Dunbar 1857
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Marker: recorded wreck position (Steam era).
Key facts
| Name | Dunbar | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1857 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Steam era | derived from year |
| Ship type | shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Australia | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Sea / ocean | Tasman Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Australia | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 2 km from land |
| Position | -33.8503, 151.2881 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The Dunbar was a full-rigged ship designed and built from 1852 to 1853 by James Laing & Sons of Deptford Yard in Sunderland, England and used for maritime trade, as a troop ship and transport. The Dunbar was wrecked near the entrance to Sydney Harbour, Australia in 1857 with the loss of 121 lives. The wreck of the Dunbar ranks as one of Australia's worst maritime disasters, with the event still retained in the social history of Sydney and New South Wales.
The location of the wreck is now a heritage site, at Watsons Bay. An anchor from the Dunbar, a memorial and remains of the 121 onboard are located within Camperdown Cemetery. The property is owned by the NSW Land Registry Services. The site was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 17 October 2003. The Australian National Maritime Museum holds the John Gillies Collection of artefacts from the Dunbar wreck.
Diving & visiting
The Dunbar shipwreck is located beneath the South Head cliffs near to the Signal Station. There is a rock cut inscription on the flat (horizontal) sandstone cliff top above the actual wreck site location. The inscription reads: DUNBAR C.P. 25 Aug 1857 RECUT BY E.S.S. 20 Aug 1906". It is unknown which tools were used to make the inscription, which have subsequently been picked out by dark pigment (paint?). The inscription appears to have been cut by a witness to the tragedy and later recut on an anniversary of the wreck. Its historical associations are not questioned.
The Dunbar Anchor Memorial is part of a heritage location designated as the Dunbar Group.
Location
- Recorded position: -33.8503, 151.2881 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Tasman Sea
- Nearest coast: Australia
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Dunbar (1853 ship) (revision 1342783847), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Site, salvage and memorials”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- HMAS Pioneer 1931 · 4 km
- SS Ayrfield 20 km
- M24 Japanese Midget Submarine wreck site 22 km
- Maitland 37 km
- HMAS Parramatta Shipwreck and Memorials 1934 · 40 km
- HMAS Australia 1924 · 45 km
Browse more: Oceania wrecks · wrecks off Australia · Tasman Sea · Steam era