Horseshoe Bay Shipwreck Trail

I visited Horseshoe Bay at Port Elliot recently. I was able to take some photographs of the shipwreck trail there, including this photo. There is a large mooring anchor close to the car park near the Port Elliot jetty. This and further shots can be found at

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stevereynolds600/HorseshoeBayShipwreckTrail

M24 SUBMARINE WRECK

Details regarding the wreck of the Japanese midget submarine M24 can be viewed at http://www.m24maritime.heritage.nsw.gov.au/

GOLD RECOVERED FROM SHIPWRECK

The Polar Mist sank 40km off of Argentina’s Patagonian coast during bad weather on 18th January this year. She had 9.4 tonnes of gold & silver on board. A team of divers has now recovered almost $24m worth of gold from the icy waters.

SHIPWRECK ARTEFACT AT ALDINGA LIBRARY

A spar thought to be from the Star of Greece shipwreck is now on display at the Aldinga Library.

WARDANG ISLAND MARITIME HERITAGE TRAIL

The web page found at http://www.southaustraliantrails.com/top_trails.asp?wardang says, "To reduce anchor damage, mooring buoys have been installed at five of the wrecks, for boats to tie up to". We asked the SA Trails Coordinating Committee how are those mooring buoys were going, adding that, “David Nutley, Principal Maritime Heritage Officer, Heritage Branch, Department for Environment and Heritage, advises us that the Norma mooring buoy has not yet been replaced. "We are looking at the whole question of the future management of shipwreck mooring buoys and whether their ongoing maintenance is viable" he said. "Maintenance costs are significant due to their susceptibility to damage from weather, etc.. Not an easy problem to solve at present. The Star of Greece buoy was collected from the beach last Friday (24/7) and is unfortunately unrepairable. We will be looking into options for that site", he said.” We received a reply from Marty Krieg, Project Officer, Asset Management & Development, Office for Recreation & Sport, which reads, “Thank you for your email. I will forward it on to the DEH representatives on the SA Trails Coordinating Committee (SATCC) who may be able to follow up on this issue with David Nutley. Judy Hani is the representative from SDFSA on the SATCC, and she noted the issue with the Star of Greece buoy at the last meeting a couple of weeks ago. Generally speaking it is probably a good idea to raise these types of issues via Judy as the SATCC is a good forum in which to do that.” Visit http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/heritage/resources/shipwreck_trails.html for more details re the Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail.

JERVOIS BASIN SHIPS' GRAVEYARD MARITIME HERITAGE TRAIL

The five interpretive signs along the Ethelton Bank for the Jervois Basin Ships' Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail have been removed during the Newport developments there. DEH’s Robyn Ashworth says, “I have been having talks with LMC/Port Partnerships about the replacement of these signs. I am hopeful that a project to do this (or to integrate the information from these signs with other proposed interpretation for the area) will begin before the end of the year. Removal of the signs was part of the development but they had also been vandalised and were looking very sad by the time they were removed. We're still not sure if the trail will remain as an isolated product or whether the information will be incorporated into a larger interpretation plan for the Port waterfront.” Visit http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/heritage/resources/shipwreck_trails.html for more details re the Jervois Basin Ships' Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail.

COMMEMORATION OF 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF WRECK OF THE ADMELLA

A series of events have been held around the state in 2009 to mark the 150th anniversary of the wreck of the Admella. A dawn vigil was held in Port Adelaide at 5.30am on 5th August in memory of the SS Admella, which left Port Adelaide at that time (5.30am) on that day (5th August) in 1859. The ill-fated steamship was sailing to Melbourne but ran aground on Carpenter Rocks the next day (6th August) with the loss of 89 lives (including would-be rescuers). The 150th anniversary of the wreck of the Admella was also commemorated in Port Adelaide. It was commemorated at the The Navigator sculpture (an Admella Memorial), which is located at the Queen’s Wharf end of Timpson St, Port Adelaide. The sculpture The Navigator had been relocated there and that was unveiled for the ceremony. A few photos of the The Navigator have been posted at http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stevereynolds600/AdmellaMemorial. According to the web page found at http://www.dcgrant.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=289&c=6278, the Admella Commemoration Advisory Committee has recently taken possession of a large scale model of the S.S. Admella on behalf of the Port MacDonnell and District Maritime Museum. According to the web page found at http://www.admella.org.au/documents/MRAdmellaDiscoveryTrailJul09.doc,
timber salvaged from Beachport’s Jetty has been used to construct a series of interpretive markers which (have now been) installed along the South East coastline to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the wreck of the SS Admella. For further details about the Admella, visit http://www.admella.org.au/ .

ER Sterling

Not a shipwreck! In 1883, the Lord Woleseley (or Wolseley, Wolesley, or Wolsely) was built as a 4-masted 2577-gross ton iron ship. She was launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 21st July 1883 . She later became the Columbia, Lord Wolsely* (1904), Everett G. Griggs and E.R. Sterling.

* Hence some of the confusion over spellings.

In 1927, enroute from Port Adelaide to Britain, she met with a series of accidents. On 4th July 1927, she lost her main and mizzen masts in a gale whilst she was north of the Falkland Islands but she continued her voyage. On 4th September 1927, she was again dismasted, this time during a hurricane. She lost her foremast and the chief officer (First Mate?) was killed. On 15th October 1927, she managed to reach the port of St. Thomas in the West Indies. There were no repair facilities available there so she was towed from the West Indies to London, England by tug. After 286 days at sea, she reached the River Thames, England as a floating shambles. She was so badly damaged that she was not repaired but sold to shipbreakers for £4,000. She had been broken up by 1928.