THE sunken remnants of the Edith Haviland vessel has been discovered overgrown by sea life on a submerged reef off the Carpenter Rocks coast.
With the help of retired Port MacDonnell abalone diver Dwayne Kelly and diver Steve Saville, former Limestone Coast resident Carl Von Stanke recently found the brig after years of research.
Mr Von Stanke said he helped discover the shipwreck on Christmas Day, adding it was one of the most significant findings he had been involved in.
“I think this discovery is a little bit more significant for me as people passed away when the ship went down,” he said.
“Five people died during its voyage … other wrecks I have helped find have not involved that.”
It was reported in Melbourne’s The Argus on June 26, 1877 the 264-tonne vessel went ashore on June 25 while sailing from Sydney to Port Adelaide by direction of captain J.Roddy.
The only passengers were the captain’s wife and three children, who all drowned according to the article, while another seaman reached land in a state of exhaustion before passing away.
It is believed that five minutes after the vessel struck a reef, it turned on its side and water poured into the boat, with the surviving seamen on-board only saved by clinging to the side of the brig.
The Edith Haviland was registered in Melbourne in 1873 and was built at Prince Edward’s Island in 1865.
Mr Von Stanke said he learnt about Edith Haviland after researching wrecks in the Limestone Coast region.
“I have known about the wreck for a long time, but I did not put too much research into it until around two to three years ago,” he said.
“I was drawn to this shipwreck in particular as it was one which had not been found in the area.”
After a first attempt to discover the vessel in 2018, Mr Von Stanke said the weather conditions had to be perfect as the brig’s wreck site was located in a difficult area.
“We had a look for the wreck in 2018, however the weather postponed it as it is really hard to get to,” Mr Von Stanke said.
“It is wrecked virtually almost on top of the Admella,” he said.
“We were able to go out on Christmas Day as it was pretty good weather conditions.”
Mr Von Stanke said the ship was found broken up and overgrown.
“This is not too uncommon as the coastline is rough in the region,” he said.
“You usually do not find the wreck site in tact.”
Mr Von Stanke thanked Mr Kelly and Mr Saville for their help in discovering the wreck.
“I am not sure whether there was anyone else who was researching this wreck, but I was liaising with Dwayne as he had done a lot of diving through that area,” he said.
“He has obviously dived on the Admella and he had found some other objects out there.
“He then told me about that and we went out to have a bit more of a look at it.”
Diving since a young age, Mr Von Stanke said he enjoyed the hobby of finding a wreck.
“When researching a shipwreck I usually turn to newspaper articles from when it all actually all happened,” he said.
“There is plenty of information in books, but it is a second-hand source.
“I am looking at other wrecks at the moment and have future plans to continue looking for others.”
