Fawkner

Wreck Dive | Boat access

Steam Driven Hopper Barge | Max Depth: 46 m (151 ft) — Graveyard

The Fawkner shipwreck, which les in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard, was a sister vessel to the Batman. She was used as a self-propelled hopper barge, a gunship, a torpedeo boat tender, and a minesweeper.

Diving the Fawkner Shipwreck

The Fawkner's propeller is visible and you can still do penetration dives on some areas of the wreck. The bow of this colourful shipwreck has plenty of marine life to be seen. The boiler is situated just a few feet from the stern and the "strongback" is clearly visible as you track over the hopper towards the bow.

Fawkner Hopper Barge
© Ian Scholey

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.

Fawkner Shipwreck History — Built in 1883

Fawkner Hopper Barge
© Unknown

The Fawkner was a steam driven hopper barge, built in 1883, by William Simons & Co. Ltd. at its London Yard on the South bank of the River Clyde in Renfrew near Glasgow, Scotland. Launched on 5 October 1883, the overall length of the Fawkner was 153.6 ft (47 m), beam 26.1 ft (7.96 m) and draught 12.2 ft (3.72 m) with a displacement weight of 388 l-ton (394 t).

The engine room of the barge was right aft, and the hold or receptacle for the silt took up a good share of the vessel's length. The barge was propelled by a screw driven by engines 70 horsepower nominal, or 350 horsepower effective. Tho multi-tubular boiler was constructed of steel and had a working pressure of 50 psi. The engines were compound and worked direct action on the screw. The diameters of the high and low pressed cylinders were 22 in and 40 in respectively, and the stroke was 27 in.

The Fawkner's ordinary speed was between 8 knots (15 kpm) and 9 knots (17 kpm) with the engine making about 70 revolutions per minute, and by putting on a spurt she could make 10 knots (19 kpm). The Fawkner could tow two 500-ton barges at the rate of 6 knots (11 kpm), and one barge at 7.5 knots (14 kpm).

Fawkner Passage to Melbourne

The Fawkner was rigged as a topsail schooner for her passage to Melbourne, so as to be able to take advantage of the wind when it could help her, but the voyage was essentially a steaming one. The craft acquitted herself creditably in all weathers. From the Clyde to Port Phillip occupied 80 days, inclusive of all stoppages. As the stoppages in ports en route ran into 14 days, the actual steaming time at sea was only 66 days.

The Fawkner cost £12,000 with an additional expenditure, probably amounting to £1,300, also being spent. The Melbourne Punch joked on Thursday, 17 April 1884, "Too Bad. Fancy the indignity heaped on to the founders of the colony by the Melbourne Harbour Trust, in naming their 'hopper barges' 'Fawkner' and 'Batman'."

Fawkner as a Multi Purpose Vessel

Fawkner Hopper Barge Gunboat | © Unknown

Fawkner Hopper Barge Bow
© Ian Scholey

The steam hopper barge Fawkner, and its sister ship Batman, was operated by the Melbourne Harbour Trust. To supplement the ships of the permanent force of the Victorian Colonial Navy, the Fawkner and Batman were armed so as to serve as naval auxiliary gunboats. The Fawkner and Batman were first armed in 1885 with one BL 6-inch 80-pounder naval gun and two Nordenfelt machine guns. Strengthening of the bow, the fitting of a magazine, shell room, crew quarters and some armour plating protection for the crew added two more gunboats to the fleet.

An air compressor with reservoirs for charging Whitehead torpedoes fitted to the Fawkner (circa 1887) enabled it to operate as a torpedo boat tender and service navy torpedo boats at sea.

Apart from its usual participation in dredging operations, often as an attendant to the Bunyip dredge, the Fawkner also served as a non-commissioned minesweeper in 1914.

Fawkner Collision Incidents

The Fawkner was involved in a few collisions. It was reported in The Age, Thursday, 22 November 1984 that the German steamer Pickhuben had collided with the Fawkner hopper barge in Coode Canal and the owners of the Pickhuben were seeking damages.

The Fawkner was involved in a collision with the tug steamer Otter on Monday, 4 November 1907 while swinging in the basin. The Otter sank and Captain Andrew Berry, master of the Otter, was found guilty by the Marine Court of careless navigation, and was suspended for three months.

The Fawkner was struck and holed on the starboard bow by the propeller of the coastal passenger steamer Karoola just before dusk on Wednesday, 24 September 1913 and ended up partially submerged bow first on the east side of the Yarra River with her stern well up out of the water — see The Argus, Thu 25 September 1913, page 5, River Collision - Karoola and Hopper Barge.

A party proceeded to the scene the next morning to undertake a survey and arrange to rollout the stranded barge. A quantity of silt was liberated from the after hopper to lighten the vessel, and a diver was sent down into the river to examine the breach. Matters progressed satisfactorily until 10 a.m. when those on board were greatly startled by the vessel taking a sudden list. The salvage party immediately warned the diver, who was below at the time and hauled him to the surface. Without further warning, the barge slipped back from the bank, turned over on her side, and disappeared below the surface of the river. The party luckily had sufficient warning of the capsise and managed to scramble ashore in safety. Beyond a portion of her davits projecting above water, there was no sign of the Fawkner, and it would prove to be a matter of great difficulty to raise her from the position she then occupied. The diver had a particularly narrow escape from drowning, as he was hauled up just in time, and his boat and appliances are sunk with the barge, to which they were, attached. See The Argus, Fri 26 September 1913, page 15, A River Sensation - Stranded Barge Capsizes - Crew In Peril..

The Fawkner was later refloated and stripped in the lower reaches of the Yarra River.

Five laid up steam hopper barges tied up at "Rotten Row", officially known as Spotswood Wharf, were offered for sale by the Melbourne Harbour Trust on Tuesday, 27 November 1934 — Burke, Wills, Batman, Fawkner and H.C. Piggot. The coal hulk Bunyip was also offered for sale.

Fawkner Sinking — Scuttled 20 May 1935

The Fawkner and Batman were launched together and met their ends a day apart. After 52 years of service, the Fawkner was towed out through Port Phillip Heads into the Bass Strait by the tug Sprightly and scuttled in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard on Monday 20 May 1935 at 1:30 p.m.

It was reported in The Argus, Wed 22 May 1935, page 5, that the Batman was sunk almost on top of her sister ship the next day, see Sister Ships of 52 Years Sunk Together. However, based on our current knowledge of the locations of these two vessels we have the Batman at:
Latitude: 38° 21.306′ S (38.3551° S / 38° 21′ 18.36″ S)
Longitude: 144° 24.659′ E (144.410983° E / 144° 24′ 39.54″ E)
which is 955 m, bearing 278°, W from the Fawkner.

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 Fawkner Shipwreck

Over the years we've been provided with many GPS marks for the Fawkner. The GPS marks we know of in circulation for the Fawkner are:

Book — Victoria's Ships' Graveyard GPS (verified):
Latitude: 38° 21.378′ S (38.3563° S / 38° 21′ 22.68″ S)
Longitude: 144° 25.310′ E (144.421833° E / 144° 25′ 18.6″ E)
Geoff Rodda:
Latitude: 38° 21.379′ S (38.356316666667° S / 38° 21′ 22.74″ S)
Longitude: 144° 25.295′ E (144.42158333333° E / 144° 25′ 17.7″ E)
22 m, bearing 265°, W

Mystery Fawkner GPS Marks

We have two other GPS Mark for the Fawkner, west of the Beverwijk 19.

Source: Dive Victoria:
Latitude: 38° 21.111′ S (38.35185° S / 38° 21′ 6.66″ S)
Longitude: 144° 25.023′ E (144.41705° E / 144° 25′ 1.38″ E)
647 m, bearing 319°, NW from Fawkner
216 m, bearing 274°, W from Beverwijk 19

Source: Geoff Rodda:
Latitude: 38° 21.106′ S (38.351766666667° S / 38° 21′ 6.36″ S)
Longitude: 144° 25.025′ E (144.41708333333° E / 144° 25′ 1.5″ E)
652 m, bearing 320°, NW from Fawkner
214 m, bearing 276°, W from Beverwijk 19

It would be interesting for someone to check them out and report back to us what if anything is there.

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

Fawkner Location Map

Latitude: 38° 21.378′ S (38.3563° S / 38° 21′ 22.68″ S)
Longitude: 144° 25.310′ E (144.421833° E / 144° 25′ 18.6″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-18 11:04:57 GMT
Source: Book - Victoria's Ships' Graveyard GPS (verified)
Nearest Neighbour: Beverwijk 19, 519 m, bearing 337°, NNW
Steam Driven Hopper Barge, 388 ton.
Built: Renfrew, Scotland, 1883.
Scuttled: 20 May 1935.
Victorian Ships' Graveyard, Bass Strait.
Depth: 44 to 46 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.