HMS Investigator Anchors

HMS Investigator Best Bower Anchor
The Best Bower Anchor, dropped from HMS Investigator, on display at the South Australian Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide.
Material	Wrought Iron.
Size	Length: 4,230 millimetres (167 in), mass: 1,230 kilograms (2,710 lb)
Created	1795 (Henry Rudd, Monkwearmouthshore, Co.)
Discovered	1973, Middle Island, Recherche Archipelago, Western Australia
Present location	South Australian Maritime Museum
Identification	HT2003653[1]

HMS Investigator Stream Anchor
Material	Wrought iron
Size	Width: 1,570 millimetres (62 in), Height: 2,500 millimetres (98 in), Depth: 300 millimetres (12 in), Mass: 400 kilograms (880 lb)
Discovered	1973, Middle Island, Recherche Archipelago, Western Australia
Present location	National Museum of Australia
Identification	1981.0024.0001[2]

The HMS Investigator Anchors are the two anchors that jettisoned from HMS Investigator on the morning of Saturday, 21 May 1803, by her commander, Matthew Flinders, in order to avoid running aground on Middle Island in the Archipelago of the Recherche on the south coast of New Holland (now Western Australia). In 1973, the anchors were located and recovered by members of the Underwater Explorers Club of South Australia (UEC). The recovered anchors became the subject of an ownership dispute between various governments, particularly those of South Australia and Western Australia due to their historic significance as artefacts of a major voyage of European exploration. The dispute was resolved with the ownership of the anchors going to the Australian Government who subsequently gifted one of the anchors to the South Australian Government. The pair of artefacts is also known as Flinders' Anchors.