Southern Ocean Shipwreck Geltwood (1876-76)
Location: G eltwood Reef, about 12km southeast of Rivoli Bay (-37.643917°S 140.196017°E) Vessel type: iron-hulled barque
Admella (1857-59)
Location: Carpenters Rocks (-37.876463°S 140.351373°E) Vessel type: iron-hulled screw steamer Admella was built by Laurence Hill & Co. in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1857. She was a fast ship with sail as well as steam and serviced Adelaide, Melbourne and Launceston, hence her name Ad me la. She was thought a safe ship with three air tight compartments riveted into the hold. Admella left Port Adelaide before dawn on 5th August 1859 for Melbourne. During the night there was a gentle roll and then the heavy swell lifted the ship onto the rocky reef at Carpenters Rocks. Then she fell over with masts horizontal and broke into three at the rivets of the “safety” devices. Sailors and passengers scrambled onto the stable part of the ship. Some were washed away. Lifeboats were lost and the rockets were too wet to fire. Next day they could see they were only a mile off shore, instead of out at sea. Several volunteers lost their lives swimming to shore to raise the alarm. A raft was built and two friends reached the shore and trekked 20 kms to MacDonnell lighthouse. Survivors lashed themselves to rigging, their strength sapped by the cold, lack of food, water and shelter. Some slipped quietly into the boiling sea to watery graves. Others went mad by drinking sea water. Fires were lit on the shore to give survivors hope. Rescue attempts were made but mountainous seas drove rescuers back. It was not until the eighth day that rescue eventuated. The sea had abated a little and the lifeboat from the shore rescued 3 people. Ships Lady Bird and Ant had arrived with lifeboat and whaleboat. The remaining 19 survivors were taken off by the Portland lifeboat and taken to Portland to be looked after by the hotels. Eighty nine men, women and children had died. The sea claimed the rest of Admella, the pride of the Coast. 32
SOUTHERN OCEAN ROAD
Geltwood was built in 1876 in Harrington, Scotland. The barque was on the final leg of its maiden voyage from Liverpool. The voyage was expected to take 90 days and was due to arrive in Melbourne on 22 June 1876. The wreck event did not become known until 5 July and it is supposed that the vessel wrecked on 14 June when there was a severe storm and distress signals were seen and heard in the region. Geltwood had struck a reef about 1.8km offshore. None of the 31 persons on board survived. The only four bodies recovered are buried in the old Millicent cemetery. The wreck was controversial for the looting of cargo that occurred in the aftermath.
Konig Willem II (1840-57)
Location: Guichen Bay, Robe, exact location unknown (-37.140344°S 139.7947°E) Vessel type: wooden ship Konig Willem II was built in Kinderdijk, Netherlands, in 1840. After arriving in Guichen Bay, and disembarking its 397 Chinese immigrants, a heavy south-easterly gale caused the vessel to drag its anchor throughout the night and into the next morning. At noon on 30 June 1857, the vessel’s captain made sail, intentionally beaching the vessel on Long Beach to the northeast of Robe. Heavy seas broke over the vessel and it was totally wrecked. Sixteen crew members perished while getting ashore in the stormy conditions.
Margaret Brock (1848-52)
Location: Margaret Brock Reef, 6.5km west of Cape Jaffa (-36.948679°S 139.59581°E) Vessel type: wooden barque Margaret Brock was built in Hobart in 1848. On 20 November 1852, the barque left Port Adelaide with cargo and passengers, bound for Melbourne. At 2am on 23 November, the vessel struck an unknown reef about 6.5km west of Cape Jaffa. Attempts to get the ship off were unsuccessful, and the passengers and crew went ashore in the ship’s long boat, and the vessel subsequently broke up on the reef, later named Margaret Brock Reef.
