SS Australasia 1896
Marker: recorded wreck position (Steam era).
Key facts
| Name | SS Australasia | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1896 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Steam era | derived from year |
| Ship type | ship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Nearest coast | United States | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 44.9200, -87.1855 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Australasia was a wooden-hulled American Great Lakes freighter that served on the Great Lakes of North America between her construction in 1884 to her burning and sinking in 1896. On October 18, 1896, while loaded with coal, the Australasia sank in Lake Michigan near the town of Sevastopol, Door County, Wisconsin, United States, after burning off Cana Island. On July 3, 2013, the wreck of the Australasia was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Diving & visiting
The Australasia was declared a total loss. Much of her cargo of soft coal and machinery was salvaged; however, her hull was beyond repair and was abandoned. Today her lower hull lies mostly buried in sand under 15 to 20 feet of water off Whitefish Dunes State Park. Because most of her hull remains buried in sand, there is the possibility that different hull sections may be uncovered which may reveal more significant information about her construction. Not a trace of her cargo is visible on the site of her wreck, but traces of coal are visible on a beach nearby. The wreck of the Australasia is rarely visited by divers which means that very little site disturbance to the site has occurred.
Location
- Recorded position: 44.9200, -87.1855 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Nearest coast: United States
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 SS Australasia (revision 1372505621), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “The Australasia today”; 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
- Success 1896 · 1 km
- Ocean Wave 1869 · 5 km
- SS Lakeland 1924 · 15 km
- Christina Nilsson 1884 · 16 km
- Joys 1898 · 18 km
- Bullhead Point Historical and Archeological District 19 km
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off United States · Steam era