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he Isis was a timber, auxiliary, two-masted yacht built in 1892 for Mr C. H. Relph by Reeks of Berry's Bay, Sydney, for the sum of £ l4,000.
Length 84.5 ft
Beam 13.6 ft
Draught 9.4 ft
Tonnage 71 tons (reg. Lloyds of London)
80 HP compound steam engine replaced in 1921 by an oil engine
The vessel was then sold to Sir George Fairfax for £15,000, and her last owner, Mr W.
0. Buckland, managing director of William L. Buckland Pty Ltd. of Melbourne
purchased her, from the estate of Mr Samuel Perry. At the time of her wrecking the
Isis was valued at £6,000.
On Thursday 10 March 1932 the Isis was torn from her mooring at Frankston and swept onto a reef and sunk. According to the accounts of the day, a fierce gale occurred at 12.30 am and Mr W. Buckland, owner, Mr L. Thompson, captain, and Mr C. McClure, engineer, who were sleeping on board, had a narrow escape. The ship was over a quarter of a mile from shore in three fathoms of water when the gale struck, with winds of 60 to 70 miles per hour. It was impossible to weigh anchor and eventually she was driven ashore. No attempt was made to leave the vessel until 2.15 am when she started to break up, and then the three men took to the dinghy. Rowing to shore in a howling storm was no easy matter with Mr Buckland injuring his leg whilst boarding the dinghy, and Mr McClure losing one oar due to the violent seas, but Mr Thomson managed to row through the heavy surf with one oar to the beach. The Isis herself was blown ashore at a point 300 yards off the beach at Mornington Road, Frankston, where she was stripped of all her fittings including the oil engine.
Today the Isis lays approximately one mile west of Kananook Creek in ten metres of water. Only the boiler and engine remain above the sand. Over the years the local fisherman and divers have taken their toll on the yacht but there appears to be some structure left under the sand that may be of interest to the MAAV in the future.
Frank Derksen
Further dives on the site have been conducted enabling us to assess the impact of commercial scallop dredging on such sites, as well as diver impact. We have put together a site sketch of the remains of the vessel. The Isis wreck is located latitude 38008.083S, and longitude 1450 05.828E. The wreck lies in ten metres of water, on a flat sandy bottom, little current affects the site. Visibility due to the outflow from Kananook Creek is often poor. The main features of the wreck are the boiler and engine. The compound steam engine originally installed into the vessel was removed and replaced by a 100 LIP motor, which remains on the site today. The boiler is intact and upright, but with the furnace door broken off and lying not far away. The only intact part of the hull lies buried under the sand below the boiler and engine. A small section of wooden frames and planking protrude from the sand on the starboard side of the engine. Part of the hull is also visible around the base of the boiler, and in one section, there are five large brass bolts protruding from the timber, with some still having brass nuts still attached. To the west of the wreck site, this being the seaward side, a small amount of wreckage is visible consisting of three iron knees, and a section of timber 1.5 metres in length. The fastenings attached to this timber, along with most fastenings visible on the site, have been cut off at timber level. Most of the visible wreckage is on the east side lying close to the boiler and engine. A broken section of mast lies with rigging still attached, partially underneath the deck winch. The base plate for this winch lies just beyond that. In this area also lies a single bollard, a two metre section of timber, also with fastenings cut off, and the flywheel from the engine which is broken in two, but both pieces are visible. The northern end of this site (the stern) has little to be seen. A small section of lead pipe appears in the sand just beyond the engine, this being about two metres in length. Further to the north lies a large section of timber, three metres in length - this one has retained its fastenings. Visible amongst the wreckage are three rubber tyres, these probably were used as fenders as the age of the tyres relates to the period of the Isis. Copper sheathing is also to be seen in many places around the wreck site lying on the sand. There is no evidence of any wreckage forward of the boiler above or below the sand. Due to the large amount of damage evident on the Isis shipwreck site, there is no doubt that this site has been greatly disturbed in the past by commercial scallop dredging and recreational divers. It is quite well known that divers have dredged this site in the past, and this is obvious as the Isis holds little relic value. The carelessness of divers is illustrated by the way most fastenings have been removed. The impact of scallop dredging is the major threat to this site. The site lies in an area that in the past has often been worked by scallop fishermen and it is possible that further damage could be done if dredges work this area in the future. This activity has taken its toll on the site as large items such as the deck winch and bollard have been strewn around the site. The boiler has been shifted from its original position and there is no bow section visible forward of the boiler. Although the Isis has been greatly damaged in the past, it is still is an important site, as is any shipwreck, and bears a great deal of historical significance. The Isis being an Australian-built vessel as well as a fine example of Australian steamship building and is worthy of protection, which it currently does not have, and should therefore be protected under the Heritage Act. The recent damage to the Hurricane site caused by scallop dredging makes evident the impact this activity has on our shipwrecks. Other wrecks known to be damaged include the City of Launceston, Uralba and Eleutheria. This leads to the question: how much damage has already been done to other vessels wrecked in the bay that have not yet been located in areas known to have been dredged? If we assume it is likely that these vessels have been damaged, it then leaves us little hope in ever locating such sites. A good example would be the wreck of the Perseverance, a small 21 ton timber vessel wrecked off Frankston in 1866, presumably in the vicinity of the Isis. If, for example, a scallop dredge had come in contact with the wreck of the Perseverance, due to its age and being such a small vessel, it is very unlikely that anything would remain, or what did remain would be scattered over such a large area it would be barely detectable.
Malcom Venturoni
