George D (Doug) Seton was well-known in diving and shipwreck circles. He has held many positions, including that of Assistant Information Officer at the South Australian Museum. More importantly perhaps, he had been President of both the Underwater Explorers Club of SA and the Society for Underwater Historical Research (now South Australian Archaeology Society).
Doug Seton
The Underwater Explorers Club of SA celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2024. The South Australian Archaeology Society also celebrated its 50th anniversary the same year.
The raising of the anchor from HMS Investigator
Doug and his groups were all well-known for the recovery of shipwreck artefacts, especially anchors. Two of the better-known anchors recovered are ones from Matthew Flinders’ HMS Investigator and the John Pirie. A cannon (carronade or gunnade) from the Star of Greece wreck was also recovered by Doug and other members of the UEC.
The cannon from the Star of Greece
According to the K.I. Courier of 25th August 1966, Doug was “well-known on the Island, as a speleologist (cave explorer) …. also a keen skin diver. Last weekend, accompanied by Guy Hebblewhite of Brighton (left), and Ray Sedunary (centre) they raised this carronade from the Star of Greece which was wrecked in the 1880s (1888) off Pt. Willunga. This gun is believed to be the first gun raised from a ship in SA waters.”
As shown above, UEC members also recovered parts of a WWII Avro Anson bomber plane from the River Murray in 1972.
The recovery of parts of a WWII Avro Anson bomber plane from the River Murray
Doug actually drove a World War II amphibious jeep (Jeep?) across Backstairs Passage to Kangaroo Island for diving activities.
Backstairs Passage (as named by Matthew Flinders) is a dangerous stretch of water off the south coast of South Australia. The name of Backstairs Passage may sound a little bit rude, but Flinders named it so in his journal because “It forms a private entrance, as it were, to the two gulphs (gulfs)”.
It seems that Doug bought the amphibious jeep around 1968. (Is it a ‘Jeep’ if it was built by the Ford Motor Company for the US Army?) Doug wrote that it was built by the Ford Motor Company for the US Army in 1942. Despite being a boat on wheels, it could reach speeds of 110km per hour down a highway, according to Doug.
Doug wrote that the jeep had a propeller “cast from steel and designed to slice through anything it struck (such as) weeds, coral out-crops or barbed-wire entanglements”. Despite that, it had trouble propelling the 1½-ton vehicle. It was replaced by “a big bronze clover-leaf propeller, designed to be driven through a gearbox. It spins in the opposite direction to a conventional direct drive propeller.”
Doug’s voyage across Backstairs Passage to Kangaroo Island was reported in a KI newspaper: - “Residents of Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island were dumbfounded on Saturday when a four-wheel-drive vehicle left the water, drove up the beach and headed into town.
“Mr GD Seton, who has a property on Kangaroo Island, drove his amphibious Jeep into the water at Cape Jervis and emerged on the beach at Penneshaw 2½ hours later.
“I had no trouble on the trip whatsoever,” Mr Seton said. He said that if the weather was suitable, he would drive the Jeep back across the sea. He had been working on the 20-year-old Jeep for more than 18 months to prepare for the trip.
“Mr Seton is vice-president of the Underwater Explorers Club, and the Jeep will be used for diving work in the waters around Kangaroo Island. The Jeep was very stable, he said, and just as good as a conventional boat.”
According to Doug though, he never did push his luck and drive it back again. According to the Sunday Mail of 1st February 1969, Doug could not sail the vehicle back to the mainland because "the rudder cable on the Jeep developed a fault. Reluctantly I shipped it home on a ketch from American River and took a plane (home) from Kingscote."
A Mrs J. Welsh from the SA mainland took this black & white photo of Doug driving up onto Penneshaw Beach: -
Doug driving up onto Penneshaw Beach
(Taken by Mrs J. Welsh)
The jeep being used for diving
Unfortunately, Doug died in January 2023, aged 90.
Doug
(My thanks go to Doug’s widow, Mara and their good friend, Graham Meyer who both provided me many of the above details. Although some of the above photos feature in "Let's Go for a Dive" by the Underwater explorers Club of SA, these were provided by Doug & Mara Seton and Graham Meyer.)
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