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The 400-ton ship George the Third sailed from England on 12 December 1834 carrying 220 convicts bound for Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania).   When less than 80kms from their destination at Hobart, tragedy struck with terrible loss of life.   On Sunday 12 April 1835 the George III  made land at South Cape, the southernmost point of Tasmania around 11am.   By earlyContinue reading “The Tragic Loss of George III – 1835“

The 1750-ton steel-hulled fully-rigged ship Grace Harwar was launched in Glasgow in 1889 and for the next 45 years, she crossed the world’s oceans carrying all manner of bulk cargoes.    She was well known to Australian mariners and dockworkers regularly taking on coal, grain and other goods bound for distant ports.  Despite her majestic lines and presence, she gained aContinue reading “The Windjammer Grace Harwar 1889 – 1935”

As anyone knows who has ventured across to K’Gari (formerly Fraser Island) the wreck of the old luxury passenger liner SS Maheno makes an imposing presence on the long sandy beach which serves as the island’s main highway. Swept ashore during a cyclone in 1935 on her way to a Japanese scrapyard, the Maheno was once one of the fastestContinue reading “S.S. Maheno (1905 – 1935)”