Jervoise Bay Project Report - A survey of the shipwrecks Abemamma and SS Alacrity

Author/s D. Garratt and C. Souter

Year of publication 1997

Report Number: 127

Abstract
This document has been prepared for Halpern Glick Maunsell by the authors on behalf Department of Maritime Archaeology of the Western Australian Maritime Museum.

The Department of Materials Conservation of the W A Museum has also assisted.

The commissioning brief required the consultants to provide a detailed survey of two shipwrecks lying in Iervoise Bay, the iron-hulled SS Alacrity and the 3-masted American schooner Abemama; to report on the structural condition and stability of each wreck and to record the location and depth of the wrecks to Australian Map Grid co-ordinates, chart datum AUS 66. Time constraints allowed only a very brief period of ten days to complete the task.

Part A. of this report includes a brief account of the history of the vessels and a statement of their cultural significance. In Part B, a description of the wreck sites is provided and previous archaeological excavations are reviewed. The aims and methods utilised in conducting the survey of the wrecks appears in Part C. The results are presented in Part D. Three options for the preservation of the wreck sites are discussed and recommendations for ensuring an optimum state of preservation follows.