Shipwreck Coast

The Shipwreck Coast ( German: Coast of shipwrecks ) of Victoria, Australia, stretching from Port Fairy to Cape Otway over a distance of about 130 kilometers. Prior to this coast are about 80 shipwrecks. The Shipwreck Coast is part of the Historic Shipwreck Trail with the Discovery Coast of Victoria.

The Shipwreck Coast is known primarily for the free-standing limestone cliffs of the Twelve Apostles. This can be achieved the coast via the Great Ocean Road or via the Great Ocean Walk.

History

During the 19th century, the Bass Strait was the most important shipping route for the transport in the penal colony Australia to Victoria and New South Wales. The rocky coast and repellent is often hidden behind an impenetrable fog, the sea is rough and due to the geography only a few lighthouses were built. She was dangerous and difficult to navigate and there were many large ships lost. The most famous was the Loch Ard, which went down before Muttonbird Iceland. In this case, 52 people lost their lives and only two managed to escape in the Loch Ard Gorge. The last sailing ship that was lost before this coast, the Antares was in 1914.

The explorer Matthew Flinders said of the Shipwreck Coast: "I have seldom seen a more fearful section of coastline. " ("I have rarely seen such a terrible stretch of coast ").

Shipwrecks

Known are 638 vessels lost at sea off the coast of Victoria, of which the position of 240 is known. Alone in Port Fairy, where the Shipwreck Coast begins, 20 ships were lost. The State Monument Protection Authority of Victoria estimates the number of wrecks on 800

Known shipwrecks in the Shipwreck Coast in chronological order of their destruction are:

  • Untitled Whalers (1836 )
  • Thistle (1837 )
  • Children (1839 )
  • Unknown French whalers (1841 )
  • Lydia (1843 )
  • Enterprise ( 1850)
  • Essington (1852 )
  • Freedom ( 1853)
  • John Scott ( 1858)
  • Golden Spring (1863 )
  • Marie Gabrielle (1869 )
  • Young Australian (1877 )
  • Napier ( 1878)
  • Alexandra (1882 )
  • Yarra (1882 )
  • Edinburgh Castle ( 1888)
  • Fiji (1891 )
  • Newfield (1892 )
  • Free Trader ( 1894)
  • La Bella (1905 )
  • Falls of Halladale (1908 )
  • Antares (1914 )
  • Casino ( 1932)
Clipper The Twelve Apostles (Victoria)
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