The vessel
The barque Hero of the Nile was owned by Thomas and Westmoreland,
London. It was of wood construction and copper fastened. Under the command
of Captain Dughall the vessel was in sand ballast when it set off from Melbourne
bound for the Lacepede Islands to pick up a cargo of guano.
On 19 October 1876, the captain estimated the position of the vessel
as 55 kilometres off Cape Bouvard. With the wind behind the vessel and full
sails set, Hero of the Nile steered a course north-east towards the
Rottnest Lighthouse. Early on the 20th the land on the lee prompted an alteration
of the course to north-west. Expecting that this new course would take him
clear of land Dughall did not take any soundings. A general chart of the
area was aboard but it did not detail the hazardous currents in the region.
The currents took the vessel onto the inside of Murray Reef.
The wreck event
Hero of the Nile struck Long Point at 2 p.m. on that day. Although
Captain Dughall backed the sails it was to no avail and they were furled.
The vessel grounded heavily on the reef all night and eventually filled
with water after the pumps became choked with the sand ballast. At daybreak
an anchor and warp was run out but they too were of little use (Henderson
& Henderson, 1988:202).
The thirteen crew, two passengers and the master all made it safely to
shore in the ship's boat. Captain Johnston passed the stricken vessel in
the cutter Eveline Mary and provided Dughall and his wife with transport
to Fremantle. When the harbour-master visited the wreck the next day it
was estimated to lie 275 metres from Long Point, canted over on its port
side and held down by sand ballast.
Salvage
Unsuccessful attempts were made to remove the vessel using warp and anchor
to kedge it off. It was later condemned and sold as a wreck at public auction.
The hull was sold to Messrs Higham and Sons for £100, and the gear
and furniture were sold in small lots to a total sum of £500.
Inquiry
The captain was exempt from blame as the court of inquiry declared that
the charts of the area were not good enough for coastal navigation. The
wreck appears on the Warnbro Sound chart of 1879. |
Site location
The wreck site lies about 300 metres north-east of Long Point.
Site description
The wreck lies on a north-east to south-west axis in a depth of 2 to
3 metres, on a sand bottom surrounded by shallow weed banks. The vessel
was avelling in a northerly direction when the wrecking occurred. The bow
and stern are not discernible.
The wreck site has two rows of heavily overgrown outcropping which, upon
inspection in 1974, proved to be iron. Fanning revealed timber in good condition
under the sand. No shards of pottery nor glassware were evident. The majority
of the hull structure does not appear to be broken up and probably lies
buried in the sand. Contemporary salvage work on the site probably means
there are few ship's fittings or the remains of cargo to be found.
Artefacts
A bell inscribed with the name and date of the vessel was presented to
the Museum in 1990.
Statement of significance
Historical
The remains of Hero of the Nile are significant as a vessel that
was involved in the international trade of guano from northern Western Australia.
At the time this trade was mostly illegal. The wreck event demonstrates
the difficulties associated with navigation of the coastline in this region,
during the early colonial settlement of Western Australia.
References
Sledge, S., 1974a, Hero of the Nile, unpub. Wreck Inspection Report, Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Maritime Museum, No. 9.
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