5' 10' 15' 20' 25' 30' 35' 40' 45' 50' 55' 143˚E 5' 10' 15' 20' 25' 30' 35' 40' 45' 50' 55' 144˚E 5' 10' 15'

5' 5' SHIPWRECKS & SAFE HAVENS The best looking boat 10' on the river 10'

When identity Tommy Freeman Shannon 1906 bought the Shannon, he refitted her with a bigger 15' 15' boiler with three furnaces for better performance. By the time he was finished with her,“Shannon was spruce and fast. She could do fifteen miles an hour downstream. Maintained in top condition, and 20' painted sparkling white, she was the best looking 20' boat on the river.” But after she was snagged and sunk, Tommy lost interest and sold her, beginning a downward spiral 25' 25' that ended in her sale for conversion to a silt pump . What a sad fate for a once proud paddle “ Captain Johnson has been very unfortunate steamer. Perhaps this beach is not such a bad final resting place after all. 30' 30' with his commands of late. ” LAUNCESTON EXAMINER 17 September 1906

35' Navarine Reef 35' Harbinger Reef Neva wreck 1906 was not going well for Captain and she began to take in water at an Cove Loch Leven wreck Johnson. His previous vessel had been alarming rate.” 40' Cape Wickham lighthouse 40' driven ashore on King Island and With the pumps going and all hands wrecked. Now he was commissioned to Phoques Bay bailing furiously, she made it to shelter New Year Islands deliver an ageing paddle steamer across 45' under New Year Island.The crew spent Shannon wreck 45' the wild waters of . a sleepless night pumping and bailing, YOU ARE HERE The seven crew knew the risks.The and in the morning things looked

50' Shannon’s previous trip across the strait even worse. 50' had taken 15 days. The captain hugged Inspection showed that some of the the Tasmanian coastline as long as he boiler tubes had burst, leaving the 55' could, putting in to Stanley for a load of 55' Shannon helpless. Captain Johnson coal before setting course for . decided he had to beach the vessel to As is usually the case in accounts of save his crew. What you can see on the 40˚ Sea Elephant 40˚ shipwrecks, the fair weather quickly beach today are the remains of the Bay turned foul, degenerating into gale force boiler, the engine and the drive shafts. Currie lighthouse and harbour Naracoopa winds and driving rain. It was just too Blencathra And Captain Johnson? The local wreck Netherby wreck 5' much for the 21 horsepower vessel: 5' newspaper may have made snide remarks, British Admiral The Shannon in her heyday on the Murray River. “Tossing and twisting as she rode the but the inquiry into the loss of the wreck —STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA:ALAN GREEN COLLECTION storm, her redgum planks began to spring cleared him of all blame. 10' 10' Cataraqui wreck All that remains today: the Shannon’s iron boiler and drive shaft. —KING ISLAND TOURIST DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION Grassy Bay Grassy harbour

15' 15'

Seal Bay Carnarvon Bay wreck 20' 20' The that went down to the sea Facts and figures

25' The Shannon had a colourful career. that could carry 700 bales of wool to her new home, almost foundering Name Shannon Date 9 Sep 1906 Location Yellow Rock Bch KING 25' Here are some of her adventures: • Ran successfully between Swan Hill twice Rig Paddle steamer Construction Composite Tonnage 122 ISLAND • Built at Goolwa in South in and Mildura • With the paddle boxes making it difficult MARITIME 1877 for trading on the lower reaches of • Ventured across the Murray bar to get to haul alongside the narrow Tamar Date built 1877 Place built Goolwa, SA Place of register Adelaide, SA TRAIL 30' the Murray a new boiler fitted in Port Adelaide jetties, spent a year tied up without work Length 109.4’ Breadth 18.3’ Depth 6.3’ 30' • Caught fire in 1885 and sunk to prevent • Snagged and sunk near Mildura • Sold for conversion to a silt pump barge Owner Walsh, Warnock Master Johnson the fire spreading • Raised (again) and sold to Captain in Melbourne, requiring another trip • Raised and refitted, and converted to a Henry Mitchell for trading on the Tamar across Bass Strait Departure Launceston, Tas Destination Melbourne, Vic Cargo None two-decker passenger and cargo vessel • Back over the bar and across Bass Strait • Beached on King Island. 35' Crew 7 Passengers 0 Casualties 0 35' KING ISLAND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION 3304 e.g. design/ThylaSign Systems

40' 5' 10' 15' 20' 25' 30' 35' 40' 45' 50' 55' 143˚E 5' 10' 15' 20' 25' 30' 35' 40' 45' 50' 55' 144˚E 5' 10' 15'