City of Rayville

Wreck Dive | Boat access

American Steamship | Max Depth: 82 m (269 ft)

City of Rayville
© Unknown

The City of Rayville (aka MV City of Rayville, MS City of Rayville and SS City of Rayville) shipwreck has international historical significance as the first US vessel lost due to enemy action in World War II, and is one of four World War II wrecks in Victoria. She lies in 82 metres of water, in the Apollo Marine Park, approximately 14 kilometres off the coast of Cape Otway in south-west Victoria.

Diving the City of Rayville Shipwreck

After years of searches for the site in August 1997 a large steel wreck believed to be the City of Rayville was verbally reported to Heritage Victoria to have been found in the shipping lane off Cape Otway by technical diver Barrie Heard. Apollo Bay cray fisherman Harry Ferrier reported a large steel wreck in the same position to Heritage Victoria in January 1999.

City of Rayville Sonar | © Deakin University

The City of Rayville shipwreck site lies in 82 metres depth on a sand bottom, in the shipping lane with the bow facing east. Her hull and topsides are clear of the seafloor some 15 to 20 feet. Much of her steering house aft is still there. Hatch coamings, ladders, bulwarks, railings, deck winches, masts etc. Markings on plates recovered from the wreck have the initials IMMC and Buffalo Pottery. Buffalo Pottery produced crockery for commercial clients including the US armed forces, steamship and railway companies, and the International Mercantile Marine Company (IMMC). The IMMC owned the American Pioneer Line which operated the City of Rayville on a passenger and freight service to Australia (via the Panama Canal). Among the IMMC's other interests were the White Star Line which it took over in 1902, and it was, therefore, the owner of the RMS Titanic when it sank in 1912.

City of Rayville 2013 | © David Tipping

City of Rayville History — Built in 1920

The City of Rayville was built in 1920 by Oscar Daniels Co in Tampa, Florida, USA. She was a 5,910 ton displacement American steamship that measured 401.9 ft (122 m) long, 54.2 ft (17 m) wide and 31.3 ft (9.54 m) deep.

City of Rayville Sinking — 8 November 1940

On 15 June 1940 a Nazi raider named the Pinguin embarked on a mission to capture and destroy as many allied merchant ships as possible. Between June 1940 and May 1941, the Pinguin's Captain Kruder was responsible for one of the most successful operations by any German raider in World War II (Boyle: 112). Travelling from Norway to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans — and Bass Strait — before being sunk with most of its crew by the HMS Cornwall on 7 May 1941, the Pinguin sank twelve ships and captured sixteen as war prizes. The mines laid in Australian waters by the Pinguin and one of its prizes the Storstad (renamed Passat) sank an additional four ships and damaged another.

The Norwegian tanker Storstad was captured by the Pinguin on 7 October 1940, in the Sunda Straits. Renaming it the Passat and taking the crew prisoner Kruder converted it to an auxiliary minelayer. It was to be an important part of Kruder's plan — for both vessels to work in concert laying minefields around the Australian coast to inflict a maximum amount of damage, before the authorities would be alerted to the existence of multiple minefields — a waterborne blitzkrieg.

Between 29 and 31 October 1940 the Passat proceeded to lay 60 mines off the north-east coast of Tasmania, 10 mines off Wilsons Promontory, and 40 mines off Cape Otway, travelling west through Bass Strait in broad daylight. The narrow and busy sea lanes between Cape Otway and King Island, and between the islands off Wilsons Promontory were targeted as the areas most likely to maximise the destructive potential of the mines.

Meanwhile the American motor ship City of Rayville, a unit of the American Pioneer Line, had finished loading its cargo of lead at Port Pirie and had stopped at Adelaide to load more cargo. The City of Rayville's Captain Cronin was proceeding to Melbourne and then to New York. At 7.47 pm on 8 November 1940 as the City of Rayville entered the waters of Bass Strait, stars and stripes painted on both sides of its hull, it hit one of the Passat's mines. The Cape Otway lighthouse keeper reported a shot of flame, and Apollo Bay locals playing billiards heard a loud explosion. The crew reported water and planks and hatch covers raining down on the superstructure of the vessel, and ingots from the cargo of lead in the forepart of the vessel were also thrown onto the superstructure. The force of the explosion tore out the foremast.

Captain Cronin ordered radio operator Fred A Gritzer to send out an S.O.S. with the ship's position. The lifeboats were swung out and launched within four minutes, and 37 of the 38 crew were able to depart the ship, which already had its stern in the air. The mine had struck forward between number 1 and 2 holds, and within 15 minutes the bridge was awash — it was to sink completely within the next 25 minutes. One of the engineers was to pay with his life for an ill-timed visit to his locker to retrieve his belongings, the only other casualties were two crewmen who received shoulder and leg injuries and a rib fracture, and the ship's mascot was killed — a 'wild black cat' picked up previously in Melbourne. Captain Cronin ordered the men in the lifeboat to keep a sharp look-out for mines, while unbeknown to him the Apollo Bay rescue fleet departed the port at 8.15 pm.

It was a brave mission for the Apollo Bay fishermen, who in darkness and in the face of a biting and brisk north-easterly wind, would attempt to locate any survivors in the choppy waters. The first lifeboat was sighted at 10.20 pm, and eventually, all the crew and rescuers returned safely to Apollo Bay and put up for the night in the Ballarat Hotel.

The City of Rayville was the USA's first casualty of World War II, although the USA did not enter the war until over a year later after Pearl Harbour was attacked by the Japanese on 7 December 1941.

The sinking of the City of Rayville followed that of the British cargo ship SS Cambridge less than 24 hours before, which also sank with the loss of one life after striking a mine in the Wilsons Promontory minefield laid by the Passat. Bass Strait was closed to shipping until further notice and a mine-sweeping flotilla was ordered to clear the area. Rumours of Fifth Columnists working on fishing boats to help set the mines were denied by Mr Hughes, Minister of the Navy.

The effect on Apollo Bay was described as "a bit like a Collingwood premiership... all the sheilas were hanging around too. Not that there was a lot to hang around for because they were pretty old blokes, just ordinary merchant seaman" (Les Barrands, one of the Apollo Bay fishermen rescuers quoted in The Age, 8/11/1990). The crew were later entertained by Governor Sir Winston Dugan, while US Secretary of State Cordell Hull wrote individual letters of thanks to all the rescuers.

Following the sinkings of the SS Cambridge and City of Rayville, the sinking of the Royal Australian Navy's minesweeper HMAS Goorangai with the loss of all 24 crew on 12 November 1940 was a tragic sequel in the chain of events. HMAS Goorangai was ordered to salvage floating debris from the City of Rayville and sweep for mines in the area and approaches to Port Phillip Bay. Sunk in a collision by the Duntroon during a brownout in Port Phillip, HMAS Goorangai was the RAN's first surface vessel lost with all hands, and the first RAN vessel lost in World War II.

Yet another wreck in this chain of events was the running ashore of interstate cargo and passenger steamer SS Orungal at Barwon Heads on 20 November 1940 during a brown-out of coastal lights in squally weather.

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.

Finding the City of Rayville Shipwreck

It's unlikely the GPS mark from the Australian National Shipwreck Database is accurate. If anyone has an accurate mark, please let us know.

Bass Strait Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any shore or boat dive in Bass Strait on Victoria's coastline. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-in-bass-strait before diving or snorkelling this site.

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

City of Rayville Location Map

Latitude: 38° 58.800′ S (38.98° S / 38° 58′ 48″ S)
Longitude: 143° 30.600′ E (143.51° E / 143° 30′ 36″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2019-04-27 09:19:26 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-27 08:36:57 GMT
Source: Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database (approximate location only)
Nearest Neighbour: Seal Point, Cape Otway, 14,187 m, bearing 10°, N
American Steamship.
Built: Tampa, Florida, USA, 1920.
Sunk: 8 November 1940.
Apollo Marine Park, Cape Otway.
Depth: 82 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.