Brunette

Wreck Dive | Boat access

Three-Masted Iron Barque, Coal Hulk | Max Depth: 70 m (230 ft) — Graveyard

Diving the Brunette Wreck

The Brunette shipwreck was found in January 2006 by the Southern Ocean Exploration group. The Brunette lies 70 metres deep in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard, Bass Strait.

The Brunette shipwreck is a popular dive for deep/technical rated Trimix divers.

Wreck Dive on the Brunette | © Dive Victoria

Brunette Shipwreck History — Built in 1892

The Brunette was a three-masted iron barque of 382 tons, built in 1859, by C. Langley, at Deptford, London, and originally named Pride of the West by the owners Curven & Co., Liverpool. The vessel was built on the dimension of 141 ft (43 m) in length, with a beam of 25.3 ft (7.71 m) and draught 15.6 ft (4.75 m).

In 1866, the Brunette was sold to Couper & Co., Glasgow, and renamed the Brunette. On 8 June 1870, registered to George R. Dibbs, Sydney.

In November 1892, the Brunette's days as a deep water square-rigger were over and she was sold to McIlwraith McEacharn & Co., Melbourne, and converted to a coal hulk.

Brunette Sinking — Scuttled July 1913

After 54 years of service, the former barque Brunette was towed out to sea and scuttled in July 1913 in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard.

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.

Traditional Owners — This dive site does not lie in the acknowledged traditional Country of any first peoples of Australia.

Brunette Location Map

Latitude: 38° 22.341′ S (38.372351° S / 38° 22′ 20.46″ S)
Longitude: 144° 32.006′ E (144.533428° E / 144° 32′ 0.34″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-04 08:24:32 GMT
Source: Book - Victoria's Ships' Graveyard GPS (verified)
Nearest Neighbour: John Nimmo, 2,213 m, bearing 62°, ENE
Three-Masted Iron Barque, Coal Hulk, 382 ton.
Built: Deptford, UK, 1859.
Scuttled: July 1913.
Victorian Ships' Graveyard, Bass Strait.
Depth: 70 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.