Shipwrecks and sea rescue: Shipwrecks, 1946-

• Introduction
• 1802-1850
• 1851-1858
• 1859-1862
• 1863-1873
• 1874-1880
• 1881-1889
• 1890-1899
• 1900-1907
• 1908-1918
• 1919-1930
• 1931-1945
• 1946-
• River Murray

1946

16 March ketch Lurline was run ashore at Sellicks Beach. She had been disabled by a squall, had repairs made at Rapid Bay but again encountered difficulties. Some equipment was salvaged before she became a total wreck. Her register was closed 23 July.  14 June cutter Venus was lost on North Neptune Island. 4 October ketch Cecelia dragged her anchors at Port Le Hunte, ran ashore and was wrecked.

1947

14 July ketch Broughton went ashore at Flint Point near Port MacDonnell. The crew were rescued by the lifeboat crew, together with aid from the lighthouse keeper's son.

1948

11 April a severe storm destroyed the cutters Renown and Zephyr at Glenelg.  he navy ship Barcoo was beached at West Beach, and the Glenelg jetty was destroyed. 29 May shark boats Ebor, Jennifer and La Paloma were destroyed in a storm at Robe. June cutter Tarna was lost off Yorke Peninsula. 14 August fishing ketch Miss Echo was lost at Victor Harbor.

1950

20 August former liberty ship Mill Hill developed a list after her cargo of pig iron shifted during a storm. The crew abandoned her off Cape Radstock. Two tugs managed to tow her to Port Lincoln.  Mill Hill was finally broken up in Belgium in 1970 under the name Splendid Sky. 30 October 606 ton steel steamship Quorna was used for target practice by RAAF, and sank off Kangaroo Island.

1951

26 February 3346 ton freighter Corio ran onto Carpenter Rocks. Nothing could be done to save her, and the vessel's back was eventually broken. The crew were rescued by the Iron Yampi. 10 March fishing boat May went ashore near Cape Willoughby. 1 August ketch Mary was swept ashore in Antechamber Bay on Kangaroo Island.

1959

25 January MV Yandra ran aground in thick fog on South Neptune Island. She could not be refloated, so was stripped of fittings, and was destroyed by heavy seas within a month. The crew used a breeches buoy to reach the island, from which they were rescued by the lighthouse keeper and the yacht Iline.

1966

29 September freighter Eleni K (a former liberty ship) broke her back and sank off Ceduna.  She was refloated and beached near Goat Island and then declared a total wreck. As reported in The Sunday Mail of 24 September 2006, Eleni K is now apparently leaking oil, adjacent to a seal colony.

1980

27 March livestock carrier Farid Fares was damaged when fire broke out in the engine room.  She was abandoned 160 kms off the coast. All but one crew member were rescued by the Polish trawler Denebola. 40,605 sheep were lost.

Between 1952 and 1990, almost 100 boats - tuna boats, crayboats, and other assorted fishing boats were lost in South Australian waters.

Refer to Christopher, Peter South Australian shipwrecks 1802-1989: a data base for further listings.

Environment Australia maintains the Australian National Shipwreck Database which can be searched by state or territory and then by ship's name.