Sydney Cove is the name of a ship that was wrecked near Preservation Island in Tasmania on February 9th, 1797. The ship was rediscovered in 1977. The story of its crash and the crew's adventure is quite fascinating.
When it crashed, it had been dealing with bad weather on its journey since December. On the 8th of February, another wave of bad weather hit so hard that the crew couldn't keep up with the bailing and pumping necessary to save the ship. The ship's captain, Gavin Hamilton, decided to ground the ship on Preservation Island in order to save the crew. The ship was carrying spirits and goods to be sold at Port Jackson. They removed the spirits from the ship to a nearby island which is now known as Rum Island, because of this event. The ship's carpenter fixed up their longboat, and a smaller crew set off to seek help in Port Jackson. Only 3 of the 17 that left Preservation Island for Port Jackson made it; they shipwrecked on their way there and had to make the rest of the trek by land. The governor sent two ships, the Francis and the Eliza to Preservation Island to rescue the cargo and the remaining crew; both arrived in late June. The Eliza was lost on its return journey, but Captain Hamilton made it to Port Jackson where he wrote a detailed account of the journey, which is why we have these details today.
The wreck showed the colonial authorities just how little they knew about the southern coastline and its conditions. They set out on further expeditions, and soon had completed the first circumnavigation of Tasmania. Also, they found a lot of seals during their salvaging expeditions, and a sealing industry was born from there. Overall a very interesting history with some fascinating ramifications, particularly related to our class's study of animals with the discovery and harvesting of seals.
Brittany Hallawell
Source: http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=1747
Fascinating story! I often forget that Tasmania was discovered and explored in the late 1700s and early 1800s, late compared to the rest of the New World. It's also interesting that islands like Rum Island and Preservation Island were named after this event. - Hardie
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting story! I love how the islands were named after the events. It would be interesting to see what the rationale was for moving the spirits to Rum Island from Preservation Island
ReplyDeleteCool find! The thing that struck me throughout reading the account was the insane amount of time required to travel anywhere back then. Exploring Tasmania must have taken a lot more patience and exposure to danger back then
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