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The Haymet Rocks were reported by J.E. Haymet, master and owner of the cutter ''Will Watch'', when on passage between
''Pacific Islands'', v. 3
year=1900 Phantom islands Reefs of the Pacific Ocean
The Haymet Rocks were reported by J.E. Haymet, master and owner of the cutter ''Will Watch'', when on passage between 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 ...
and Rarotonga
Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040. The Parliament of the Cook Islands, Coo ...
; in 1863 the cutter passed between two rocks and struck on the northern of the two, damaging her false keel The false keel was a timber, forming part of the hull of a wooden sailing ship. Typically thick for a 74-gun ship in the 19th century, the false keel was constructed in several pieces, which were scarfed together, and attached to the underside of ...
. The rocks are said to extend over a space of about a quarter of a mile, to have been distinctly seen, and with apparently of water over them. Haymet gave their position as , which would place them about west of the position assigned to Orne Bank.
These rocks were unsuccessfully searched for, in the position given, by HMS ''Satellite'' in 1886, and again by the French Government vessel ''Fabert'' in 1887; the latter vessel spent three days in the search under favourable circumstances of wind and weather, running over some within a radius of from of the position assigned, and with no result. A depth of to the rocky ocean floor was found by the ''Fabert'' at .
In December 1882, however, a Lloyd's agent at Rarotonga reported that the Haymet rocks were supposed to exist about SSW of Rarotonga, and therefore right in the track of vessels bound from Auckland to that island, who always give this supposed position a wide berth. If this information is correct, these rocks are about NNW of the position as given by Haymet and still shown on the charts.
It was suggested that the Haymet Rocks were a remnant of sunken island Tuanaki.
Notes
{{PD-old-text, titl''Pacific Islands'', v. 3
year=1900 Phantom islands Reefs of the Pacific Ocean