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.
The story
The Balclutha was built at Greenock in 1860 and had made several San Francisco voyages in the 1870s. In October 1881 she was carrying bluestone between Sydney and Melbourne.
She was last sighted on 21 October 1881 in heavy seas off Gabo Island and was never seen again. Captain Poole and the crew were lost.
Heritage Victoria suggests her bluestone cargo may have shifted in the storm. Her location has not been determined.
Where the records differ:
Direction: Heritage Victoria says Sydney to Melbourne (left 19 October); a secondary list says Melbourne to Sydney (left 18 October).
Last sighted by SS City of Adelaide (Heritage Victoria) or the steamer Cahors (secondary list).
Lives lost: about 16 to 22 depending on the source.
Archive photographs for this wreck are being gathered and will be added here.
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More wrecks on this coast
Matilda
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.
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.
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.
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.