The Anchor from the Nashwauk

I recently revisited Moana for the first time in about 20 months it seems. I was quite surprised to find that the large (3m-long) anchor from the Nashwauk was clearly on display at the northern end of Nashwauk Crescent.

I had not been able to find the anchor there perhaps some 20 months earlier, although I may have been looking in the wrong place. If I had known about it, I could have come prepared to measure and record the details of the anchor.

There was quite a lot of rain in the area that week, so I had to wait a day or two to take a few photos of the anchor and associated plaque (at least I had my camera & phone).

I could’ve made good use of the Big Anchor Project’s trial app if I had been better prepared. The app calls for heaps of detail and measurements.

Unperturbed, I was still able to post the limited information that I had on hand to the app (basic details with a few phone photos).

My first few photos were taken in fading light at the end of a wet day. I returned again a day or two later to take more photos in better light.

I now had more opportunity to take in more observations regarding the anchor. I was also able to walk down to the nearby beach where the Nashwauk was wrecked at the mouth of Pedlar Creek in 1855.

It was a windy day, and the sea somewhat resembled the conditions possibly faced by the Nashwauk when it was wrecked on Sunday 13th May 1855.

The Nashwauk is described as a 3-masted wooden ship of 762 tons built at River John, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1853. (Nashwauk is the name of a city in Minnesota in the United States.)

The 144.1’ Nashwauk sailed from Liverpool, England on 13th February 1855. Exactly 3 months later, it ran aground in the early hours of 13th May at the mouth of Pedlar Creek, Moana in South Australia.

It was only hours away from its destination of Port Adelaide, 40km away.

If you’re at all superstitious, there are numerous 13’s in this story. 13 days after grounding, the “remaining material” broke up during a storm on 26th May 1855. Another report, however, says that the ship was “smashed to pieces” on 2nd June 1855.

The wreck is usually buried in sand at the site. Any remains are only rarely seen.

There were no casualties from the grounding of the ship, although Captain Archibald McIntyre died on 3rd June 1855 due to “the effects of anxiety and exposure whilst attending to his duties after the wreck of his vessel”. A passenger named Catherine Stanley also died in the Adelaide Hospital on 22nd May, five days after being admitted with fever.

The passengers and crew of the ship reportedly walked the short distance to Port Noarlunga to report the grounding.

The ship’s anchor reportedly weighs 2 ton, but the stock is not attached. The anchor was sent to the National Museum of Australia for a display there in 2011.

I stated in my blog at https://stevesshipwrecksite.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-Nashwauk-anchor.html that the anchor had been restored by the National Museum of Australia.

I had also posted to my blog about the anchor at http://stevesshipwrecksite.blogspot.com/2010/07/anchor-of-Nashwauk.html. In July 2009, the Nashwauk's anchor was located in the Moana Beach Tourist Park. The Australian National Museum’s senior curator, Richard Reid, apparently wanted to take the anchor to the museum in Canberra. This resulted in several letters to the Southern Times messenger at the time.

(Photo possibly taken by Terry Drew)

It was reported in Messenger newspapers in 2013 that the Nashwauk’s anchor would be displayed in Moana after being restored by the National Museum of Australia. Further, “Onkaparinga Council voted last week to display the 3m anchor, which was recently restored by the National Museum of Australia, in front of the Nashwauk Crescent hall. The anchor, which was from the SS (?)Nashwauk, was on display at the Moana Tourist Park for 20 years until the museum borrowed it in 2010 to form part of an exhibition commemorating Irish settlers.”

This photo of the anchor featured in the article in the Messenger newspapers: -