On 6th November 2022, several divers held a 50th anniversary dive on the Fawkner wreck in Victoria’s Ships’ Graveyard (in Commonwealth Area No. 3). Some, if not all, of the divers were in their mid-70s. According to the web page found at https://aquability.com.au/fawkner-sunday-6th-november-2022/ , Geoff Nayler, Jimmy Anderson, Calvin, Tim, Jim, Simon, Ben, Youri, Ian, Chris & Mark made the 44-46m dive on a beautiful calm day. They were assisted by Vaughan, Adrian Hart & Barry Poole at the surface.
Geoff Nayler (centre) & Jimmy Anderson (2nd from left) with fellow divers 50 years ago
Divers Geoff Naylor and Jimmy Anderson, and Adrian Hart and Barry Poole, were among the first divers to dive a wreck in the Ships’ Graveyard, back in 1972, along with Phill Stubbs, Neil Henderson and John Burgess. Jimmy & Geoff wore their old Fenzy vests for their dive. They went on to do further dives on the Milora, Beverwjk 19 & J2, J1 & J5 submarines.
The Fawkner was a 388-ton steam driven hopper barge built in Renfrew, Scotland in 1883. It was scuttled in the Victorian Ships’ Graveyard in Bass Strait on 20th May 1935. See the web page at https://www.scubadoctor.com.au/divesite.htm?site=Fawkner for further details.
Map of the Victorian Ships’ Graveyard
Geoff Nayler is the author of inspiring shipwreck books such as “Shipwrecks along the Southern Coast”, “Wrecks and Relics”, “The silent fleet”, “My Ceiling The Waves” and “Wreck of the Joseph H Scammell”.
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