Shipwrecks
Many wrecks exist within King George Sound, the most recent and best known is the 133 metres (436 ft) guided missile destroyer HMAS Perth that was scuttled in 2001 in 35 metres (115 ft) of water off Seal Island to be used as a dive-site.
The former whale chaser, Cheynes, was sold for scrap in 1961 and subsequently sunk between Michaelmas island and the northern shoreline of the sound. Another chaser in the fleet, Cheynes II, was blown ashore on Geak Point near Quaranup in Princess Royal Harbour in 1990 and is still there to this day approximately 290 metres (951 ft) off-shore.
A wooden Barque, the Fanny Nicholson was being used as a whaling vessel when it was run ashore during a gale in 1872, the remains can still be seen in the shallow water in Frenchman's Bay. Another whaling barque, the Runnymede, met a similar fate in 1881 when it was also driven aground during a storm in 1881.
Two wrecks located within the sound are protected by the Department of Matitime Archeology at the Federal level, these are the wooden Barque Athena that was sunk in 1908 and the Wooden boat Elvie that sunk in 1923.
In 1868, Northumberland, a wooden Barque laden with 2000 tonnes of coal was grounded on a reef off Bald Head near the entrance to King George Sound. The ship was eventually freed and sailed into the sound with a broken rudder, the crew eventually abandoned ship and took to the life boats. Northumberland foundered and sunk between Cape Vancouver and Breaksea Island.
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Famous quotes containing the word shipwrecks:
“... overconfidence in one’s own ability is the root of much evil. Vanity, egoism, is the deadliest of all characteristics. This vanity, combined with extreme ignorance of conditions the knowledge of which is the very A B C of business and of life, produces more shipwrecks and heartaches than any other part of our mental make-up.”
—Alice Foote MacDougall (1867–1945)