AFRICAN 1853-1863
An English fully rigged Ship
Description
Fully Rigged 3 Masted Ship
Construction
Timber
Size
888 ton length 48m beam 10m draft 6.5m
Built
1853 at Sunderland, UK
Owner
Captain J Gibson
Sunk
1863/01/04
Location
Off Sunset Beach north of Geraldton
Latitude/Longitude
(-28.726058, 114.618849)
Sinking
En route from Champion Bay for Fremantle with a cargo of copper and lead ore and 200 bales of wool. During a heavy gale, the ship leaking, and the crew constantly manning the pumps, the ship hit a reef south of Point Moore. The African was badly damaged but managed to return to Champion Bay, where it ran aground. The cargo was unloaded and the ship declared a loss. Some of the timber was used to make new boats.
Underwater
Some wreckage remains – being ship fastenings and fittings, some 30 to 50m offshore at Sunset Beach, near the mouth of the Chapman River.