SS City of Adelaide 1916
Marker: recorded wreck position (First World War).
Key facts
| Name | SS City of Adelaide | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1916 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | First World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | ship, shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Storm or weather | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | Australia | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Sea / ocean | Great Barrier Reef | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Australia | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 7 km from land |
| Position | -19.1748, 146.8255 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
City of Adelaide was an iron-hulled ship that was launched in Scotland in 1863, spent a long career in Australian passenger and cargo service, and sank off the coast of Queensland in 1916. She served with several Australian shipowners, including the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, Australasian United Steam Navigation Company and Howard Smith.
City of Adelaide ship was built as a three-masted sail-steamer. In 1871 one of her masts was removed to increase her passenger accommodation. In 1890 her steam engine was removed and she was refitted as a four-masted jackass barque. In 1902 she was turned into a coal hulk. In 1912 she was gutted by fire.
In 1916 her burnt hulk ran aground in Cockle Bay, Magnetic Island, Queensland. In 1942 four people were killed when a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft collided with one of her masts. In 1971 Cyclone Althea broke up part of her wreck, but its remains are still visible in Cockle Bay.
Diving & visiting
In World War II the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) used the wreck for target practice for bomber crews from the nearby Garbutt Airfield. On 22 October 1942, six RAAF Bristol Beaufort bombers of 100 Squadron made a coordinated mock torpedo attack on Townsville Harbour, followed by a coordinated practice bombing of the wreck. The mock attack on Townsville Harbour was a success, after which the six bombers climbed to about 1,000 feet (300 m) and flew in a vee formation towards Cockle Bay.
Several of the aircraft dived at the wreck in a bombing run, during which one of the aircraft appeared to strike one of the masts of the sunken ship, before crashing into the shallow sea about 700 metres…
Location
- Recorded position: -19.1748, 146.8255 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Great Barrier Reef
- 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 SS City of Adelaide (1863) (revision 1343884914), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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