Dunloe

Wreck Dive | Boat access

Three-Masted Iron Barque, Coal Hulk | Max Depth: 46 m (151 ft) — Graveyard

The Dunloe shipwreck was a fast three-masted barque which traded around the world. Then served as a coal hulk in Port Phillip. After 77 years of service she was scuttled in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard, Bass Strait.

Diving the Dunloe Shipwreck

Dunloe Dive | © Ian Scholey

The Dunloe was an iron barque and is therefore difficult to pick up on the sounder, given there are no boilers or engine.

The Dunloe lies in 46 m (151 ft) of water in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard. It's just beyond the limits for recreational divers, but makes for a great dive for techical and decompression divers.

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.

Dunloe Shipwreck History — Built in 1870

Dunloe
Source: Geoff Nayler

The Dunloe was a three-masted iron barque of 704 gross tons, built in 1870, by Dobie & Co., in Glasgow, Scotland. The dimensions of the vessel were 180.9 ft (55 m) in length, with a beam of 30.4 ft (9.27 m) and a draught of 18.4 ft (5.61 m).

In 1903, she loaded a cargo of sandalwood at Fremantle bound for China. On this voyage she was dismasted in a storm off Java and had to put in for repairs at Anjer.

On its last voyage under sail, the full-rigged ship Dunloe sailed from Sydney Heads to Port Phillip Heads in just 40 hours. It was then converted into a coal hulk and served in this capacity from 1909 to 1947.

Dunloe Sinking — Scuttled 2 July 1947

At the age of 77, the Dunloe was towed out to the Victorian Ships' Graveyard by the tug James Patterson and scuttled on Wednesday 2 July 1947. At 16:57 p.m. the gelignite explosive charges were detonated, and at 17:02 p.m. the Dunloe disappeared into the depths. However, the scuttling of the Dunloe was not without incident, as reported in The Herald of Saturday 5 July 1947, page 3.

Rewi Caines at the wheel of Dunloe
after she broke the towline.
James Paterson tug in background.
Source: State Library Victoria

DRAMATIC BATTLE IN RIP WITH GELIGNITE-CHARGED HULK ADRIFT

After a dramatic battle in wild seas with a gelignite-charged hulk which broke adrift in The Rip when being towed out to be sunk, the crew of the tugboat James Paterson have returned to port.

On a course toward Port Lonsdale, to give more room in base of accident, the hawser-end lashed to the doomed vessel — the 77-year-old sailing vessel, Dunloe — slipped off.

With two men on board the hulk rolled and pitched in heavy seas, a big water tank crashed through the deck into the hold, and all the time there was the danger of the gelignite exploding.

Captain Hartley Watson, tug skipper in Port Phillip for 40 years, who was called from retirement to advise on taking the doomed ship through The Heads to the Torquay Ocean Graveyard, said today that the job was one of the most anxious and exciting experiences of his life.

"The proud old Dunloe just refused to die — and gave me a few more grey hairs," he said. "She gave trouble right till she went beneath the waves. When she finally sank I muttered, "Thank God she's gone!"

After a delay of several days by gale weather, the James Paterson left Williamstown on Tuesday towing the hulk. Because of the Dunloe's barnacle-encrusted hulk slow progress was made up the Bay and it was late afternoon when The Rip was entered.

Here the good weather changed, and a strong ebb tide, a fresh south-easter, and rising seas began to cause trouble. Capt. Watson took the two vessels toward Point Lonsdale so more room would be available if the 300 ft. tow-line snapped.

HAWSER SLIPS

He had just taken the new course when the hawser-end lashed to the Dunloe slipped off. Immediately the hulk was caught broadside by the tide and swept out at more than five knots. There was a danger of the explosive-charged vessel running aground on the rocks at Point Nepean.

The two men on the drifting hulk were Rewi Caines, seaman, and an explosives expert. The seas carried away their emergency dinghy.

Marooned and helpless, they clung on to the rolling and pitching unprotected decks, with the 65 ft. mainmast threatening to fall on them.

The Dunloe's keel was visible as she jerked and bucked with only fifty tons of ballast to steady her in the vicious cross seas. A 1,000-gallon water tank, set amidships, came away, and crashed through the deck into the hold below.

James Paterson Tug
Source: State Library Victoria

TO THE RESCUE

Risking a collision, the James Paterson ranged up within 30 ft. of the hulk after nearly an hour of maneuvering. A light 150 ft. line was thrown aboard, caught by Caines, and fastened to a bollard. The other man on the Dunloe could not assist because of violent seasickness.

The vessel had then drifted more than two miles outside The Heads.

The James Paterson slowly dragged the Dunloe back to shelter at Queenscliff against the tide and hampered and drenched by rain. Only the skill of the tug's crew prevented the new tow rope from parting in the treacherous waters. For two hours the ships were abreast of The Heads and unable to make headway. They reached Queenscliff in pitch dark at 9.30 p.m.

CLOSE CALL

"It was a time of racking anxiety," said Capt. Watson. "If the lighter line had snapped, it would have been disaster. It was a very close call indeed — a nightmare job for everyone."

After sheltering all night, the James Paterson took the Dunloe out through The Rip next day. Although weather was better, the vessels "had to battle the whole way" against a rising south-easterly swell. When they reached the graveyard, 12 miles from The Heads, seas were difficult and the wind troublesome, but the job was done.

The stern of the hulk was blown clean out by the explosion, which was detonated from the James Paterson's deck. Coal dust, smoke and planks were sent high into the air. The hulk sank in a few minutes.

See also, Heritage Council Victoria: Dunloe, and
Australian National Shipwreck Database: Dunloe.

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 Dunloe Shipwreck

It's been reported (18-Mar-2019) that the GPS marks in the listing for the Dunloe shipwreck are incorrect. VSAG went to dive there and didn't find the wreck.

Victoria's Ship's Graveyard book, plus some other even older sources, all have the GPS marks we're currently using on the web site.
Latitude: 38° 21.360′ S   (38.356° S / 38° 21′ 21.6″ S)
Longitude: 144° 24.205′ E   (144.403417° E / 144° 24′ 12.3″ E)

We've found different marks attributed to Rowan Stevens in a couple of places.
Latitude: 38° 21.360′ S   (38.356° S / 38° 21′ 21.6″ S)
Longitude: 144° 24.405′ E   (144.40675° E / 144° 24′ 24.3″ E)
291 m, bearing 90°, E

We've also been provided with two other GPS marks for the Dunloe by Jim Anderson.

• The first mark is for the wreck that the VSAG were looking for. This has an anchor at the bow and used to have a large rudder.
  Latitude: 38° 21.354′ S   (38.3559° S / 38° 21′ 21.24″ S)
  Longitude: 144° 24.246′ E   (144.4041° E / 144° 24′ 14.76″ E)
  61 m, bearing 79°, E
• The second mark is for a wreck also called the Dunloe. This wreck is the one I strongly suspect is the first wreck we dived on in the Ships Graveyard back in October 1972. It looked completely different then to what it does now. Was standing upright with deck beams, boiler and a propeller back in the 1970's.
  Latitude: 38° 21.100′ S   (38.35166667° S / 38° 21′ 6″ S)
  Longitude: 144° 25.001′ E   (144.41668333° E / 144° 25′ 0.06″ E)
  1,253 m, bearing 67°, ENE

It would be great if someone could verify which of these marks, if any, are okay, either by confirming that they've used them successfully or by checking them out. Or if someone has another known to be good GPS mark, we'd love to hear from you.

Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Wathaurong (Wadda-Warrung) people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes the coastline of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-east, the Bellarine Peninsula, and down to Cape Otway in the south-west. We wish to acknowledge the Wathaurong 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.

 

Dunloe Location Map

Latitude: 38° 21.360′ S   (38.356° S / 38° 21′ 21.6″ S)
Longitude: 144° 24.205′ E   (144.403417° E / 144° 24′ 12.3″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-12 10:27:12 GMT
Source: Book - Victoria's Ships' Graveyard GPS (verified)
Nearest Neighbour: Batman, 667 m, bearing 81°, E
Three-Masted Iron Barque, 704 ton.
Built: Glasgow, Scotland, 1870.
Scuttled: 2 July 1947.
Victorian Ships' Graveyard, Bass Strait.
Depth: 44 to 46 m.

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.