Prince 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.
The story
The Prince of Wales sailed under Captain W. B. Legge with passengers Messrs J. Smith, A. C. Rowley and R. Wright and four steerage passengers. Her cargo was insured for 900 pounds.
No survivors were located and her upturned hull was found. The record offers a theory that a squall threw her on her beam and the cargo shifted so she could not right herself.
Where the records differ:
Only the month is known, and the cause is a theory. The location is approximate.
Archive photographs for this wreck are being gathered and will be added here.
Enjoy the history?
Watch the songs and drone films on the Mallacoota2020 YouTube channel, and subscribe to support more stories from this coast.
More wrecks on this coast
Harlech 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.
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.
December 1896Carrick
A coal steamer bound for Chile that was abandoned in December 1896. The sources disagree about how and where she was lost.
20 December 1837The 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.