SS ''Elingamite'' was an Australian passenger steamer of 2,585 tons, built in 1887, and owned by

Huddart Parker Huddart Parker Ltd was an Australian shipping company trading in various forms between 1876 and 1961. It was one of the seven major coastal shippers in Australia at a time when shipping was the principal means of interstate and trans-Tasman tra ...

. The ship was wrecked on 9 November 1902 off the north coast of New Zealand carrying a large consignment of gold. The wreck is now a favourite site for adventurous divers because of the drama associated with it, and wild tales of lost treasure.

Ship history

''Elingamite'' arrived at Sydney, on 22 November 1887, having departed from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

in England on 24 September, where she had been built by C.S. Swan & Hunter. She was a steel-hulled screw steamer long, in the beam, with a depth of . She was powered by triple-expansion compound steam engines, built by the

Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company Ltd was formerly an independent company, located on the River Tyne, England, River Tyne at Point Pleasant (Wallsend), Point Pleasant, near Wallsend, Tyne & Wear, around a mile downstream from the Swan Hunte ...

, which gave her a top speed of . There was accommodation for 100 passengers in 1st class, and another 100 in steerage. The

Victorian government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

had selected her for use as an armed cruiser, and she had fittings in place for four Armstrong 36-pounder guns (two forward and two aft), and machine-guns amidships. She was schooner-rigged on two pole masts.

The sinking

''Elingamite'' left Sydney early on Sunday morning, 5 November 1902, on the regular

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

run between Sydney and

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Captain Ernest Atwood was in charge. On board were 136 passengers and 58 crew, and a consignment of 52 boxes of coins for banks in New Zealand, including 6,000 gold half-sovereigns. The voyage was uneventful until mid-morning on the 9th when the ship suddenly encountered thick fog. Captain Atwood took necessary precautions, but the vessel struck West Island, one of the islands in the

Three Kings In Christianity, the Biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also known as the Three Wise Men, Three Kings, and Three Magi, are distinguished foreigners who visit Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in homage to hi ...

group, about north of

Cape Reinga Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua (; sometimes spelled Rēinga, ) is the northwestern most tip of the Aupōuri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. Cape Reinga is more than 100 km north of the nearest small town ...

on the northern tip of mainland New Zealand. The vessel foundered and sank within 20 minutes, but those on board managed to escape in lifeboats and rafts, some taking survivors to King Islands and some to the mainland. One lifeboat was never seen again. 45 people were killed (28 passengers and 17 crew) when the ship foundered. A party of 75 people from three boats landed on a rocky ledge on the middle King Island and after two days were picked up by the SS ''Zealandia'' and taken to Auckland. A raft and a fourth boat reached the Great King island and a fifth boat with 52 people on board sailed to

Houhora Houhora is a locality and harbour on the east side of the Aupouri Peninsula of Northland, New Zealand. It is north of Kaitaia. Waihopo, Te Raupo, Pukenui, Raio and Houhora Heads are associated localities on the southern shores of the harbour ...

on the North Island, 80 miles away.

Aftermath

A court of enquiry into the sinking began at

on 28 November and lasted about two months. Captain Atwood was found guilty of grossly negligent navigation (and on other matters), and his master's certificate was suspended. Eight years later the Australian Naval Station reported that the Three Kings were wrongly charted. In 1911, the '' Terra Nova'' surveyed the area and established the Three Kings group to be a mile and a quarter south, and a third of a mile east, of their position shown on Captain Atwood's chart. The enquiry was reopened and the court found that the sinking would never have happened had the chart been accurate. Captain Atwood was cleared of all chargesTe Ara: Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966 – Elingamite
/ref> and later became a ship surveyor at

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Salvage

Over the years there have been exaggerated claims that there was unregistered

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...

aboard, and inflated tales about the true value of the coins on board when she sank. It was worth £17,320 (approximately equivalent to $2 million in 2004 US dollars) which was a lot of money, but less than claimed by urban legends. For almost 30 years the ''Elingamite'' wreck has been a favourite site for adventurous divers and although widely dispersed and now relatively scarce, some coins have been recovered. The late Kelly Tarlton ran several salvage expeditions to this wreck, during which explosives may have been used to free non-ferrous metals from solidifying precipitate and ferrous corrosion. The wreck is now privately owned, having passed through several hands after auction of the rights to the wreck by the original insurance company.

References

External links

Picture from the State Library of Victoria

The Shipwreck, from the Christchurch Public Library

Programme of a charity concert for victims
* New Zealand Graphic photos

Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori language, Māori) or Tasmantis (from Tasman Sea), is an almost entirely submerged continent, submerged mass of continental crust in Oceania that subsided after breaking away from Gondwana 83� ...

at [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&MR=5&RF=HIORecordSearch&QI0=%3D%227-A14329%22 Queen Street wharf with survivors]
lifeboat approaching SS Zealandia
SS Clansman at Hohoura, [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&MR=5&RF=HIORecordSearch&QI0=%3D%227-A14327%22 occupants of the dinghy]
occupants of Captain Attwood's boat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elingamite 1887 ships Ships built on the River Tyne Shipwrecks in the Tasman Sea Shipwrecks of the Northland Region Maritime incidents in 1902 Three Kings Islands History of the New Zealand outlying islands Iron and steel steamships of Australia Ships built by Swan Hunter 1902 in New Zealand

Ship history

The sinking

Aftermath

Salvage

See also

References

External links