Albert William

Wreck Dive | Shore access

Iron Lighter | Max Depth: 3 m (9.84 ft)

Albert William Wreck
© Phil Watson

Level: Open Water and beyond.

The Albert William shipwreck lies off Point Gellibrand in Port Phillip. The clipper bow, anchor chain and a few fittings are still recognisable.

Free parking at either end of Battery Road, Williamstown.

See WillyWeather (Point Gellibrand) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Albert William Shipwreck History

Albert William
Source: Heritage Victoria

The Albert William was built in 1863, by James Laing in Sunderland, England as a three-masted iron barque. She had an overall length of approximately 162.5 ft (50 m), beam 26 ft (7.92 m) and draught 17.3 ft (5.27 m).

Albert William Sinking

Totally wrecked on 18 May 1955 while under tow and the tow cable parted from tug Swiftness. Thrown against a reef in a freak 50 knots (93 kpm) SW gale off Point Gellibrand. Hugh and Anne Bennett had been living on the empty wool-lighter for a few months and lost all their possessions. With their dog, they spent a grueling 28 hours on board after stranding, before being taken off.

Albert William aerial view.
Shipwreck near the shore.
Source: State Library of Victoria

Army engineers blasted the remains on 18 August 1961. The mast was hauled away as scrap. The vessel had been partially broken up earlier.

Heritage Warning: Any shipwreck or shipwreck relic that is 75 years or older is protected by legislation. Other items of maritime heritage 75 years or older are also protected by legislation. Activities such as digging for bottles, coins or other artefacts that involve the disturbance of archaeological sites may be in breach of the legislation, and penalties may apply. The legislation requires the mandatory reporting to Heritage Victoria as soon as practicable of any archaeological site that is identified. See Maritime heritage. Anyone with information about looting or stolen artefacts should call Heritage Victoria on (03) 7022 6390, or send an email to heritage.victoria@delwp.vic.gov.au.

Sea Urchin Dive Site
© Julian Finn, Museum Victoria

Divers have the opportunity to catch Sea Urchin at this dive site. Remember your catch bag, dive gloves and Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence. Please abide by all current fishing regulations if you intend to catch Sea Urchin.

See article-catching-sea-urchin for practical Sea Urchin catching advice from The Scuba Doctor, and melbourne-sea-urchin-dives for other dive sites where you can catch Sea Urchin near Melbourne.

Boon Wurrung / Bunurong country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Boon Wurrung / Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes parts of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-west, down to Wilson's Promontory in the south-east, including the Mornington Peninsula, French Island and Phillip Island, plus Western Port. We wish to acknowledge the Boon Wurrung as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Bunjil the Creator Spirit of this beautiful land, who travels as an eagle, and Waarn, who protects the waterways and travels as a crow, and thank them for continuing to watch over this Country today and beyond.

Albert William Location Map

Latitude: 37° 52.328′ S (37.872125° S / 37° 52′ 19.65″ S)
Longitude: 144° 54.621′ E (144.910358° E / 144° 54′ 37.29″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map | Get directions
Added: 2021-02-08 15:52:17 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-29 01:31:12 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: Point Gellibrand, 465 m, bearing 280°, W
Iron Lighter.
Built: 1863.
Sunk: 18 May 1955.
Williamstown, Port Phillip.
Depth: 3 m.

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DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.

The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.