Storm Bird 30 March 1870
Listed in the national underwater cultural heritage database as a schooner wrecked in a storm near Green Cape. Details have not yet been checked against the record.
Heritage record → Maritime History
Shipwrecks of Gabo Island and the Wilderness Coast
Ships have been lost on this stretch of coast since the early colonial years. This page lists every wreck found so far between Mallacoota, Gabo Island, Cape Howe and Green Cape, each told from the official records. Photos and archive images are being added.
All wrecks (31)
20 December 1837
The Schah
A Hobart to Sydney schooner lost in a gale on the coast near Mallacoota in 1837, and the second oldest identified wreck in Victorian coastal waters.
Read the story → September 1848Matilda
A Tasmanian schooner sent to Gabo Island for guano in 1848. Reports agree she was blown ashore but disagree on whether it happened at Gabo or on Babel Island.
Read the story → 1852Mary Wilson
A wine-laden brig from Portugal to Sydney that sheltered at Gabo Island and was driven ashore, one of the earliest recorded losses at the island.
Read the story → May 1853Prince of Wales
A brig carrying flour and 300 ounces of gold that left Melbourne for Sydney in 1853 and was lost off Cape Howe. Only her upturned hull was found.
Read the story → 15 May 1853SS Monumental City
An American steamer that had been on the Australian coast for about a month when she struck Tullaberga Island. Her loss led to the building of the Gabo Island lighthouse.
Read the story → 1856Phoebe
A schooner damaged in a storm that sheltered in Gabo Harbour in 1856 and was blown ashore by a northerly gale. Everyone aboard survived.
Read the story → 16 December 1859Margaret Nicol
A coal schooner damaged in a gale and lost at Gabo Island in 1859. The crew spent two days on the island before the steamer Wonga Wonga took them off.
Read the story → 1862City of Sydney
A passenger steamer wrecked on the rocks at Green Cape in fog in 1862, the first major wreck in what became known as Disaster Bay.
Read the story → May 1866Ellen Simpson
A coal vessel lost near Cape Howe in a gale in May 1866. Nine of her eleven crew died, and two officers survived.
Read the story → 1870Harlech Castle
A ship that left Melbourne for Newcastle with 23 aboard and vanished in a gale. She is recorded as lost about 60 nautical miles south of Cape Howe.
Read the story → 29 March 1879Suffolk
A bark-laden barque that lost her rudder off the Gippsland coast and was abandoned off Cape Howe after a tow failed.
Read the story → 21 October 1881 (last sighted)SS Balclutha
A steamer that disappeared in heavy weather off Gabo Island in October 1881. No wreck has been found and everyone aboard was lost.
Read the story → 1882Gippslander
A small Melbourne-registered schooner driven ashore on Gabo Island in a south-west gale in 1882, though the record carries date doubts.
Read the story → 9 December 1882Eleanor Johnstone
A bark-carrying schooner from the Genoa River that went ashore at Gabo Island in a westerly gale. She had stranded twice before.
Read the story → 12 September 1885Harry Leonard
A locally built bark stranded in Mallacoota Inlet in the year she was built. Her final fate is uncertain.
Read the story → 30 May 1886SS Ly-ee-Moon
A paddle steamer that struck the rocks under the Green Cape lighthouse in 1886. Seventy-one of the 86 people aboard died.
Read the story → 16 May 1893Star of Mallacoota
A ketch built at Mallacoota in 1891 that left for Melbourne in 1893 and was never heard of again.
Read the story → 7 November 1893Victory
A brigantine that sprang a leak on a ballast run from Warrnambool to Newcastle. The crew of six were taken off by a passing barque.
Read the story → December 1896Carrick
A coal steamer bound for Chile that was abandoned in December 1896. The sources disagree about how and where she was lost.
Read the story → 31 July 1898Emily (1898)
A Mallacoota-owned cutter that left Eden in ballast and foundered in heavy weather. Her dinghy and a cap washed up at Tullaberga Island.
Read the story → 21 March 1901 (about)SS Federal
A collier that disappeared with all hands in March 1901 on the way to Albany. Her fate and her exact position are still uncertain.
Read the story → September 1905Hero
A trading ketch blown onto the granite quarry rocks at Gabo Island in 1905. She had already been wrecked once, near Cape Woolamai, and refloated.
Read the story → 6 April 1907SS Easby
A collier that struck Skerries Reef at Gabo Island in mist and became a total wreck. Her hull, engine and boilers now lie in shallow water as a dive site.
Read the story → 13 February 1911SS New Guinea
An interstate steamer that ran onto the rocks near Green Cape Lighthouse in fog in 1911. All 28 aboard reached Eden by lifeboat.
Read the story → 1 May 1923Evelyn
A fishing ketch that tried to reach shelter at Gabo Island because the Mallacoota bar was too dangerous, lost power and was driven onto the rocks.
Read the story → 17 April 1927SS Riverina
A Huddart Parker steamer carrying Tasmanian apples that ran ashore near Tullaberga Island in 1927. She was abandoned and later used for RAAF target practice.
Read the story → 13 November 1930Maramingo
A timber vessel blown onto the rocks at Gabo Island in a gale in 1930. All six crew reached shore.
Read the story → About 24 June 1933SS Christina Fraser
A collier last seen battling a gale off Gabo Island in 1933 and never seen again. Some wreckage washed ashore at Lakes Entrance.
Read the story → 13 December 1976Moana
A motor vessel on a long coastal run that was driven onto Tullaberga Island in 1976. Locals mounted a rescue after seeing flares.
Read the story → 10 March 1980Mistress Mine
A ferro cement yacht lost at Sandpatch Point in 1980. The record gives little beyond her build and owners.
Read the story → 18 December 1982Gypsy Moth V
The yacht built for Sir Francis Chichester ran aground near the Gabo Island lighthouse in 1982 during a round-the-world race.
Read the story →Other names on the lists
These are named on a list or in the national database, but the details have not been confirmed yet, so they get a short record instead of a page for now.
Cumberland 1917
Listed in the national database as hit by a mine off Gabo Island in July 1917 and sunk in August about five miles south-east of Green Cape. Details have not yet been checked against the record.
Heritage record →Recina 11 April 1943
A wartime loss: torpedoed and sunk offshore, at the edge of this area. Details have not yet been checked against the national record.
Heritage record →Gunandaal 3 November 1929
Named on a South Coast history list as a trawler that ran ashore at Cape Howe. No national record has been found yet.
Heritage record →Ann and Maria 5 July 1869
Named on a South Coast history list as a brig that foundered in a gale. No national record has been found yet.
Heritage record →Nell 1883
A secondary list says she stranded at Gabo Island in 1883 on a delivery voyage to the Gippsland Lakes and was refloated in 1884. Not yet confirmed by a second source.
Heritage record →Buster 1889
A secondary list says the schooner was ashore at Gabo Island in 1889 and was apparently salvaged. Not yet confirmed by a second source.
Heritage record →Clara Ethel 1886
A secondary list records an 80 ton ketch lost off Gabo Island in 1886. No further detail has been found.
Heritage record →About the pictures: Archive images on these pages are only used where they are out of copyright or openly licensed, and each one is credited to its collection with the catalogue number. Colourised versions are shown next to the original, with a note that the colours are an interpretation.
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