&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Cataraqui_wreck.jpg) Wreck of the emigrant ship Cataraqui, 1845
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Cataraqui (Cataraque) |
| Owner | Smith & Sons, Liverpool, England |
| Builder | Williams Lampson, Quebec, Lower Canada |
| Launched | 1840 |
| Fate | Wrecked in Bass Strait, off King Island, Aug. 4, 1845 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Emigrant ship |
| Tons burthen | 802 tons NM; 712 tons OM |
| Length | 138 feet (42 metres) |
| Beam | 30 feet (9 metres) |
| Draught | 22 feet (7 metres) |
| Sail plan | Barque |
Cataraqui (also called Cataraque[1]) was a British barque which sank off the south-west coast of King Island in Bass Strait on 4 August 1845. The sinking was Australia's worst–ever maritime civil disaster incident, claiming the lives of 400 people.
- ^ British accounts of the wreck usually refer to the ship as Cataraque which is more consistent with the pronunciation of the original Canadian name. However, Australian references such as the point on King Island named after the ship spell the name Cataraqui, which is also consistent with Lloyd's Register of Shipping.