Wreck - The Eglinton
The “Eglinton”
3-masted wooden barque, sunk 1852.
Location:
Lat. 31° 38.54′ S., Long. 115° 39.53′ E.
History
The Eglinton left Great Britain in April 1852 bound for Fremantle with 29 passengers on board, a crew of 22 and general cargo including several hundred casks of gunpowder and 65,000 gold sovereigns destined for the West Australian Treasury.
The passengers were mostly immigrants comprising men, women and children. Throughout the voyage the Mate, George Carphin had claimed that Captain Bennett’s chronometer was inaccurate. Bennett refused to have the instrument checked when calling at Capetown.
When Captain Bennett believed they were one day out from the West Australian coast, they hit a reef at night and lost their rudder. Severely damaged and without steerage they finally foundered at what is now known as Eglinton Rocks.
Three people lost their lives as a result of the disaster. Later, the Government of the Colony paid salvors a reward of 110 pounds for the recovery of the gold sovereigns.
The location of the wreck was lost for over 100 years until rediscovered by SCUBA divers in 1971. The West Australian Museum recovered china dinner sets, glass tumblers, clay pipes, toothbrushes, jars of preserves, women’s hats and remains of cases of gunpowder.
The Wreck
Located in shallow water of 3 to 8 metres the remains are of course skeletal. Pottery fragments can be seen along with remains of cement barrels and lead pipes covered in marine growth. The ballast blocks are clearly visible.
The location is extremely picturesque and contains an abundance of aquatic life including reef fish, crayfish, sponges, trunicates and invertebrates. There are some marvellous caves adjacent to the wreck.
Reef Charters dive boat takes 15 to 20 minutes to reach the wreck site from Mindarie Keys.
