The ‘Wreck’ of the Tam O’Shanter

The 360-ton barque Tam O’Shanter was built in North Hylton, County Durham, England in 1829. In 1836, Osmond Gilles chartered it for the migrant fleet of ships carrying the first settlers to South Australia. It was involved in transporting emigrants and provisions and is credited with being one of the first ships to reach South Australia.

There is an 1836 drawing of the Tam O’Shanter, thought to be done by J.M. Skipper, in “The South Australian Colonizing Ships of 1836” by L.J. Ewens (1962).

It ran aground in 1836 and was later wrecked in 1837 when it ran aground again off Tasmania. According to Wikipedia, it “ran aground in 1837, off Tasmania and was considered a write-off.”

Of the voyage to South Australia, Wikipedia says, “In 1836, Tam O'Shanter, (Captain) Whiteman Freeman, master, accompanied HMS Buffalo on the trip, with (Osmond) Gilles travelling on Buffalo. They left London on 29 July, arriving at Kingscote on 20 November. They then entered Holdfast Bay, but ran aground when they tried to enter Port River. Tam O’Shanter ran aground on 19 December* 1836, was refloated on 23 December, and was beached.”

* (According to “The South Australian Colonizing Ships of 1836” by L.J. Ewens (1962), “On 18^th December she endeavoured to enter the Port by Light’s passage, but, whilst manoeuvring to enter, fouled the Outer Bar at the entrance, broke a cable in trying to haul off, and grounded. Receiving assistance from the Rapid, and lightening ship, Capt. Freeman succeeded four days later in getting off and up the river, the two ships moving in together. ….. The Tam O’Shanter had a damaged rudder, and her hull was strained, so repairs became necessary. These were undertaken by Capt. Philip Mitchell, who had taken command, and she was laid on the side of the river for repair by Daniel Simpson, ship-builder. ….. The land battery of guns on board the Tam O’Shanter was removed to the lighten the ship when she grounded, ….. Seven months afterwards, on completion of the repairs, the Tam O’Shanter again sailed to Holdfast Bay from the Port River, and  on 16^th August, 1837, cleared for Sydney, …. A week later, meeting with heavy weather in Bass Strait, she began to leak badly. Having some seven feet of water in the hold, she put about to make for Launceston, but became waterlogged, and was beached in a bay near Georgetown, and was later sold …..

Of the wrecking off Tasmania, Wikipedia says, “Tam O’Shanter was wrecked on 30 August 1837, on the north coast of (then) Van Diemen's Land, 16 nautical miles (30 km) east of the mouth of the Tamar River. She was on a voyage from South Australia to Sydney.

Unfortunately, “Sagas of Steam and Sail” by Neil W. Cormack says that the Tam O’Shanter ran aground as she entered the Port Adelaide River Estuary on August 29^th, 1837, but this was the time when the ship was probably entering Tasmania’s Tamar River before becoming waterlogged and beached there.

In a strange twist, there was another vessel called Tam O’Shanter that was twice damaged in the Port River. This vessel, however, was a 15-ton cutter. It is listed in “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base (1802-1989)” by Peter Christopher as having been ‘wrecked’ in the Port River  on 7^th May 1880. Said to have been built in Port Adelaide in 1879, its dimensions are given as having been 45 X 12 X 5.

According to Passengers in History , the cutter Tam O’Shanter was built in 1879 at Port Adelaide. Its tonnage was 15 tons, and its dimensions were 44.8 x 11.9 x 4.8. Of its demise, Passengers in History says “J.McBeath, reg. Port Adelaide. 1880 May 7: Ran upon a broken pile near the entrance of the Port River and foundered. Raised a week later. 1891 June 8: Beached between No.1 & 2 beacons in the Port River following a collision with the Lund (owned) steamer Echuca. 1935: Register closed, broken up.”

The Wreck of the MV Victoria

I recently came across a photo of the MV Victoria on The Surf Chasers’ Facebook page. It came with the comments, “1934 Tunkalilla beach. MV “Victoria”. They never managed to get it of the beach The wreck is still under the water there somewhere.”

David Hooper added the comments, “The tents on the beach and the flying fox were all there for the salvage.” Tim Parsons shared an image taken from seaward, commenting, “MV Victoria was dismantled piece by piece and taken ashore by a salvage company. No mean feat considering the vessel weighed 2500 tons. The image taken from seaward gives a better indication of where on the beach she was stranded. I have viewed satellite images that suggest only parts of the very bottom of the ship may remain. I surveyed the entire beach with side scan from just outside the impact zone on a very calm day. I was getting a pretty good image of the bottom right to the shore pound but could not distinguish any wreckage . The loss of the MV Victoria was attributed to poor visibility caused by a severe dust storm.”

Philip Reiffel commented, “I went to that site in the 80s, the boiler was exposed. That vessel broke up quite quickly!”

According to “South Australian Shipwrecks – A Data Base (1802-1989)” by Peter Christopher, the 4500-ton MV Victoria was wrecked off Tunkalilla Beach on 7^th October 1934. The 1928-built steel ship measured 384 feet in length, 54 feet in width and a depth of 24 feet. Its cargo was 6300 tons of superphosphate.

According to Weekend Notes, “5 October 1934, the Danish ship M.V. Victoria ran aground near Tunkalilla Beach. Carrying thirty crew and two passengers, the vessel was transporting 5700 tonnes of phosphate from the Pacific island of Makatea to Wallaroo. According to the records, the six-year-old ship hit the sand and rocks about 50 metres from the shore, after failing to see the lights during a storm, at around 10:30pm. Tugboats from Port Adelaide attempted to move the 117-metre long ship from the sand, but were unable to move the 4,500 tons of steel before the boat sprang a leak. Captain Jacobsen called abandon ship soon after, on the Sunday afternoon.”

Further, following a photo of the shipwreck, “Captain J. G. Arnold was subsequently awarded the contract for the salvage work on the Victoria. A team of salvage workers, living in tents on the beach, worked day and night in six-hour shifts to remove the debris. A flying fox and winches were used to retrieve equipment from the vessel. The salvage operation was difficult, the engine room was filled with water to a depth of 5 metres, which required substantial pumping to enable the salvage work to continue. Due to the steep gradient of the surrounding land, tractors were used to remove the salvaged goods, which were then sent to Port Adelaide in heavy motor trucks. An emergency steering wheel and siren were sent to the Port Adelaide Maritime museum from the wreck, which lays parallel to the shore, just past the break.”

There are two photos of the wreck on the Weekend Notes web page: -

 

That second photo is the same one that featured on The Surf Chasers’ Facebook page.

The Victoria’s wrecking date is missing in Jack Loney’s “ Wrecks on the South Australian Coast”. The 1934-year heading is also missing. Loney says that the ship was Danish and was making its way back from Makatea to Wallaroo when it ran off course in Backstairs Passage (during a storm?). It struck rocks near Porpoise Head, some 6 miles east of Cape Jervis.

There are two photos of the wreck in Loney’s book, one taken when the wreck occurred in 1934, and the other one taken in 15 years later in 1949.

Loney says that the Victoria “lay about 50m off shore with about 5m of water in her forepeak and was leaking badly. Three tugs despatched from Port Adelaide failed to refloat her so a line was fastened ashore and the vessel abandoned. Salvage crews often worked in rough conditions to remove fittings from the vessel which eventually broke her back and went to pieces before work on her was completed.”

The caption for the 1934 photo of the wreck reads, “After tugs failed to free M.V. Victoria, ashore near Cape Jervis in 1934, salvage crews were working to remove fittings when she broke in two and quickly went to pieces”.

The Yankalilla and District Historical Society Inc. webpage suggests that the Victoria  was wrecked on 5^th October rather than the 7^th. It also states that the vessel was built in Copenhagen. The wreck site is given as “about two miles east of Tunkalilla Station”. Also stated is that “Captain Jacobsen was the ship’s master and there were thirty crew and two passengers.”

Further, “Captain JG Arnold, a Swedish captain and owner of the Dry Dock at Mannum brought in a salvage team of toolmakers, sheet metal workers, drivers and an electrician. The salvage was not an easy job in high seas and because of the weight of crankshafts and engines. The ship quickly broke up in high seas and today it is on a rare occasion that what remains is visible from the beach.”

According to the Society’s Facebook post , “The Yankalilla District Historical Museum holds items and the Historical Society has an album of photographs donated by Dorothy Lord.”

Further, “Captain JG Arnold, a Swedish captain and owner of the Dry Dock at Mannum won the tender for salvage. All but four of the crew abandoned the ‘Victoria’ to seek other passages and Captain Arnold brought in his salvage team of toolmakers, sheet metal workers, drivers and an electrician. Tents were erected and shacks built in a shanty town with two streets - Victoria Avenue and Copenhagen Street. At the same time, there were two Customs officers there to make sure the salvage reached bond stores in Port Adelaide and many sightseers from Adelaide, including members of car clubs.

“There are photos of the salvage taking place - not an easy job in high seas and because of the weight of crankshafts and engines. One crankshaft was salvaged but the second lies at the bottom of the sea. Sue West showed photos taken 20 years ago of two large pieces of metal on the beach - now in the care of owners of Tunkalilla Station. The ship quickly broke up in high seas and today it is on a rare occasion that what remains is visible from the beach.”

The Facebook post includes a photo (from the Collection of the State Library of SA) of “MV Victoria in 1935 showing where the vessel struck land.”

According to a webpage of aquasport.tv, The Aqua Sports Online TV, “Not able to be re-floated, the wreck was salvaged over more than four months. The remains of the Victoria lie in shallow water in a high energy area. Diving this site ideally needs a number of right conditions including low Northerly winds, low swells rolling in from the South and minimal tide movement to assist in limiting sand movement which near kills visibility. On the right conditions, this is an interesting sight to see. Running near parallel to the coast there is good swimming to be had as the wreck is spread out over a couple of hundred metres taking into account that it was a large vessel over 100 metres long.

“Please take caution when diving this wreck. Note: It can also be snorkeled (sic) in the right conditions though there is a reported under-toe (sic) for this beach – so again, a dodge tide is the preferred time.”

The page includes some underwater video footage of the wrecksite (taken by Steve Saville, ScubaCrave (OzDiverDown)?).

The ‘Unidentified Pontoon’ has been Identified

As I wrote at The Breaking up of the Karatta & the Loch Tay at Port Adelaide’s Jervois Basin’s ship-breaking area (a member-only blog), “According to the Jervois Basin Ships' Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail, (on the list of vessels) ….They also list a ‘Fish Market Pontoon’ and an ‘Unnamed Pontoon’ as being part of the Trail. I was able….  to photograph most of the remains of vessels still evident in the Jervois Basin’s ship-breaking area today (6/11/25), including one of those pontoons: -

 

Note that this pontoon has been described as both ‘Unnamed Pontoon’ and ‘Unidentified Pontoon’.

I was able to take more photographs of the pontoon during a kayak paddle in the Jervois Basin on 2^nd February 2026: -

When I posted these on Facebook , my colleague Chris Frizell commented, “The pontoon was used as part of the Harbours Board dredging program. The suction dredge “South Australian” was a cutter suction dredge, and used large pipes to transfer the silt to either barges or to shore for reclamation. The pontoons were used to float the large pipes. A large part of the peninsula was reclaimed using this method.”

Chris’ comments suddenly turned a ‘boring pontoon’ into a ‘shipwreck story’ for me. The suction dredge South Australian now sits in 20m of water off Glenelg, having been scuttled as a dive wreck in 1985.

Chris’ comments had also revealed the identity of the ‘Unidentified Pontoon’. Perhaps the history books (online pages) can now be updated.

The dive wreck South Australian is also known as just “The Dredge”. I wrote “The South Australian (a.k.a. The Dredge) & the Glenelg Barge” for the May 2008 issue of Dive Log Australasia magazine. Some of those details were repeated in my blog post The Wrecksite of the Dredge (aka the South Australian).

I personally will now hold the pontoon in higher regard.

The Wreck of the FV Almonta

According to ABC News, the wooden fishing boat Almonta sank on its moorings at Snooks Landing in October 2021. It had been built on the Sunshine Coast and used to catch salmon, tuna, shark and rock lobster. It was built by Pat Vansleve from Queensland's Caloundra Shipbuilders and launched in 1966 for Port Lincoln salmon fisher Mike Buberis.

A model and a photo of the FV Almonta

“The Almonta was an early wooden vessel in the local salmon and bluefin tuna fleets of the 1960s. It was a favourite for those who worked on its rich timber deck and netted huge catches of fish from the rolling Southern Ocean. The vessel had been retired to a mooring at Porter Bay and was a shadow of its former glory by the time (a) Mr Antolini bought it …. Mr Antolini said the trouble started when a yacht and its mooring hit the Almonta during a storm, damaging the hull and causing water to leak in. The boat sunk two months later in October 2021. ….

“…. The Almonta remains on the seabed, its crow's nest and railings breaking the surface of the calm waters of Porter Bay and lilting precariously to one side. (February 2023). A photograph of its construction is in The Australian National Maritime Museum.”

A Geoff Collinson is writing a book about the Almonta. He says that Port Lincoln salmon fisher Mike Buberis “first named the boat Salmonta but later changed it to Almonta to jump the queue in the daily alphabetically-scheduled radio safety calls to fishing boats. Almonta Beach in the Coffin Bay National Park was named after the boat, which was a familiar sight as its fishers caught salmon.”

The Almonta is also said to be the boat to use automated fishing poling, and trialled deep sea rock lobster fishing.

Images on Eyre (@imagesoneyre) posted these New Years’ Day 2026 drone photos of the Almonta on their Facebook page: -

 

The Young Recruit Wreck

The cutter Young Recruit was wrecked at Port Gawler on 4^th November 1902. Not much more than that seemed to be known, other than that it ‘foundered’, according to “Wrecks on the South Australian Coast” by Jack Loney. “South Australian Shipwrecks - A Data Base (1802-1989) by Peter Christopher says that some information is included in another of Jack Loney’s books - “Australian Shipwrecks Volume 4”.

According to Trove (The Daily Telegraph, Fri 7 Nov 1902), “LOSS OF A CUTTER OFF PORT GAWLER (ADELAIDE, Thursday)

The cutter Young Recruit sank on Tuesday off Port Gawler in about six fathoms. She was laden with firewood at the time. 'The cutter had been recently over-hauled and was on her way to Port Adelaide. She had for years been engaged in the firewood trade along the coast. Two men who were aboard escaped in a dinghy, but lost everything.”

I asked the Microsoft Copilot AI Assistant, “What is known about the wrecked cutter Young Recruit at Port Gawler in 1902?”

The Assistant’s response was, “Here’s what the historical record shows about the cutter Young Recruit, which foundered off Port Gawler in November 1902. The key information comes from contemporary Marine Board reports and newspaper coverage.

🚢 The Wreck of the Young Recruit (1902) — What We Know

🌊 The Incident

• On 6 November 1902, the Marine Board received word that the cutter Young Recruit had sunk off Port Gawler in approximately 6 fathoms (≈11 metres) of water.
• The vessel was reported as “foundered”, meaning it filled with water and sank, rather than being wrecked on rocks or driven ashore.

🛠 Circumstances

The available newspaper summaries do not provide a full narrative of the sinking, but the Marine Board’s notification indicates:

• The sinking occurred offshore, not in the river mouth or on the beach.
• No immediate mention of casualties appears in the snippet, suggesting the crew likely escaped safely (a common outcome for small coastal cutters in fair weather).

⚓ About the Vessel

While the search results don’t include a detailed description of the cutter itself, vessels named Young Recruit operating in South Australia at the time were typically:

• Small fore‑and‑aft rigged cutters, often used for coastal trading, fishing, or lightering.
• Operated by private owners or small trading companies.”

Further, “Port Gawler was historically:

• A minor coastal landing place
• A site with shifting sandbars
• A river mouth prone to silting …..
• The Port Gawler jetty (1870s–1930s) was offshore, so vessels didn’t need to enter the river.

….. Port Gawler (was) a busy minor grain port in the 1870s, with numerous small vessels arriving and departing.

• …… The port handled small, shallow‑draft craft
• ….. Traffic was regular and commercial

Historically:

• Port Gawler was used for fishing and cockling
• Small unregistered boats were common
• Minor mishaps would rarely reach newspapers unless fatal

Given the complete absence of reports, we can infer:

• No recorded drownings or small‑boat losses at Port Gawler in the historical press
• Any such incidents were either minor or unreported”

 

Re the comment “The Port Gawler jetty (1870s–1930s) was offshore”, “The Jetties of South Australia – Past and Present” by Neville Collins makes no mention of a jetty there, only the wharf within the Gawler River itself.

According to Bing, “Port Gawler's lost Jetty -

Port Gawler's lost jetty was a significant part of the local transport network, serving as a vital point for the movement of goods and passengers. The jetty was built at the mouth of the Gawler River estuary and was used for loading and unloading cargoes such as grain, produce, and other goods. It was a crucial part of the early South Australian economy, facilitating communication and trade with isolated coastal settlements and their hinterlands. The jetty's history is closely tied to the development of Port Gawler and the broader South Australian economy, reflecting the region's growth and evolution over time.”

I told the Microsoft Copilot AI Assistant, “I can see no reliable confirmation that Port Gawler's jetty was offshore, meaning that vessels did not need to enter the Gawler River.” The Assistant conceded, making this correction: -

“Correction regarding Port Gawler’s jetty:

Yesterday, it was stated that “The Port Gawler jetty (1870s–1930s) was offshore, so vessels didn’t need to enter the river.” This is incorrect.

Historical evidence — including the Lisbon Wharf interpretive sign and local archival sources — confirms that:

The structure was Lisbon Wharf, not an offshore jetty.

It was located within the tidal estuary, not projecting into open water.

Vessels had to cross a sandbar and enter the creek to reach the wharf, and operations were tide-dependent.

This means Port Gawler functioned as a creek port, not a seaward jetty. The misconception likely stems from modern usage of the term “jetty,” which doesn’t reflect the original infrastructure or navigational requirements.”

The two wrecked vessels near Broad Creek in Barker Inlet

A dodge low tide today helped me to finally find these two wrecked vessels in Barker Inlet, near Broad Creek in the Port River: -

Peter Carter’s site includes photos of these couple of vessels. According to Peter, “The remains of a launch lie on the sandbar to the north of the Broad Creek entrance, and are exposed at low tide (grid reference is 758 464). The remains of another vessel lie close to the mangroves to the east at 764 465, and are also visible only at low tide.”

I am investigating whether one of these two vessels could possibly be that of the cutter Croatia which burnt and sank at its moorings near Torrens Island in 1971.

All of my photos from today's visit to the two vessels can be found at Garden Island 31.12.25

The Wreck of the “Unidentified iron dredge” in the Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard

The “Unidentified iron dredge” is item 22 in the “Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail” booklet published by the Department for Environment and Heritage. It is shown (as item number 22) on page 7.

It is the most easterly wreck in the large group of wrecks in the North Arm of the Port River in the Garden Island Ships’ Graveyard. It sits adjacent to the Glaucus. (There now appears to be some further wreckage a little further east of the unidentified iron dredge though.)

Details about “Unidentified Support Vessels” on pages 44 & 45 says that those support vessels “maintained shipping operations within ports around the State, carrying out or assisting with the general tasks of lightering, towing, maintenance and salvage as well as the essential role of widening and deepening shipping channels around the State.”

The late Terry Arnott took a photo of the dredge in April 2000. It features on page 44 of the booklet. The caption for the photo says, “Only the stern section of the iron dredge remains with the sternpost and rudder removed.”

Nathan Richards took these two photos of the dredge (dredger) for his thesis in 1997: -

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