The Shipwreck Coast of Victoria, Australia stretches from Cape Otway to Port Fairy, a distance of approximately 130 km. This coastline is accessible via the Great Ocean Road, and is home to the limestone formations called The Twelve Apostles.
Explorer Matthew Flinders said of the Shipwreck Coast, "I have seldom seen a more fearful section of coastline."
There are approximately 638 known shipwrecks along Victoria’s coast, although only around 240 of them have been discovered. The Historic Shipwreck Trail along the Shipwreck Coast and the Discovery Coast shows some of the sites where gales, human error and, in some cases, foul play caused these vessels to be wrecked.[1]
Ships wrecked on the Shipwreck Coast include:
- Thistle (1837)
- Children[2] (1839)
- Unknown French whaler (1841)
- Lydia (1843)
- Socrates (1843)
- Cataraqui (1845)
- Enterprise (1850)
- Essington (1852)
- Freedom (1853)
- SS Schomberg (built Liverpool, named after Charles Frederick Schomberg, sunk 1855)
- John Scott (1858)
- Golden Spring (1863)
- Marie Gabrielle (1869)
- Young Australian (1877)
- Loch Ard (1878)
- Napier (1878)
- Alexandra (1882)
- Yarra (1882)
- Edinburgh Castle (1888)
- Fiji[3] (1891)
- Joseph H. Scammell (1891)
- Newfield (1892)
- Freetrader (1894)
- La Bella[4] (1905)
- Falls of Halladale (1908)
- The Speculant[5] (1911)
- Antares[6] (1914)
- Casino[7] (1932)
- City of Rayville[8] (1940)
Over 50 shipwrecks are commemorated in a Historic Shipwreck Trail beginning at Port Fairy.
- ^ "Guide to Historic Shipwreck Trail on Victoria's West Coast" (PDF). Flagstaff Hill Maritime Centre. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ "The Children" (PDF). Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ "Fiji" (PDF). Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ "La Bella" (PDF). Flagstaff Hll Maritime Museum. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ "The Speculant" (PDF). Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ "The Antares" (PDF). Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ "SS Casino" (PDF). Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
- ^ "MV City of Rayville" (PDF). Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. Retrieved 25 March 2012.