1863, driven from her anchorage, Port Phillip.  [LPH}
In 1873, assisted in rescue - see barque Anna, King Island. [LV]
In 1879, assisted the wrecked steamer Kerangie. [LG]
In 1880, searched for the missing barque Result, without result, literally. [LG]
In 1880, recovered wreckage from the ship Eric the Red, wrecked off Cape Otway. [LO],[#LE]

Victoria. Ketch, 28 tons. Lost in Bass Strait, 1908. [LV]

Victoria. Schooner, 40 tons. Built 1861. Operated in Victorian waters out of Melbourne. Disappears from Australian Shipping Register after 1874.  [LPA]

Victory. Schooner, 51 tons. Built at Hobart Town, 1853. Lbd 69 x 15.7 x 6.1 ft. Disappeared in a gale when bound from Lakes Entrance to Melbourne, 7 March 1866. A boat with the name Victory painted on was picked up near Point Nepean. She was lost in the same gale that destroyed the barque Mandarin, ketch Victory, and the schooners Pomona and Bitter Beer. [LG]

Victory. Schooner. While loading timber at Portland, Victoria, was blown ashore, wrecked, March 1857. No lives lost. [LO],[MM]

Village Belle. Brigantine/schooner ?, 127 tons. Operated in Victorian waters. Disappeared at sea, 1867.  [LPA]

Vincas. Tanker. Was being towed by the SS Paringa out of Western Port when the line parted in a gale of Wilsons Promontory.  Under a caretaker crew of four Chinese, the Vincas nearly drifted ashore on the Ninety Mile Beach near Metung, then after lying at anchor offshore for several weeks she was finally towed to Japan. The Paringa disappeared.  [LG],[LWP - drifted toward the Gippsland coast and dropped anchor near Lakes Entrance]
Metung is inland on the Gippsland Lakes, to the west of Lakes Entrance.

Violet. Cutter, 30 tons. Built 1864. Lost at Cape Schanck, Victoria, 22 February 1866. [LG],[LV gives date of 1866]

Violetta. No details are provided other than she was wrecked, and the ketch Phoenix built ‘from the wreck of the Violetta’, in Westernport, Victoria, 1866. [WPH]

Vision. Ketch, 24 tons. Built at Stockton, 1880. Lbd 54.6 x 13.8 x 5.1 ft. Cptain E. Jansson. Sprang a leak between Cape Schanck and Seal Rocks,  capsized,  9 July 1917. The crew rowed to shore in a boat but one man was drowned while landing. [LG]
In 1889, involved in collision with ship Sardomene off Warrnambool, Victoria. [LO]

Vixen. Steamer, wood, 34 tons. Built at Sydney, 1886. Lbd 58.8 x 15 x 5.6 ft. Had just left Cowes heading to Melbourne for repairs when she sank a short distance off shore, July 1918. No lives lost. [LG - indicates lost 1917]]

Vogtland. German ship - see British steamer Cambridge. [LSW]

W. B. Godfrey. Wooden barque or barquentine,  651 tons. Built at Greenock, Scotland, 1861, and originally named Min.  Purchased in 1888 by a syndicate of Hawaiian citizens for the Pacific Islands trade, and registered in Honolulu..  Lbd 174.5 x 29.8 x 19.3 ft. Captain Charles Davies. Out of  San Francisco with seven passengers and a cargo of timber  struck rocks west of Lorne, Victoria, where a small stream now known as the Godfrey River, enters the sea, 7 March 1891. Some 10,000 feet of limber was jettisoned but the vessel remained fast. The same evening, the ketch Jessie, on a voyage from Lorne to Apollo Bay, sighted the wreck and towed the passengers and crew to Lorne in a ship’s lifeboat. The Government steamer, Lady Loch, and the tug Racer, tried to free vessel and eventually, heavy weather lifted the hull almost onto the beach. On 18 April, a small dingy carrying five men engaged in salvage operations, capsized in rough seas drowning two. On 18 June another man drowned when heavy seas again capsized a boat from the Chittoor. Salvage work continued until September with the schooner Clara chartered to load the estimated 20,000 feet of timber still lying on the beach. Another two men drowned in this operation. The bodies of several men drowned remain buried beneath the present Great Oceans Road. [LO],[LV],[NWR],[NSC],[LAH],[DD],[IL]
@ A large windlass and anchor on shore embedded in rock and sand are all that remains visible at the site. A second anchor lies beyond the breaker line.
~ There is a headstone erected by the Country Roads Board near the site.

Wachtfels. See Wolf. [LSW]

Waimana. Auxiliary ketch. Built New Zealand,1899. Operated in NZ waters for five years, then came to the eastern Victorian coast. She was, apparently, a ‘cranky’ ship. Taken over by the Royal Australian Navy and ended her days operating in New Guinea waters.   [LPA]

Wallaby. A vessel of 285 tons. Joined the whalers out of Hobart town in 1839. Wrecked October 1851. [LSS]

Wanda. Steamer, wood, 29 tons. Built at Lake Tyers, Gippsland, 1902.  Lbd 46.8 x 9.4 x 4.6 ft. Renamed Dorothy, transsfered to Lake Colac, Victoria, where she was lost on a mudbank, possibly 1916. [LSS]

Wangrabelle. Schooner. Wrecked on the Snowy River bar, Gippsland coast, 1912.  [LG]

Wannon. Steamship. Stranded at Portland, Victoria, 1938. [LO]

Waratah.  Iron paddle steamer, 256 tons. When employed in the Melbourne-Launceston service, occasionally crossed the Gippsland Lakes then ran down to Port Albert.  Sold to overseas interests in 1867. [LPA]
In 1852, rendered assistance when the brig Mary Wilson was lost. [LG]
On 4 December 1852, stranded in Yarra, Melbourne. [WPP]

Warrego HMAS. Escort sloop, 1080 tons. Completed in 1940. Paid off in 1963 and broken up 1965-66 . In 1940, involved in minesweeping operations in Bass Strait. [LSW]

Water Lily. Schooner, 51 tons. Captain McDougall. Bound from Port MacDonnell to Port Pirie, drifted ashore on the southwest point of Griffiths Island, Port Fairy, 26 June 1876. All saved. [LO]
On 23 November 1857, a squall drove her ashore north of the Queencliff jetty, but was refloated next day. [LR],[WPP]
MacKenzie [MM] indicates that on 25 December 1866, a small schooner of this name drifted in to Port Fairy, having been abandoned ten days earlier.

Waterman. Schooner, 113 tons. Built 1867; reg Melbourne. Lost 1871. [ASR]

Waterwitch.. Schooner, 100 tons. Built 1831. Known to have operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1840s. Disappeared at sea 1846.   [LPA]

Wave. Schooner, 63 tons. Ashore in Lady Bay, 24 August 1864. [LLB]

Wave. Two masted wooden schooner, 66 tons. Built Manning River, NSW, 1841. Lbd 50.6 x 15 x 8.7 ft. Captain F. Marsh. With a cargo of stone from Refuge Cove to improve the roads north from Port Albert, Victoria, to the goldfields, was totally wrecked on the East Bank as she approached the port, 11 December 1859.  [LG],[LSS],[LPA],[LV]
On 13 October 1846, under Captain George Warcus,  driven on to the beach at Port Fairy. Ten passengers reached safety along a line. She was refloated a fortnight later only slightly damaged. [LO],[AS1]

Wear.  Steel steamer, 1892 tons. Built 1911. Sunk in collision off the New South Wales coast in 1944. Brief mention, [LSW]

Wellington. Ketch, 49 tons. Built 1884. Operated in eastern victorian waters in the 1890s. Sold to overseas interests 1966.   [LPA]
In 1898, a ketch of this name, Captain Catarnish, stranded at Breamlea, Victoria, 7 December 1898. Later refloated. [LO],[DD]

Wendouree. Steel steamer of 1639 tons,. Lbd 273.8 x 36.4 x 19.3 ft. [LH]
In 1890, involved in rescue - see SS Riverina. [LG]
On 17 February 1884, grounded between Waterloo Point and the Wilsons Promontory lighthouse. She was lost on the Oyster bank at Newcastlee in July 1898. [LWP]

Wentworth Steamer, 956 tons. Built 1873. Captain Paddle. Collided with  brig Rebecca Jane (qv) off  Wilsons Promontory, 1876 .  Lost near Bowen, Queensland, 1887. [LG],[LWP]

Western Spruce. Survey ship, steel, 400 tons. Built at New Orleans. Owned by Western Geophysical Co. And under contract to Esso-BHP when lost.  Burnt out after a series of explosions as she was taking on liquid oxygen from a road tanker at the Port Welshpool jetty, Gippsland coast, 22 March 1969. Three men were killed and twenty injured. At the peak of the fire, two men risked their lives to cut the ship’s moorings and she drifted about half a nautical mile out on the tide before grounding on a sandbar near Snake Island, where she was completely burnt out. The hulk lay rusting in the shallows until purchased and dismantled in June 1970.
[LG],[LPA - 160 ton seismic survey ship],[LPW],[LV],[LAH]

Western. Cutter, 15 tons. Built at Port Fairy, Victoria, 1870. Broken up Port Fairy, June, 1895. [ASR]

Western.  Iron steamer, 424 tons. Built at Newcastle, England, 1861.  Finished her days as a collier and was hulked in 1910. [LPA]

Westoe Hall. Steel steamship, 4241 tons. Lbd 369.5 x 51 x 26 ft. Visited Corio Bay to load wheat in 1916. Sunk by a German submarine, February 1917. [LC]

White Squall. Brigantine, 104 tons. Wrecked in the Kent Group, eastern Bass Strait, 14 June 1851. All 26 passengers and crew rescued.  [LG], [LV]

Wild Wave. Brig, 180 tons. Built 1858; reg Melbourne. Lost 1873. [ASR]

Wilhilmina. Barque. Renamed Macclesfield prior to being wrecked, 1860. [LG]

Will Watch. Two masted schooner, 63 tons. Built Sydney 1840. Lbd 52.3 x 15.6 x 8.6 ft. Captain Thomas Doyle. Whilst loading for Sydney, parted her cables in a storm and stranded at Portland, Victoria, 22 November 1846. [LO],[AS1],[LPA - schooner, built 1844, sold to overseas interests],[MM]
In 1841, a vessel of this name was involved in rescue - see paddle steamer Clonmel. [LG]

William Miskin.  Iron steamer, 142 tons. Built in 1852.  Sold to New Zealand interests and wrecked there in 1868. [LPA]

William. Brig, 149 tons. Built 1845. Operated in eastern Victorian waters in the 1840s. Wrecked in the South Pacific.  [LPA]

William. Cutter, 33 tons. Built at Port Sorell, Tasmania, 1844; reg. Launceston, then Melbourne 1/1848, and Geelong on 15 August. Anchored in Loutit Bay, Cape Otway, loading timber for Geelong when heavy seas parted her anchors and she drifted on to the beach, 1849. She remained upright in the sand until refloated, and sailed back to Geelong for repairs. [LO]
On 18 June 1850, stranded at Apollo Bay, Victoria. She was refloated a few days later. [LG],[AS1]

Windsor Park. Ship. Stranded near Cliffy Island east of Wilsons Promontory, 1910. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Windward. Ketch, 49 tons. Built 1876. Operated to Victoria in the 1880s. Wrecked Tamar Heads, Tasmania, 1890.  [LPA]

Wolf. Single screw steamship, 5809 tons. Built 1913 as the Wachtfels.Used as a German raider in WW1. Left Kiel on 30 November 1916 and during a cruise lasting fourteen months she destroyed 38391 tons of shipping, and mines laid by her accounted for a further 73988 tons. After successfully evading the British blockade she returned to grmany in February 1918. After the war she was transferred to British, then French ownership. She was responsible for laying mines off Gabo Island during winter months of 1917, and managed to contrinute to the loss of SS Cumberland, 15 July 1917. She was also responsible for the loss of four steaamships in New Zealand waters: freighters Wairuna and Port Kembla, the trans Tasman liner Wimmera and the American four-masted schooner Winslow. She survived the war, and given to the French as reparationss, calling at Geelong in 1921. Finished her days as the Antinous.   [LSS],[#LSW],[MGV],[LC]

Wollomai. Brig or brigantine, 143 tons. Built 1876. Lbd 107.6 x 23.6 x 9.5 ft. Captain O'Neill. Ashore in a gale, wrecked,  Mounts Bay, near the Henty Reef, about two miles south of Apollo Bay, Victoria, 4 June 1923. Rocket crew assisted with the rescue of crew and passengers. All saved.
[LO],[LSS],[LV - brigantine]

Wonga Wonga. Iron screw steamer.  Built England for Australian Steam Navigation Company. [WL]
In 1859, involved in rescue - see schooner Margaret Nichol, lost off Gabo Island, 1859. [LV],[LG]

Wongala. Auxiliary schooner, 452 tons. Built at Hong Kong, 1954. [LSS]

Wongrabelle. Type unknown. Ashore on Gippsland coast, 1909. Apparently salvaged and returned to service. [LG]

Wybia. Steamer. Searched in vain for the missing schooner Amelia J., 1920. [LG]

Wyreema.  Steel steamer, 6338 tons. Built at Glasgow, Scotland, 1908.  A.U.S.N.Co. Sold to Brazilian government in 1926, and renamed Dom Pedro I. Reported wrecked in 1927.
In 1918, reported mines adrift off Victorian coast. [LSW],[DG]

Xarifa. Brig, 208 tons.  Known to have operated in the timber trade around Wilsons Promontory in the 1850s. Ownership transfered to Montrose, Scotland, 1858. [LWP]

Yarra Yarra. Schooner. Built 1837. Disappeared in Bass Strait, 1838.  [LPA]

Yarra Yarra. Steamship. Towed the stricken schooner Richard & Ann into Waterloo Bay, Wilsons Promontory, 1855. [LG]

Yarra. Brigantine, 141 tons. Built Hobart 1850. Lbd 88.3 x21.7 x 10 ft. Captain Shealer. Her anchors parted in a heavy swell causing her to drifted across Lady Bay, Victoria, out of control, first colliding with SS Dawn, before grounding east of the jetties, October, 1882. Broke up the following day, and was later dynamited to remove all obstacle. The Dawn was only superficially damaged. [LO],[LPA],[LLB],[#MM],[LV]

Yarra. Norwegian freighter, steamship, 5103 tons. Built in 1910. Lbd 410 x 54 x 26.4 ft. On Christmas Eve, 1922, the barque Muscoota (qv) tore into the steamer when off Wilsons Promontory.  The sharp steeel bows of the barque tore through the steamer. For several minutes the two vessels ground together tearing out rigging, railings and deck fittings, and putting a huge hole in the steamer’s funnel. In spite of the damage, both vessels were able to proceed unaided, the Yarra arriving in Honsons Bay on 27 December 1922. It appears from the inquiry that the Yarra was at fault.  [#LWP],[LG],[LV - indicates collision in 1921]

Yarra. Sloop, 37 tons.  Out of Melbourne, disappeared without trace, 1877. [LV]

Yoneyama Maru. See steamship Cloncurry.

Yorkwood. Steamship, 5401 tons. Called at Geelong on her maiden voyage on 4 March 1937. Torpedoed and sunk off Brazil, 8 January 1943. [LC]

Young Australia. Steamer. Involved in salvage - see brig Lady Harvey, 1854.

Young Australia. Three-masted schooner, wood, 130 tons. Captain W. Whitfield. Ashore at Curdie’s Inlet, Victoria, wrecked, 25 May 1877. From Maryborough, Queendland to Adelaide with a cargo of rum and sugar; when off Cape Nelson, she was caught in rough weather which carried away her rigging, causing the fore top mast to fall, springing the foremast. One of the crew endeavoured to reach the shore with a line, but was drowned. [LO],[LE],[#MM - wrecked 28 May],[LV]

Zephyr. Brigantine, 100 tons. Wrecked on Craggy Island near Kent Group, eastern Bass Strait, 14 July 1882. Crew rescued by ketch Coral which was delivering stores to the Deal island lighthouse. [LV]
A vessel by this nme was stranded at Swan Spit, Port Phillip, 30 July 1857. [WPP]

Zingari. Steamer, 150 tons. Captain Milltown. Operated in New Zealand waters from 1855, then came to Victoria for the gold rush in 1857.

UNIDENTIFIED
Vessels are listed in chronological order of posssible loss of the vessel, or the discovery of its wreckage..

Unidentified. 1800s. A mysterious wreck creating interest in the 19th  century lay about two miles west of Warmambool, Victoria. It was a vessel estimated to be about 300 tons, and was believed by many to be the remains of an early whaler.  [LO]

Unidentified. 1800s. Possibly a French barque, supposed lost 19th century in Waratah Bay, Gippsland coast.

Unidentified. 1841. Possibly a French whaler.  A large quantity of wreckage was found on 10 March 1841 on the beach near Port Fairy, Victoria, but judging by its condition it seemed probable that the vessel may have been lost during the winter storms of 1840. A party from Portland which searched the beach, found vast quantities of candles and the page from a French nautical almanac, dated 1838, along with other pieces which led local authorities to assume she was a French whaler of about 400 tons.   [LO], [LV]
Also listed:
Unidentified. 1841. Wreckage found at the mouth of the Fitzroy River, western Victoria, January 1841. Two years later Captain Irvine of the Fox reported that he had exchanged signals with a French whaler off Kangaroo Island,  and saw her again off Cape Northumberland.  [AS1],[MM]

Unidentified. 1847. A vessel of about 300 tons was found two miles west of Warrnambool in October 1847. [LV]

Unidentified. 1877. Wreckage identified as the side of a ship, about 40 ft, was found off Castle Cove, west of Cape Otway, October 1877. Around the same time, part of a deck with deckhouse attached was washed ashore near Apollo Bay, Victoria, and further wreckage was picked up at Mt. St George near Lorne. The vessel has never been identified. [LV]

Unidentified. 1879. Burnt pieces of a ship were picked up at Fitzroy River east of Portland in November 1879. [LV]

Unidentifed. 1913. In May 1913, while attempting to locate the sunken grab punt Dandenong off Phillip Island, diver Beckett came across an old wreck at a depth of about 34 metres. It appeared to be a ship with a beam of almost 40 feet, and some of the timbers which seemed to be of oak measured 12 inches wide and 8 inches thick. Old residents recalled the discovery of several skeletons in the sand hills opposite the wreck many years earlier. [LG]

Unidentified. 1935. Barge. Lost at Moonlight Head, Victoria, June 1935. Had been under tow from Adelaide for the Geelong Harbour Trust when it broke adrift in heavy weather. [LO],[LH],[LV]

Unidentified. 1955. There was great excitement at Woodside in South Gippsland one day in 1955 when a Woodside-Burmah Oil Company work crew uncovered the remains of an old wreck while cutting a road through the sand dunes. CSIRO identified the timber as American red pine but no carbon dating or further excavations were carried out. Possibly portion of the big wooden ship Eric The Red which struck a reef off Cape Otway in 1880, broke up, and drifted ashore at many points along the Victorian coast.  [LG],[LPA]

Unidentified. 1968. A cannon was discovered on the seabed off Apollo Bay. It was later classified as a carronade, contructed in Carron, Scotland, but from what vessel it came from has not been determined. [LSS]

Unidentified. 1972.  The remains of the hull of a large wooden sailing vessel were found off Point Hicks in  September 1972. [LG]

Unidentified. 1975. A wreck liying on the sloping south-west side of Anser Island, Wilsons Promontory, in 3 to 35 metres has not been identified. See 'Anser Island' wreck. [DUP]

Unidentified. Pre-1800.  The bow and portion of the starboard side of a ship more than 100 feet long was discovered by bushwalkers at South-East Cape, west from the Wilsons Promontory lighthouse in 1960. Analysis of her kauri timbers suggested they came from Queensland, Indonesia or New Zealand, whilst the iron recovered could have been manufactured in Birmingham, England before 1800. Some of the kauri planks measured forty five feet in length by two feet in width, and the vessel appeared to be double planked suggesting that the vessel may have been built for navigation through the ice.  [LG],[LAH],[LV]