H.C. Piggot

Wreck Dive | Boat access

Steam Driven Hopper Barge | Max Depth: 48 m (157 ft) — Graveyard

H C Piggot Hopper Barge
© Unknown

The H.C. Piggot (aka H.C.Pigott and H.C. Piggott) was a Melbourne Harbor Trust steam hopper barge with a hopper capacity of 600 tons of mud. A dredge would deposit the spoil in the Piggot's hull and when full the vessel would proceed to the Spoil Grounds south of Williamstown and dump its contents.

The H.C. Piggot was a sister ship to the Edward Northcote.

Diving the H.C. Piggot Shipwreck

The hull of the H C Piggot shipwreck is listing onto her port side. The superstructure is still recognisable and there is a large anchor sitting on the bow. The propeller shafts are visible but there are no propellers.

The H.C. Piggot shipwreck lies with her bow to the south and it appears that the vessel has broken in half. The hull is intact almost to amidships and stands in one piece sitting proud of the bottom.

The bow is very distinctive and is like the sweeping bow of a tugboat in its lines there. On what could be a foredeck there is a hatch coaming and aft of this the deck beams are exposed and intact, allowing penetration into the hull.

The hull continues past two or three intact boilers sitting side by side, or in a triangular arrangement, to a large broken section that signifies the end of the main site. More of the hull exists close by to the main site with the stem section broken away from the forward intact section of the hull. At the stern, a large iron propeller is still visible.

H.C. Piggot Dive Site Plan | Source: Jim Anderson

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.

H.C. Piggot Shipwreck History — Built in 1912

The H.C. Piggot was a steam driven steel hopper of 495 tons gross, built in 1912, by Fleming and Ferguson, in Paisley, Scotland. The overall length of the vessel was 160 ft (49 m), with a beam of 28.1 ft (8.56 m) and a draught of 12.6 ft (3.84 m). She was powered by a 54 horsepower steam engine.

The H.C. Piggot was one of three steam hopper barges built at the time for the Melbourne Harbour Trust, the others being the Edward Northcote and the Charles Duckett. The H.C. Piggot arrived in Port Phillip from Glasgow on Sunday 7 July 1912.

H.C. Piggot Sinking — Scuttled 14 October 1935

The H.C. Piggot was sold for scrapping in 1935, the boiler and machinery were removed. The H.C. Piggot was towed out to Area No. 3 in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard, Bass Strait, and scuttled on Monday 14 October 1935.

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 H C Piggot Shipwreck

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

The 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.

Book - Victoria's Ships' Graveyard GPS (verified):
Latitude: 38° 20.651′ S (38.344183° S / 38° 20′ 39.06″ S)
Longitude: 144° 26.368′ E (144.439467° E / 144° 26′ 22.08″ E)
Geoff Rodda 1:
Latitude: 38° 20.647′ S (38.344116666667° S / 38° 20′ 38.82″ S)
Longitude: 144° 26.366′ E (144.43943333333° E / 144° 26′ 21.96″ E)
8 m, bearing 338°, NNW
Geoff Rodda 2:
Latitude: 38° 20.642′ S (38.344033333333° S / 38° 20′ 38.52″ S)
Longitude: 144° 26.361′ E (144.43935° E / 144° 26′ 21.66″ E)
20 m, bearing 328°, NNW
Rowan Stevens:
Latitude: 38° 20.751′ S (38.34585° S / 38° 20′ 45.06″ S)
Longitude: 144° 26.095′ E (144.43491667° E / 144° 26′ 5.7″ E)
438 m, bearing 244°, WSW

It seems the Geoff Rodda marks are different positions at the same location we're using for the H C Piggot. The Rowan Stevens mark is quite different and seems to be a different spot on the Euro shipwreck. I would be great if someone could verify what the Geoff Rodda or Rowan Stevens GPS marks are, 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 for the H C Piggot, we'd love to hear from you.

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

H.C. Piggot Location Map

Latitude: 38° 20.651′ S (38.344183° S / 38° 20′ 39.06″ S)
Longitude: 144° 26.368′ E (144.439467° E / 144° 26′ 22.08″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-13 00:02:52 GMT
Source: Book - Victoria's Ships' Graveyard GPS (verified)
Nearest Neighbour: Euro, 434 m, bearing 246°, WSW
Steam Driven Hopper Barge, 495 ton.
Built: Paisley, Scotland, 1911.
Scuttled: 14 October 1935.
Victorian Ships' Graveyard, Bass Strait.
Depth: 46 to 48 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.