SS Ellengowan 1888
Marker: recorded wreck position (Steam era).
Key facts
| Name | SS Ellengowan | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1888 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Steam era | derived from year |
| Ship type | steamship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | Australia | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Sea / ocean | Timor Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Australia | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 19 km from land |
| Position | -12.3200, 130.5200 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
SS Ellengowan was a schooner-rigged, single-screw steamer built by Akers Mekaniske Verksted in Christiania (Oslo) Norway, under her original name, Nøkken. The vessel was powered by sail and a vertical direct-acting steam engine. Ellengowan sank at its moorings, unmanned, during the night of 27 April 1888 in Port Darwin and was abandoned. 103 years later, in 1991, she was discovered by divers, making it the oldest known shipwreck in Darwin Harbour.
Diving & visiting
The Ellengowan shipwreck was discovered in 1991 by local scuba divers following the assistance of historical research conducted by Margaret Clinch. The shipwreck's discovery and identity was later verified by archaeologists from the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in 1994, making it the oldest known shipwreck in Darwin Harbour and the only known Norwegian built iron steamer in Australian waters. The shipwreck lies at a depth of approximately 14 metres (46 ft), in the channel between Wickham Point and Channel Island, in Darwin Harbour's middle arm. The wreck is the largest feature to appear on a depth sounder in the area, standing about 3 metres off the harbour floor.
Location
- Recorded position: -12.3200, 130.5200 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Timor 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 SS Ellengowan (revision 1327124913), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Discovery”; 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
Browse more: Oceania wrecks · wrecks off Australia · Timor Sea · Steam era