''Cato'' was launched at Stockton in 1800 and registered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to Reeve & Green. She was wrecked on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, in 1803 at ().

History

''Cato'' first appears in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

'' in 1802 with C. Pearson, master, changing to I. Park, and trade London—Suriname.''Lloyd's Register'' (1802), Seq.№C194.
/ref> The ''Register of Shipping'' has a little more information; it also reports ''Cato''s armament, and shows her trade changing to London—

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

.''Register of Shipping'' (1802), Seq. №179.
/ref> ''Cato'', Park, master, arrived in

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

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 ...

, from England on 9 March 1803, carrying stores. On 10 August 1803, ''Cato'' left Sydney in the company of and , all bound for Canton. On 17 August the three ships got caught near a sandbank, 157 miles north and 51 miles east of

Sandy Cape Sandy Cape (also known by the Indigenous name of Woakoh) is the most northern point on Fraser Island (also known as K'gari and Gari) off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The place was named ''Sandy Cape'' for its appearance by James Cook dur ...

. With shrinking leeway, both ''Cato'' and ''Porpoise'' grounded. ''Bridgewater'' sailed on, despite knowing that the other two vessels had come to grief. The crew and passengers of the wrecked vessels were able to land on a sandbank as both their ships broke up. On 26 August 1803 with no sign of rescue, ''Porpoise'' passenger

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

and Captain John Park of ''Cato'' took the largest

cutter Cutter may refer to: Tools * Bolt cutter * Box cutter * Cigar cutter * Cookie cutter * Cutter (hydraulic rescue tool) * Glass cutter * Meat cutter * Milling cutter * Paper cutter * Pizza cutter * Side cutter People * Cutter (surname) * Cutt ...

(which they named ''Hope''), and twelve crewmen and headed to Sydney to seek rescue. Through marvelous navigation, ''Hope'' made it to

by 8 September. Although three lives had been lost in the joint shipwreck, , and the schooners and , were able to rescue all the remaining passengers. ''Rolla'' then took the people she had rescued to Canton.

Naming

This sandbank become known as

Wreck Reefs The Wreck Reefs are located in the southern part of the Coral Sea Islands approximately east-north-east of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. Approximately east of the Swain Reefs complex they form a narrow chain of reefs with small cays that ...

and is located in the southern part of the

Coral Sea Islands The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, north-east of ...

approximately East Nor East of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

or east of the Swain reefs complex. They form a narrow chain of reefs with small cays that extends for around in a west to east line. ''Cato'' also gave its name to the nearby Cato Reef, which it discovered.

Citations

References

* * {{Australian historic shipwrecks with a protected zone, state=collapsed Shipwrecks of Queensland Ships built on the River Tees Shipwrecks in the Coral Sea History of New South Wales Maritime incidents in 1803 1804 in Australia 1788–1850 ships of Australia Merchant ships of Australia Full-rigged ships of Australia Australian Shipwrecks with protected zone Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom