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Wreck of the Ethel
Title : Wreck of the Ethel Wreck of the Ethel
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Source : B 46477
Date of creation : 1927
Format : Photograph
Contributor : State Library catalogue
Catalogue record
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Description :

 


On the 2 January 1904 the iron barque Ethel ran ashore on Reef Head, near Cape Spencer (Yorke Peninsula). One crew member died trying to get ashore with a line, but the rest reached safety. The wreck was visible for many years from the cliffs in Innes National Park, before it broke up completely in 1980s.

The ship was sailing in ballast to Semaphore from South Africa. Built in Sunderland in 1876 Ethel was a three masted iron barque of 711 tons.

SS Ferret reported the wreck and attempts were made to free the ship, but these were unsuccessful and the ship was written off as a total loss.
Ferret itself was wrecked within metres of the Ethel seventeen years later. The wreckage was used to secure a rope for the rescue of Ferret's crew.
Subjects
Related names :

Ethel (ship)

Ferret (ship)

Coverage year : 1927
Period : 1919-1927
Place : Reef Head, near Cape Spencer
Region : Yorke Peninsula
Further reading :
Loney, J. K. Wrecks on the South Australian coast: including Kangaroo Island Yarram, Vic.: Lonestone Press, 1993
Coroneos, Cosmos Shipwrecks of Investigator Strait and the Lower Yorke Peninsula Fremantle, W.A.: Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology & Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology, 1997
Internet links :
Exhibitions and events :

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. Wooden Walls and Iron Sides August 2004-


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