Port Adelaide Ships' Graveyards
OverviewFive abandonment sites have been identified within the Port Adelaide area (view map). The largest is at Garden Island, in the North Arm of the Port River, with other sites located at Jervois Basin, Mutton Cove, Broad Creek and Angas Inlet. The vessel remains in these areas represent more than a century of maritime activity and constitute the largest and most diverse shipwreck site in Australia that is accessible to non-divers. Mutton Cove
Prior to reclamation and industrial development at the northern end of Lefevre Peninsula from the late 1940s, Mutton Cove was a natural tidal inlet of the Port River - a significant feature in the estuarine wetland which dominated the area. Circa 1945, before an embankment was constructed across the entrance to the creek, two vessels were deliberately abandoned along its length. One, the iron steamer Excelsior (50Kb PDF), was deposited at the end of the waterway, while the ex-Murray River paddler Jupiter (100Kb PDF) was discarded on the western bank. Today Mutton Cove is a samphire swamp washed by the Port River tides through an outlet in the embankment. It is adjacent to the Australian Submarine Corporation, Pelican Point Power Station and Outer Harbor terminals. Timbers from the Jupiter are mostly covered by mud, but the Excelsior's extensive remains are a predominant feature in the area. Jervois BasinJervois Basin, in the upper reaches of the Port River, was the major ship-breaking site in Port Adelaide between the early 1900s and the late 1960s. Vessels salvaged in this area included large and small wooden and iron sailing ships, steamers and tugs. Many of these vessels were built for coastal or River Murray waters, but a few were international traders which ended their days as hulks in Port Adelaide or were scrapped when they were no longer viable. Little physical evidence remains of the many vessels broken up in this Basin. Most were dismantled completely, with agreements made between salvagers and harbour authorities that the sites would be completely cleared. A list of such vessels includes the barques Candida (1875) and Cumbrian (1879); the Murray River paddlers Goolwa (1866) and Alexandra (1882); tugs George Dinsdale (1911) and Uraidla (1902); coastal steamers Karatta (1907), Kopoola, Warrawee (1909) and Wookata (1909); and the ship Loch Tay (1869).
Wooden and some iron wreckage is evident however, on the western bank, mostly within an area known as the Log Pool. The remains of four vessels have been identified - the wooden ketch Alert (PDF) and four-masted schooner Fides (50Kb PDF), the composite paddle steamer Trafalgar (100Kb PDF) and a former fish market pontoon (50Kb PDF). Another unidentified wooden pontoon (50Kb PDF), wooden planking, iron plating and other structural material have also been found. It is likely that reclamation and redevelopment activities within the area may have covered other vessel remains, including that of the historically significant wooden ship Fitzjames (50Kb PDF)(1852), which became a floating reformatory at Largs Bay. Today the vessel remains are uncovered on the mudflats at low tide and are accessible from the shore. The graveyard is adjacent to a small park and viewing area, while a boardwalk through the nearby mangroves overlooks the site.
Garden IslandThe Garden Island Ships' Graveyard, in the Port River's North Arm, is the largest abandonment site in South Australia, with at least twenty five vessels known to have been scuttled in the area between 1909 and 1945. The majority of these wrecks lie along the southern shore of Garden Island with two vessels further east and a pontoon to the west.
The vessels abandoned in this graveyard are a varied group of dredgers, barges, pontoons and ferries, as well as sailing ships and steamers. They range from majestic windjammers and steamships which plied international waters, to coastal traders and support craft. Many of these vessels originated in Europe or America, while others were built in Australia, with two from local shipyards. The vessel remains can be seen from the Garden Island Bridge, but are most easily viewed using a kayak or small boat. Land access to some wrecks is possible via a pathway which is uncovered at low tide, but further access involves a trek through mud and mangroves. The Garden Island Ships' Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail, which includes six signs and a fifty-page guide book, interprets this site. Three on-water signs have been installed in the North Arm, adjacent to the main group of wrecks. Two on-land signs are located at the Garden Island boat ramp with another at the nearby Adelaide Speedboat Club. To access detailed information and images for each
vessel in the
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| Remains of a recreational vessel, Angas Inlet, 2001 |
At low tide the unidentified wreckage of at least eight vessels is exposed in the Inlet. A small wooden and iron pontoon is located in a sidestream, but other wrecks all lay along the southern shore of Torrens Island, east of the power station outlet.
The majority of vessels in this collection appear to be small recreational craft. However, significant timbers and other material suggest that at least one of the sites contains the remains of a large wooden sailing vessel built in the mid to late 1800s. Although this wreckage has not been identified, it is possibly the remains of the 661-ton ship Kadina (50Kb PDF) which was recorded as scuttled near the North Arm in 1879.
Today this quiet backwater provides a mooring basin for the Garden Island Boat Club. It borders the region's mangrove forests and is a favourite haunt of dolphins and seabirds. The Inlet is most easily visited by boat or kayak, the latter also allowing access to the smaller channels. Low tide is the best viewing time for the wrecks.
Broad Creek
In 1850 the South Australian Government decided to store all the Colony's explosives under Government supervision in powder magazines and three associated floating hulks in the North Arm of the Port River. By the early 1900s however, these had become inadequate for the amount of powder being imported into the State (largely for mining purposes) and in 1903 a new magazine was built at Dry Creek. At first the powder was unloaded at the North Arm and transported by horse and dray to the new stores, but in 1906 a closer landing site was established by the construction of a jetty at the end of Broad Creek, south east of Barker Inlet. A one-and-a-half mile tramway connected the new landing with the Dry Creek magazines.
Originally vessels unloaded onto hulks at the old 'powder ground' in the North Arm, with the powder lightered to the Broad Creek Wharf. In 1913 a new explosives berth was completed at Snapper Point (east of Outer Harbor) and explosives were then lightered to Broad Creek via Barker Inlet. Powder was sometimes stored in floating hulks to supplement the magazine storage. Until 1939 all explosives were imported from the United Kingdom, but from the beginning of the Second World War they arrived from Victoria, firstly by sea and then from 1946 by rail.
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The Broad Creek Jetty continued as the supply point for explosives until the late 1970s. In the 1950s for example, ketches and other small vessels, such as the Leillateah, Stormbird and John Robb, loaded cargoes at the jetty for distribution to outports including Klein's Point, Stenhouse Bay, Whyalla and Kingscote. After 1972, when the channel was becoming too shallow for such craft, all explosives were lightered to the Outer Harbor anchorage and transferred to waiting coastal vessels for distribution around the State.
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The remains of the old jetty and tramway are still visible in Broad Creek today. A rusting iron hulk (50Kb PDF) lies nearby, adjacent to the embankment, while the remains of the small wooden schooner Dorothy S (50Kb PDF) are hidden in the mangroves along a small tributary known as Bream Creek.
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| This page was last modified 2006-11-04 | ||
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