MV ''Fairwind'' (MSL 251) was an Australian Motor Stores Lighter wrecked off the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

coast in 1950. MSL 251 and her sister ship, MSL 252 (later ), were built by Tulloch's Pty Ltd for the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

. Completed in September 1946, the vessel was loaned to the Department of External Affairs and used for fishery surveys by the Papua and New Guinea Administration. The Department renamed the vessel MV ''Fairwind''.

Loss

In 1950, while on passage from

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, ''Fairwind'' disappeared off the mid-north coast of New South Wales during a

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

. She was last sighted near Smoky Cape. The ship's last communication was a radio report on 23 June, where she indicated that she was seeking shelter behind North Solitary Island short of fuel, but that she would attempt to reach

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 a ...

. Despite an extensive land and air search, the crew of 17, including 12

Papuans Papuans may refer to: * Indonesian Papuans – the Native Indonesians of Papua-origin * Papua New Guineans – the nationals of Papua New Guinea * Indigenous people of New Guinea The indigenous peoples of Western New Guinea in Indonesia and Pap ...

, were not found. It is official that all of the ''Fairwinds crew lost their lives in the sinking.

Rediscovery

The fate of MV ''Fairwind'' was not positively established until August 2009, when her wreck was found in deep water off South West Rocks by a team of amateur divers. The wreck sits upright at a depth of . The wreck itself is mostly intact, with the forward and aft king posts projecting from the seabed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairwind, MV Shipwrecks of the Mid North Coast Region Ships built in New South Wales Iron and steel steamships of Australia 1946 ships Maritime incidents in 1950 1950 in Australia Cargo ships of the Australian Army Ships lost with all hands