Ship Wrecks

A salute to past misfortunes

This week the Advertiser explores some of the fires, accidents, crimes, disasters and deaths that have pockmarked the island’s past.

17 Jan 2022

Ship Wrecks

Rhyll boatramp upgrade sparks shipwreck dig

Local historian John Jansson said the Rhyll Boat Ramp upgrade, funded by the state government via Better Boating Victoria, could have affected the remains of an historic cargo ferry, the Ventnor.

29 Mar 2021

Ship Wrecks

The Vision

The Vision The Vision, pictured loading onions and chicory on Ventnor Beach c1915. It was wrecked off the Nobbies in July 1917. Photo: John Jansson collection. The Vision: came to grief off the Nobbies The 22 ton Vision, originally built in NSW, was...

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08 Aug 2020

Ship Wrecks

The Tyro

Tyro A 50 tonne 22 metre schooner, built at Westernport, Victoria in 1877, The Tyros was beached at what is now known as Tyro Reef on the northern coast of the island facing the mainland, in January 1906, in preference to her sinking. After leaving...

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08 Aug 2020

Ship Wrecks

Coramba lifeboat

The 531 ton coastal steamer, the S.S. Coramba, was built in Scotland in 1911 and was lost at sea off Phillip Island on November 30, 1934, during a violent storm. There were no survivors. This starboard lifeboat from the Coramba was found washed up on...

08 Aug 2020

Ship Wrecks

Tyro

A 50 tonne 22 metre schooner, built at Westernport, Victoria in 1877, The Tyros was beached at what is now known as Tyro Reef on the northern coast of the island facing the mainland, in January 1906, in preference to her sinking. After leaving the...

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29 Jul 2020

Ship Wrecks

Kermandie

In 1883, the 20 metre 37 tonne timber ketch, the Kermandie, was built at Huon River, Tasmania. She disappeared between Westernport and Melbourne during severe storms in December 1892, carrying 50 tonnes of granite from the quarry at Cape Woolamai to...

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29 Jul 2020

Ship Wrecks

Snippets

The Leven Lass This wooden brig was carrying timber from Tasmania to Melbourne in 1854 when she ran into Westernport Bay after springing a leak and was reported breaking up on a sandbar. Centurion A 91 tonne, 23.5 metre ketch built at Erina, New...

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29 Jul 2020

Ship Wrecks

The wreck of the Speke

The island’s most sensational ship wreck occurred 112 years ago this month back in 1906, when the Speke, the biggest three masted full rigged ship in the world, crashed on to the rocks at Kitty Miller’s Bay on the islands south coast. Relics...

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29 Jul 2020

Ship Wrecks

Phillip Island Shipwrecks

Phillip Island shipwrecks could well be more frequent than history has shown us as the island’s southern coast fronts the notorious Bass Strait. But many are well known and still remembered by older islanders. Modern technology has now almost...

Guest Admin

29 Jul 2020