Shipwreck Topics (July 2025)

A team from Rodney Fox Great White Shark Expeditions recently held the inaugural Wreck Diving Tour. The MV Rodney Fox cruised around SA’s coastline with an incredible load of equipment and several technical and wreck divers. Many wrecks were visited, including the Portland Maru, Pam and Master Jack.

GIRT's (Gathering Information with Recreational and Technical) Scientific Divers ) Andrew Viduka reports that Australia’s Sovereign wrecks policy document is now published and live. See https://bit.ly/4c1DyjM . Meanwhile, Andrew advises that he is now an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of New England.

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My two "Gilt Dragon" books - "Treasures from the Vergulde Draeck" by Jeremy N Green & "The Gilt Dragon Incident" by Harry Turner were both snapped up by GIRT Scientific Divers (https://www.girtsd.org/). Although selling off any shipwreck book is akin to cutting off a limb, it is good to be able to assist GIRT with their work.

According to https://bit.ly/3DZrCCj , the HMAS Brisbane wreck site was temporarily closed to divers following damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Alfred. “The most significantly damaged part of the wreck was the bow, where an entire section below the front funnel had dislodged and been relocated to the port side of the ship.”

Images such as this can be found at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-18/hmas-brisbane-damaged-ex-tropical-cyclone-alfred-shipwreck/105067194 : -

(Source: Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation)

Divers in WA found a WWII Dutch submarine at a depth of 40m near Rottnest Island on New Years Day. The Royal Netherlands Navy submarine K Xi had been missing since the end of World War II. Built in 1925, it patrolled the seas around Indonesia during WWII but disappeared in 1946. Visit https://bit.ly/3Dz923Q for more details. It states that “the submarine is in good condition on the seafloor, and substantially buried – with many of the many features still visible, including torpedo tubes, hatches, and the connection point for the now-removed conning tower. HNLMS K XI is a protected shipwreck site.” Short footage from 9 News Perth can be found on Facebook.

According to https://bit.ly/4ik5UYB , the  submarine is “a Dutch submarine that picked up Australian survivors of a Japanese attack during World War II…… The Hr. Ms. K XI was scuttled at the Rottnest Island ships’ graveyard in 1946 but its final resting place 15km from the original site, was only discovered at the beginning of January this year.”

According to https://bit.ly/3R0fUdB , “The wild weather whipped up by ex-tropical cyclone Alfred has exposed a 180-year-old shipwreck. High seas and shifting sands have uncovered what is thought to be an 1843 schooner named the Comet near Ballina in northern NSW. The Comet was built in the Williams River port, according to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.”

According to https://bit.ly/4jicLSy, the wreck of the Titanic, which lies at a depth of 3,800m, has been mapped by underwater robots. The result is an exact 3D replica of the wreck.

Congratulations to Jennifer Jones, Calvin Mires, and Daniel Zwick on the publication of their book “Intertidal Shipwrecks – Management of a Historic Resource in an Unmanageable Environment”. It includes a chapter by Brad Duncan & David Greenhagh titled “Management of the Intertidal Historic Shipwreck, Buster”. The Buster wreck, which is located at the mouth of Woolgoolga Creek at the entrance of Woolgoolga Lake in NSW, features on the front cover of the book.

The 39-m-long Buster was a barquentine built in Nova Scotia, Canada in 1884. It was wrecked in a storm in 1893. Further details, including some footage of the wreck, can be found at https://bit.ly/3EouGII .

According to https://www.whoi.edu/press-room/news-release/wwi-sub, “researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution used the human-occupied vehicle (HOV) Alvin, and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry …. to capture up-close images of the (U.S. Navy submarine USS F-1*) more than 100-year-old wreck, located in approximately 400m …. of water. The U.S. National Science Foundation supported the cruise to conduct Alvin and Sentry systems and engineering testing. During the cruise, the team completed meticulous surveys of the submarine using sonar systems on Sentry and the research vessel Atlantis, as well as video cameras on a tethered vehicle and still and video imaging systems on Alvin. The team also surveyed a Navy torpedo bomber training aircraft that crashed near the same location in 1950.”

* (The USS F-1 was lost at sea in an accident on 17th December 1917, resulting in the death of 19 crew members.)

“The detailed, high-definition images of the final resting place of the WWI-era sub were made possible by a group of interagency teams, as well as advanced deep-sea imaging technology.”

Images can be viewed at F-1 press release assets - Google Drive 

According to Ancient Civilizations Unearthed’s Facebook page, “The Nanhai One is a remarkable archaeological find that sheds light on a historic period. This 12th-century Chinese trading ship, loaded with over 60,000 artifacts, tragically sank in the South China Sea. Discovered in 1987, it was successfully recovered in 2007 and is now housed in a specially constructed saltwater tank, allowing researchers to delve into the mysteries of this ancient maritime relic. Affectionately referred to as the ""Southern Sea No. 1,"" the Nanhai One symbolizes the prosperous maritime trading networks of the Song Dynasty. Its rich cargo, which includes a wide array of ceramics, precious metals, and luxury goods, provides crucial insights into the active trade routes that linked China with distant markets. While the ship's sinking marked the end of its journey, its exceptional recovery offers a fascinating glimpse into the dynamic commercial and cultural exchanges of that era.”

The Ships Nostalgia website may have some good information about shipwrecks in its Forum page. Steve Saville from ScubaCrave (OzDiverDown), for example says, “Loch Vennachar (originally found 1976 by SUHR), however I discovered more wreckage Westward and North in 2011, with further finds in 2015.”

I found a whole lot more about the Loch Vennachar through Ships Nostalgia at https://bit.ly/3FxcrRe. I recently came across some old slides taken at the Loch Vennachar site during the SUHR’s expedition there in 1977, including these ones: -

I’ve found that The Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology makes posts under #wreckwednesday. Recent posts were about the Sydney Cove and the Andrea Doria.  They also make posts under #maritimemonday.pics