A group of students and lecturers from the 3rd year Flinders University Maritime Archaeology class (ARCH 3005) undertook fieldwork on the site of the former ‘torpedo station’ in the north Arm and Hindmarsh Reach area of the Port (Adelaide) River in September 2000.
This 2024 Google map of the location clearly shows the area of the site: -
The ARCH 3005 group’s results were reported by Tracey and Jeff Treloar in the article titled ”Port River Surveys: The Torpedo Boat Station and Channel Marker, Port Adelaide” published in “Soundings:” January-March 2001 (The Newsletter of the Society for Underwater Historical Research Inc.).
Here are a couple of Google map close-ups of the site: -
This article aims to repeat the main details of the report, but first a little background history about the site.
This is one of my photographs that I took at the site on 04/01/2025: -
The site had much to do with SA’s first naval ship, the HMCS Protector. Much of the history of the site is included in Stephen Jeisman’s book titled "Colonial Gunboat – The story of HMCS Protector and the South Australian Naval Brigade”.
Details about the ‘torpedo station’ start on page 85 and continue almost to the end of the 314-page book.
It starts with a quick introduction to the station being planned at the site “on the eastern bank of the Port River, just south of the junction between the North Arm and Hindmarsh Reach”.
This is followed by a diagram of the station (reference NAA: MP472, 18/11/2562). This ‘not to scale’ diagram is similar to the “1911 Plan of the Naval Torpedo Station at Port Adelaide” that features in Tracey and Jeff Treloar’s report in the SUHR newsletter. That diagram is credited to “Pennock n.d.” (n.d. meaning ‘no (known) date).
I have another version of this diagram, said to be based on “Aus. Archives MP 472, Files 18/11/2582”, just like the one featured in "Colonial Gunboat – The story of HMCS Protector and the South Australian Naval Brigade”, apart from that final number of 2582 rather than 2562. It seems that this version comes from Chapter 17, “When a Nation Goes to War” (book unknown): -
(Source: Chapter 17, “When a Nation Goes to War” (book unknown) )
Tracey and Jeff Treloar’s report gives the following “History of the Site”: -
That was followed by these few words about channel beacons: -
The next section was about “Materials and Methods”: -
That was followed by “Procedure: -
That was followed by a paragraph on "Recording of Navigational Beacon" and then “Results”: -
That was followed by details about the “Recording of Navigational Beacon”, starting with the paragraph highlighted in yellow above. The ‘Navigational beacon’ was described in the report’s introduction as “A channel marker and beacon west of the site in the Hindmarsh Reach of the Port River …. (in an) apparent state of disrepair”.
As can be seen in the yellow highlighting above, a group of students and lecturers produced a drawing of the beacon: -
The rest of the report discussed details about the beacon, followed by “Discussion and Recommendations” and “References”: -
It would seem from the list of references above that “RJ Pennock n.d. “Research Note 916, Torpedo Station, Port River”, State Records of South Australia, Adelaide” is the source of the diagram of the station (reference NAA: MP472, 18/11/2562) in Stephen Jeisman’s book titled "Colonial Gunboat – The story of HMCS Protector and the South Australian Naval Brigade”.
I see that acoording to Stephen Jeisman’s book titled "Colonial Gunboat – The story of HMCS Protector and the South Australian Naval Brigade”, R J Pennock is "the late Commander Robin Pennock RAN, former Naval Officer Commanding, South Australia".
I see that there are some Flinders University publications on this topic, including “Archaeological Investigations at the North Arm Torpedo Station, Port Adelaide, South Australia” and “The North Arm Torpedo Station”, both by James Hunter.
I visited the site on 04/01/2025 to take a few photographs for this article. Although I wasn't too concerned about the beacon in question, I possibly took photographs of the wrong 'beacon' anyway. These are some of the photos that I took at the western edge of the old torpedo station site: -
I have many more photographs that I took on 04/01/2025. I'm not sure if this item is of any significance at all: -
These two Google map close-ups show some items below the surface of the water: -
That is all that I have to offer at present. Details regarding (Her/His Majesty's Colonial Ship) HMCS Protector are a whole separate topic. Most details can be found in Stephen Jeisman’s book titled "Colonial Gunboat – The story of HMCS Protector and the South Australian Naval Brigade”, (I might still attempt to put some details of my own in a seperate article.)
Peter Christopher says, "A replica of the Torpedo Station is planned as part of the Dock 2 Seaport Village by the Clipper Ship City of Adelaide."
Chris Frizell says, "I am surprised that there is any remnants of it left. Most of that land was covered by spoil from the channel deepening of the Port River at various times over the years. The large concrete block would possibly have been a shore anchor for the dredge."
"An interesting side point is that Captain Christie Calm Dale, with his trading ketch “Hecla”, carried out experiments with a manned torpedo in the North Arm some time early in the 20th century."
My thanks got to both Peter and Chris for their additional comments above. My thanks also go to both Tracey and Jeff Treloar for their article titled ”Port River Surveys: The Torpedo Boat Station and Channel Marker, Port Adelaide” published in “Soundings:” January-March 2001 (The Newsletter of the Society for Underwater Historical Research Inc.).
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