In May 1797 a fishing party returned to Sydney with more than their daily catch. They had found three shipwreck survivors south of Botany Bay who told them that the merchant ship Sydney Cove had been wrecked somewhere far to the south. The survivors had trekked over 600 kms seeking help for their crewmates whoContinue reading “The Loss of the Sydney Cove – 1797”
Category Archives: New South Wales
The Loss of HMS Sirius – 1790
The loss of a ship is always a tragedy, especially so if there is also loss of life. But sometimes a shipwreck can have a profound effect beyond the actual loss of the vessel. Such was the case in 1790 when HMS Sirius was wrecked off Norfolk Island. HMS Sirius sailed from Portsmouth on 13Continue reading “The Loss of HMS Sirius – 1790”
The Life and Loss of HMSC MERMAID
Between 1818 and 1820 the small cutter HMSC Mermaid played an important role in charting Australia’s vast coastline. So, it is perhaps ironic that her last voyage should have been cut short on an uncharted reef off the north Queensland coast. The Mermaid was an 84-ton cutter launched in Calcutta in 1816. She arrived inContinue reading “The Life and Loss of HMSC MERMAID”
Matthew Flinders and the loss of HMS Porpoise – 1803
Shortly after Matthew Flinders completed his historic circumnavigation of Australia he was farewelled from Sydney to return to England as a passenger onboard HMS Porpoise. To everyone’s astonishment, he returned a month later to report the loss of that ship and another on a reef far out in the Coral Sea. HMS Porpoise, under theContinue reading “Matthew Flinders and the loss of HMS Porpoise – 1803”
The Dunbar Tragedy – 1857
The loss of the Dunbar in August 1857 was one of the more tragic and distressing shipwrecks to occur in Australian waters. On the morning of Friday 21 August people living in Sydney’s East awoke to find wreckage and mutilated bodies dotted along the rugged coast and inside the harbour mouth. A large ship hadContinue reading “The Dunbar Tragedy – 1857”
Tales from the Quarterdeck 