Dive Site - SS Courier
| Dive Site - SS Courier | |||
| Dive Location: | City / Island: | ||
| SS Courier | The Heads, Bass Strait, VIC | ||
| Country: | Rating: | Max. Depth: | Difficulty: |
| Australia |  |
42 m | Advanced Open Water plus Deep |
| Aquatic Name: | Water: | Altitude: | |
| - | Salt | 0 m | |
| GPS Latitude: | GPS Longitude: | GPS Datum: | |
| 38° 19.488′ S 38.3248° S 38° 19′ 29.28″ S |
144° 34.920′ E 144.582° E 144° 34′ 55.2″ E |
Google Map | WGS84 |
| 1 dive at this location: | |||
| 140 | |||
| Map: | |||
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| Comments: | |||
| The steel-hulled steamer SS Courier (aka Courier) spent 40 years carrying passengers on Port Phillip. She now lies in 42 m (138 ft) of water in the Bass Strait, upright on the sand, with her bow facing south. She is an accessible dive to deep-trained recreational divers. DIVING THE SS COURIER SHIPWRECK As with many of the shipwrecks in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard, the hull of the Courier has mostly collapsed. The bow and stern sections are lying over to starboard and are the best-preserved parts of the hull. The foredeck still retains a considerable amount of planking, a few deck fittings and some railing on the starboard side. This deck area is quite large and is an impressive sight, standing approximately seven metres off the bottom. Immediately behind this, the hull has totally collapsed, leaving the main deck hatch coaming sitting on the bottom. Behind this are the two boilers sitting in line. On days with good visibility, the dark shape of the stern can just be seen in the distance, although to see this close up requires a separate dive. The stem is also an impressive sight, but it is less structurally intact than the bow. The shape of the vessel's counter stern is still recognisable, and just forward of this, there is the remains of some superstructure. The shipwreck of the Courier is an oasis in the middle of a sandy desert. She is exposed to strong nutrient-rich currents and has become an anchor point for much temperate water flora and fauna. Brightly coloured multi formed sponges, anemones, hydrozoans, ascidians and soft corals including masses of bright yellow zoanthids can be seen encrusting any exposed wreckage from bow to stern. Schooling butterfly sea perch, common bullseye, pairs of old wives and the occasional blue devilfish have taken up residence and occasionally large crays can be seen at home under the massive boilers. The Courier shipwreck lies in the area of the ships pilot boarding zone, so is subject to shipping. Dive charter boats regularly schedule dives on the Courier, heading out from Portsea and Queenscliff. Private dive boats usually launch at the Sorrento Boat Ramp or the Queenscliff Boat Ramp. SS COURIER SHIPWRECK HISTORY - Built in 1887 The SS Courier was built by C.S. Swan and Hunter in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, and launched in 1887. The SS Courier was built for Huddart Parker Ltd for the Port Phillip excursion trade. She arrived in Melbourne at the end of 1887 to begin running in the Melbourne-Geelong trade in January 1888. The Courier was later also used as an armed auxiliary of the Victorian Navy. The overall length of the Courier was approximately 67.3 m (221 ft), beam 9.1 m (30 ft) and draught 3.8 m (12 ft) with a displacement weight of 660 t (728 s-ton). SS COURIER SINKING - Scuttled 29 March 1929 After lying idle in Melbourne for about a year, the steamship Courier was stripped of all fittings of any value. On Thursday 29 March 1928 the skeleton of the old Courier was towed by the tug Otter three miles outside The Heads into Bass Strait and sunk in 25 fathoms of water north-east of the Victorian Ships' Graveyard. Location GPS coordinates from the book "Victoria's Ships' Graveyard" are GPS verified.. |
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