Ocean Queen

The Ocean Queen was wrecked on the southern group of the Abrolhos Islands 13 September 1842. The ship was carrying a chest of specie which was saved by Captain Harrison and his crew. They landed on Pelsaert Island initially and remained at this location for 10 days. They attempted to get to Fremantle in the ship’s boats but with about 120 kms to go, weather conditions forced them to land. They walked the rest of the way apart from one crew member who was left behind at Moore River suffering exhaustion. A group of Aboriginals was sent from Perth to help this man. They may have been Yuat or Wajuk people. A diverting aspect of this story is that the chest of specie, supposedly buried on the beach at Pelsaert Island, was never found.