The Wreck of the SS Grace Darling

Further to The SS Grace Darling, I took these two photos of the wreck site late in 2025: -

 

This was my photo of the site back in 2019: -

The Wreck of the Glaucus

The 1363-gross ton, iron-hulled screw steamer Glaucus was built at Sunderland, England in 1878. Its measurements were 238.5 feet in length, breadth 34.2 feet and depth 18 feet.

It transferred from international routes to the Australian coastal run in the early 1880s. By 1927, the Glaucus was laid up at Williamstown, Victoria as a barley store. The owners decided to break the vessel up by 1934. It was being dismantled in the Portland Canal in Port Adelaide (Ethelton) in 1934 when it was accidentally holed. It was then towed to the Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River.

The Glaucus’ bow section is completely missing, but the intact stern post and rudder make the vessel easily identifiable. Nathan Richards took this photo of the wreck in 1997: -

This photo of mine was taken in 2019: -

I took these two photos of the wreck in late 2025: -

The Wreck of the Gem

The composite vessel* PS Gem was a double-ended paddle steamer built in Melbourne in 1868 for the ferry service between Port Melbourne and Williamstown.

* (Hardwood and NZ kauri.)

(This photo come from Erica-Jane Miller's  2018 Honours thesis - "Treasured Collections -MEMORIES, SHIP MEMORABILIA AND CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PEOPLE AND GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD. It shows the wheelhouse of the Murray River paddlesteamer of the same name, NOT to be confused with the double-ended PS Gem paddle steamer built in Melbourne in 1868 for the ferry service between Port Melbourne and Williamstown. See the difference in the photo here below.)

(This photo comes from Nathan Richards' 1997 thesis "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD, NORTH ARM OF THE PORT ADELAIDE RIVER, PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.")

The 145-gross ton vessel was equipped with oscillating engines and measured 129.4 feet in length, 17.8 feet breadth and 8.4 feet depth. In 1906, the Gem ended its ferrying days and was moored in the old course of the Yarra River where its engines were used for pumping silt from hopper barges into a reclamation area at Hobson’s Bay. It was towed to Port Adelaide in 1911, and a centrifugal pump was installed to remove silt from hopper barges as fill for the new No.2 Dock being built in Port Adelaide.

After the building of No.2 Dock, the Gem’s engines, wheelhouse and paddles were all removed, the funnels cut down and the hull was used as a pontoon bridge. The Gem then became a floating footbridge when a gangway was built across the superstructure and the vessel was moored across the entrance to the new dock. It now served as a floating footbridge for workers: -

(Both of those photos come from Nathan Richards' 1997 thesis "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD, NORTH ARM OF THE PORT ADELAIDE RIVER, PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA".)

In 1927, when the dock had been deepened and widened, the Gem was removed and laid up at the Glanville Dockyard. It was later towed to the Garden island Ships’ Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River and broken up for firewood.

(Both of those photos come from Nathan Richards' 1997 thesis "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD, NORTH ARM OF THE PORT ADELAIDE RIVER, PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA".)

I am hoping that these photos of mine show the Gem in late 2025 (but that seems unlikely): -

The Wreck of the Garthneill

The steel-hulled, three-masted barque Garthneill was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1895 as the Inverneill. The 1470 gross-ton vessel measured 238 feet in length, 36 feet breadth and 21.7 feet depth.

This photo of the Garthneill in Port Adelaide in 1928 comes from Nathan Richards' 1997 thesis "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD, NORTH ARM OF THE PORT ADELAIDE RIVER, PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA": -

This photo of the helm from the Garthneill comes from Nathan Richards’ 2002 thesis “Deep Structures: An Examination of Deliberate Watercraft Abandonment in Australia”: -

The Garthneill was decommissioned in 1926 and was converted to an electric barley-grading plant and storeship (a grading or grain mill/silo). This photo comes from Nathan Richards’ 2002 thesis “Deep Structures: An Examination of Deliberate Watercraft Abandonment in Australia”: -

It was later demolished (in 1935) when most fittings were removed at the Cable Company wharf in Port Adelaide. It was then towed to Garden Island where the bow plates were cut away and holed for and aft by explosives.

The figurehead from the Garthneill is now on display at the South Australian Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide: -

This photo of the Garthneill  by Mark Staniforth comes from Nathan Richards' 1997 thesis "THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE GARDEN ISLAND SHIPS’ GRAVEYARD, NORTH ARM OF THE PORT ADELAIDE RIVER, PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA": -

This is how the Garthneill looked in late 2025: -

 

The Wreck of the Enterprise

The iron-hulled, schooner-rigged screw steamer Enterprise was built in 1868. Its original measurements were length 49.6 feet, breadth 11.4 feet and depth 5.6 feet. It was lengthened in 1872 to 78.7 X 12.5 X 5.2 feet, giving it a gross tonnage of 36 tons.

The vessel was de-registered in 1913 before working as a water-tender carting fresh water supplies to vessels at anchor for a short time. It was eventually abandoned at the Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River around August 1913.

Mark Staniforth took this photo of the Enterprise’s remains hidden among the mangroves: -

 

Taken in 1997, it shows the "Enterprise prop with weld" 

The late Terry Arnott took a similar photo of the Enterprise sometime before 1999 that features in the “Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail” booklet. The caption for his photo says, “The hull is basically complete along its length with an intact stern section”.

I am hoping that this recent photo of mine shows the Enterprise as it is today (late 2025): -

The Leprena Wreck (1964)

The 1912-built Leprena was a wooden, two-masted fishing trawler that was wrecked off Port Moorowie on the Yorke Peninsula on 12th February 1964. (It should not be confused with the schooner Leprena that was wrecked off Tasmania in 1925.)

The fishing trawler Leprena was destroyed by fire in 1964, and her crew of six were lost. The fire had started in the engine room, and the vessel sank after several dramatic explosions.

The wreck site of the Leprena was ‘discovered’ around 1995 when Kym Bray revealed its location to the Department of Environment’s State Heritage Branch. The wreck was found 30m off an isolated beach between Black Hill and Port Moorowie.

According to a post on the Heritage South Australia Facebook page in April 2021, “Leprena was built by Phillip B. Forbes at Lake Maquarie (NSW) and launched under the name Forbes Bothers in 1912. On 12 February 1964 an electrical fault in the engine room caused a fire and explosion. The crew abandoned ship 3 miles off Port Moorowie, rowing ashore in a dinghy and skiff. Later the same evening, the gutted hull came ashore near Port Moorowie.

“Today, the site is mostly covered with sand. Visible remains include the frames and planking on the starboard stern of the hull, and the engine mounting that also possibly housed the propellor shaft. The wreck lies parallel to shore, bow pointing west, about 30-35 m from shore.”

There are some images of the wreck site and some remains of the wreck on the Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database web page.

The Facebook post features a wonderful photo of the Leprena from the Gifford Chapman collection: -

 

The Leprena as a trading ketch

(Image courtesy of the Kingston (Southeast) branch of the National Trust of SA)

 This photo of the Leprena was taken at the Port Victoria jetty: -

 

Garry Keywood wrote this piece about the stranding of the ketch Forbes Brothers in 1931 as part of his “First Impressions – A story of Coffin’s Bay and Vicinity”: -

 

According to “Shipwrecks of South Australia – A Data Base (1802- 1989)” by Peter Christopher, the dimensions of the Leprena were 105 tons, 93/23/7 feet (92.8 x 22.8 x 6.6). Those became the dimensions when the Forbes Brothers was lengthened and renamed in 1938.

According to the State Library of South Australia, “'Leprena' wooden schooner at Port Adelaide [wooden 2 mast ketch 143 tons ON131506. 70 gross, 67 net tons. 75.0 x 22.5 x 6.8. Built 1912 Philip B Forbes, Lake Macquarie, NSW and registered at Port Adelaide in 1923, having formerly been owned in Melbourne. Lengthened and renamed 'Leprena' in May 1938 = 105 gross, 85 net tons. 92.8 x 22.8 x 6.6. Requisitioned by Commonwealth Government during WW2 but returned to commercial service in 1946. Ultimately became a fishing vessel and was destroyed by fire off Port Moorowie, SA Feb. 12, 1964. See 'Ketches of South Australia' Parsons, 1978]”

According to “'Ketches of South Australia” by Ronald Parsons, the Forbes Brothers/Leprena was an auxiliary ketch. Its 30bhp auxiliary engine could ‘sail’ at a speed of 6 knots.

Wrecks 1 - 22 in the Garden Island Ships' Graveyard

In December 2025, I attempted to photograph each wreck in the Garden Island Ships' Graveyard in the North Arm of the Port River. My aim was to be able to capture the current state of each individual wreck. Separating the wrecks from each other, however, can be tricky at best. I thought that, if I just took one photo of each wreck that I came across, I would achive my aim. Putting that into practice was harder than it sounds, especially when it came to attempting to identify each of my photos. I cannot claim to have been able to identify each wreck accurately. There are quite likely some discrepancies with my identifications, but it is the best that I could do. Let us see how it turned out.

The first photo taken features the site of some of the artefacts from the Seminole: -

The Seminole was a woodsen-hulled, three-masted barque of 1511 gross tons. It was built in 1865.

These next two photos are my attempts to photograph the Seminole wreck site, although the wreck is completely submerged : -

I had another go at photographing the Seminole wreck site on my return: -

I was also able to photograph some of the artefacts from the Seminole again on my return: -

The Sunbeam wreck and boiler came next: -

The Sunbeam  was an iron-hulled, three-masted barque of 443 tons gross and built in 1857.

Next came the 'Unidentified Wooden Barge': -

The 'Unidentified Wooden Barge' was followed by the 'Unidentified Hopper Barge/Dredge' (behind the 'Unidentified Wooden Barge') : -

It was followed by the Killarney and its boiler: -

The Killarney was a wooden-hulled screw steamer built circa. 1910.

I photographed the Enterprise after the Killarney: -

The Enterprise was an iron-hulled screw steamer  of 36 tons gross built in 1868.

This 'Unidentified Iron Pontoon' (next to the Lady Daly) came next: -

The Lady Daly should be the next wreck on the list, but I seem to have jumped to what I am calling the Gem in these next three photos: -

The Gem was a composite-hulled paddle steamer of 145 tons gross and built in 1868.

The Sarnia is behind the Gem. I am suggesting that both of these two photos are of the Sarnia: -

The Sarnia was a composite-hulled dredge of 180 tons gross built in 1878.

The Moe comes next: -

The Moe was an iron-hulled three-masted barque of 765 tons gross built in 1876.

Next was another 'Unidentified Iron Pontoon' which sits on top of the Moe: -

The 'Unidentified Iron Pontoon' was placed on top of the Moe to prevent it from drifting any more: -

I believe that I photographed the Grace Darling in these next two photos: -

The Grace Darling was a steel-hulled screw steamer of 622 tons gross buiolt in 1907.

The next wreck was the Flinders: -

The Flinders was an iron-hulled screw steamer of 948 tons gross built in 1878.

The Juno wreck came next: -

The Juno was asteel-hulled screw steamer of 241 tons gross built in 1903.

Next wreck was the Mangana: -

The Mangana was an iron-hulled screw steamer of 752 tons gross built in 1876. 

The Garthneill wreck came next: -

The Garthneill was a steel-hulled, three masted barque of 1470 tons gross built in 1895.

The Glaucus wreck was next: -

The Glaucus was an iron-hulled screw steamer of 1363 tons gross built in 1878.

These next two photos feature the 'Unidentified Iron Dredge': -

I didn't know just what this last item was at all: -

I was not intending to include the Santiago and Dorothy H Sterling in this exercise where I aimed to separate the jumble of wrecks in the main two groups.

I missed one of the pontoons on the way, so I photographed it on my return: -

I think that this pontoon is the one next to the Flinders.

I photographed some of the wrecks during my return, but I was losing my way a little by then. I have, however, identified this wreck as the Glaucus: -

These next four photos show some 'group' shots of some of the wrecks: -

I now had to leave my kayak to search in the mangroves for the Thomas and Annie wreck: -

Although I continued to take a few more photographs, I had completed my aims at this stage. I had hoped that I had managed to document each of the wrecks, pontoons and boilers in the main two groups (the main accumulation) of wrecks in the graveyard. The one obvious omission was that of the Lady Daly, something that I hope to be able to rectify another time.