SS Australis

The Wreck

Photo courtesy Graham Ridley

One of the biggest questions I was asked is “where is the back half of the ship?” In answer to this the ship beached on a sandbar, the bow area stuck fast and the stern in deeper water. The waves smashing into her had a bending effect and snapped the ship in two, the stern disappeared rather quickly in comparison with the bow. See photos below of her on a calm day where the stern can be easily seen. My original website had a very active update to this page as we watched the decay over several years. I just now present some photos of her demise.

The wreck today

Underwater photos of the wreck today, I believe these are from Daniel Segura Diaz.
Search Youtube and you will see some incredible dive footage of the ship wreck
The above shows a haunting image of the American Star sailing past her resting place. This was an artists project where the installed lights in cabins etc ran by generators to form part of an exhibition.
Colour image of the Artists work
The stern been in deeper water disintegrated faster, leaving the front half of the ship visible for many years after. These aerial photos courtesy of Johannes Gobel show the stern section.