Early history
Built in 1866 by Akers Mekaniske Verksted in Christiania in Norway, ''Ellengowan'' was originally named ''Nøkken''. She was built for Mr D. Hegermann. The vessel was long, wide, had a depth of and had a gross register tonnage of 58. She was powered by sail and a vertical direct acting steam engine. Steam was supplied by a round scotch boiler. Hegermann used ''Nøkken'' as a private yacht until it was sold to the London Missionary Society (LMS) in 1874. The Reverend Samuel Macfarlane persuaded Miss Baxter, of Dundee, to donate Pound sterling, £3,000 for the steamer, renaming it after her own home "Ellengowan". Macfarlane wanted ''Ellengowan'' for missionary work in New Guinea. Departing from Somerset, Queensland, Somerset, Cape York Peninsula, the work began with a trip to Anuapata (Port Moresby) in November 1874, to establish the first mission in New Guinea. W. G. Lawes, a missionary with LMS, his wife and the Reverend A.W. Murray travelled on this first trip. Lawes later became the first European missionary to take-up residence in Port Morseby. Macfarlane then organised an expedition to find the mainstream of the Fly River, a major waterway in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, Western Province, Papua New Guinea, to determine if suitable land was available up-river to establish further missions. ''Ellengowan'' steamed for about up a river, but it was not the Fly. Macfarlane named this river the Baxter River (also called Mai-Kassa River), after Miss Baxter. Upon the vessel's return to Somerset, Macfarlane granted leave to James Runcie, captain of ''Ellengowan'', to take Lawrence Hargrave, an Australian inventor and explorer, Octavius Stone and Kendal Broadbent, both naturalists, in another (unsuccessful) attempt to find the mainstream of the Fly River and to cross the Owen Stanley Mountains. A third expedition to find the Fly River was again mounted by Macfarlane on 3 December 1875. He was accompanied by Luigi D'Albertis, Luigi M D'Albertis, an Italian naturalist and the police magistrate in Somerset, Lieutenant Cherster. On this occasion, the expedition was successful. ''Ellengowan'' steamed upstream for , establishing that the Fly was a large and navigable river. As a result, ''Ellengowan'' was the first European vessel to sail up the Fly and Baxter rivers. The furthest-most point on the Fly River that the expedition reached, on 14 December 1875, was named Ellengowan Island (7°49'13.66"S, 141°40'59.68"E)d'Albertis, Luigi Maria (1880, p. 28). ''New Guinea: What I Did and What I Saw'' Vol.II London: S. Low Marston Searle & Rivington. after the vessel.''Ellengowan'' in the Northern Territory
The vessel was purchased from LMS in 1881 by the Palmerston Plantation Company, managed by Mr W. Owston, to undertake supply voyages from Palmerston (Darwin) to the Daly River (Northern Territory), Daly River where a sugar plantation had been established. While operating in this role, she struck a sandbar on the Daly River and sank.Searcy, Alfred (1907, p. 137-146)Discovery
The ''Ellengowan'' shipwreck was discovered in 1991 by local scuba divers following the assistance of historical research conducted by Margaret Clinch.S.S. Ellengowan 1866 - 1888 (1999). NT Government Department of Planning & Environment. Northern Territory Shipwrecks. Published by NTUiprint. The shipwreck's discovery and identity was later verified by archaeologists from the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in 1994, making it the oldest known shipwreck in Darwin Harbour and the only known Norwegian built iron steamer in Australian waters. The shipwreck lies at a depth of approximately , in the channel between Wickham Point and Channel Island (Darwin Harbour), Channel Island, in Darwin Harbour's middle arm. The wreck is the largest feature to appear on a depth sounder in the area, standing about 3 metres off the harbour floor. Her exact location is given at: 12°32'28"S, 130°52'08"E. ''Ellengowan'' is a protected shipwreck under the ''Northern Territory Conservation Act 1991''. Visitors to the site are required not to disturb the site in any way, in an effort to preserve the remaining structure and Artifact (archaeology), artefacts for the enjoyment of future generations of site visitors.Legacy
* A second ''Ellengowan'', also funded by Miss Baxter, was built for the London Missionary Society in 1881 by Blackwall Yard#Greens, R. & H. Green at Blackwall. She was a 33Net register tonnage, NRT iron-hulled sailing schooner with dimensions length, beam and depth. In 1895 she was chartered by British naturalist Albert Stewart Meek to make his first collecting trip to Woodlark Island, 170 km ESE. This vessel, under Captain Whitten, also operated between Cooktown, Queensland, and Samarai, Milne Bay Province. In December 1898 the schooner was wrecked in New Guinea during a hurricane. * Ellengowan Drive, a street in the northern Darwin suburb of Brinkin, Northern Territory, Brinkin, was named after the ship.References
Further reading
* Clark, Paul (2008)