The ''Australasia'' was a wooden-hulled

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Great Lakes freighter that served on the Great Lakes of

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between her construction in 1884 to her burning and sinking in 1896. On October 18, 1896, while loaded with coal, the ''Australasia'' sank in

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near the town of Sevastopol, Door County, Wisconsin, United States, after burning off Cana Island. On July 3, 2013, the wreck of the ''Australasia'' was added to the National Register of Historic Places. (Archived May 24, 2021)

History

The ''Australasia'' (Official number 106302) was built in 1884 in

West Bay City, Michigan West Bay City was a city in Bay County the U.S. state of Michigan. The City was formed from the communities of Banks, Salzburg, and Wenona. The city existed from 1877 to 1905 when it was merged with Bay City, Michigan. History Bangor/Banks Jose ...

, by the shipyard owned by Captain James Davidson. She was built for the Davidson Steamship Company, which was also owned by Captain Davidson. At a length of , the ''Australasia'' was one of the largest wooden ships ever built; her beam was wide and her cargo hold was deep. She was powered by a fore-and-aft compound engine which was fueled by two coal-burning Scotch marine boilers. Australasia ship

She had a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weigh ...

of 1829.32 tons and a net tonnage of 1539.20 tons. On September 17, 1884, the ''Australasia'' was launched as hull number #9. At the time of her launch, the ''Australasia'' was the largest wooden-hulled ship in the world. Because of her enormous size, the ''Australasia'' needed iron cross bracing, an iron keelson, iron plates, and several iron arches to increase her strength. She was used to haul bulk cargoes such as

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, coal,

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

and sometimes salt. She could carry these cargoes so efficiently that she earned a fortune for her owners at a time when small, less versatile wooden vessels were quickly being replaced by larger, and stronger iron or steel vessels. Just like all ships owned by Captain Davidson, the ''Australasia'' used to tow a wooden schooner barge.

Final voyage

On October 17, 1896, the ''Australasia'' was bound from a port on Lake Erie for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, carrying 2,200 tons of

soft coal Soft coal may refer to several lower quality types of coal, primarily used for power generation: *Lignite, or brown coal *Sub-bituminous coal *Bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance cal ...

. At around 6:00 p.m. near

Baileys Harbor The Town of Baileys Harbor is located in Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,003 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Peninsula Center is located in the town. The census-designated place of Baileys Har ...

, the crew of the ''Australasia'' discovered "a fire beneath the texas on the main deck". They attempted to fight the blaze but failed. The crew abandoned the ''Australasia'' before she reached Jacksonport, Wisconsin. At 10:30 p.m., the ''Australasia'' was about four hours off Jacksonport when the tugboat ''John Leathem'' came upon the struggling steamer. The ''Leathem'' began towing the ''Australasia'' to shore, but the

hawser Hawser () is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship. A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the hawse.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, third edition, ...

connecting them kept burning through. At 9:00 a.m. on October 18, 1896, the crew of the ''Leathem'' gave up trying to salvage her and instead dragged her onto the beach in of water south of Cave Point. Her crew decided to scuttle her, by ramming a hole in the ''Australasia'''s side with the ''Leathem'''s stem. She burned until the night of October 18, 1896.

The ''Australasia'' today

The ''Australasia'' was declared a total loss. Much of her cargo of soft coal and machinery was salvaged; however, her hull was beyond repair and was abandoned. Today her lower hull lies mostly buried in sand 15 to 20 feet of water off

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. Because most of her hull remains buried in sand, there is the possibility that different hull sections may be uncovered which may reveal more significant information about her construction. Not a trace of her cargo is visible on the site of her wreck, but traces of coal are visible on a beach nearby. The wreck of the ''Australasia'' is rarely visited by divers which means that very little site

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to the site has occurred. Close by are the wrecks of several other ships, including the early steel freighter ''Lakeland'', the large wooden bulk carrier ''Frank O'Connor, the wooden steamer ''Louisiana'', which was lost during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the schooner ''Christina Nilsson'' and the steamboat ''Joys''.

References

Notes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australasia, SS 1884 ships Maritime incidents in 1896 Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Door County, Wisconsin Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan Great Lakes freighters Steamships of the United States Merchant ships of the United States Door County, Wisconsin Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast Ships sunk with no fatalities Ships built by James Davidson Wreck diving sites in the United States