From the Archives, 1983: Divers plunder historic Queenscliff shipwreck
First published in The Age on February 10, 1983
Divers strip historic clipper for souvenirs
A 141-year-old shipwreck near Queenscliff was made a protected relic by the State Government yesterday in an effort to stop plundering by treasure-seeking divers.
The Minister for Conservation, Evan Walker, in 1983, after a dive to check over the condition of the William Salthouse. Walker is holding a pork barrel lid taken from the wreck.Credit:Peter Mayoh
Historians say the remains of the William Salthouse, the first ship to carry cargo from Canada to Melbourne, have been badly damaged by souvenir hunters since the find was publicised in December.
Under the protected zone clause of the Historic Shipwrecks Act, anybody found within 250 metres of the ship can be fined up to $1000, jailed for one year, or both.
Anybody caught stealing from the wreck faces a maximum fine of $5000 or five years’ jail, although no action will be taken against people who declare relics already taken from the ship.
A rigging plan of the William SalthouseCredit:The Age Archives
The incident has also prompted the Government to consider banning the public from the sites of future finds.
The two-masted William Salthouse was on the last leg of a voyage from England and Montreal in late 1841 when it struck a rock near Point Nepean and was beached near Queenscliff.
It was carrying at least 600 barrels containing pork, beef, fish and nails, several hundred bottles of wine and champagne, about 500 timber planks, 1000 iron bars and several boxes of gunpowder.
After several barges were sent from Melbourne to remove some of the £12,000 cargo, the 35-metre, 250-ton clipper was refloated and towed to sea. It sank about 1.5 kilometres off shore as crew tried to sail it to Melbourne.
Soon after the sinking, a Mr Cain, from Melbourne, failed in an approved attempt to salvage the ship. But in the past year divers using crowbars, shovels and suction machines have removed barrels, artefacts and metal fittings from the wreck.
The plundering increased after the State Government declared the ship an historic wreck on 22 December.
The State Maritime Archaeologist, Mr Ian Spooner, said yesterday that vandals had severely restricted historical examination of the ship. “There was once a high cargo sucking right up over the deck. Now it’s just hollow because of the destruction,” he said.
“People like to collect portholes and things which are of historical interest but it’s the damage they do looking for these things that worries us.
“Historic shipwrecks are a non-renewable resource. There aren’t going to be any more, so we’ve got to preserve the few that we’ve got.”
The author of several books on Victorian shipwrecks, Mr Jack Loney, said he was outraged by the damage done to the William Salthouse. He urged the Government to prosecute anybody found damaging or looting an historic wreck.
“It was an excellent relic as it was, but then people got to it, looted it and did irreparable damage,” he said. “’Now there’s very little left at all. It disgusts me.”
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