Broken Bay, a semi-mature

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

-dominated drowned valley

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

, is a large inlet of the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

located about north of

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or city centre is often referr ...

on the coast of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from the Central Coast. Broken Bay is the first major bay north of

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane Cove and Parramatta River, Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or harbor, natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. T ...

. Broken Bay has its origin at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

Pittwater Pittwater is a semi-mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, located about north of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from the C ...

, and Brisbane Water and flows openly into the Tasman Sea. The total surface area of the bay is approximately .

Geography

The entrance to Broken Bay lies between the northern

Box Head Box Head is a coastal locality, not a suburb, of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the local government area. It is within Bouddi National Park in close proximity to several beaches, including Iron Ladder Beach, Lobste ...

and Barrenjoey Head to the south. Barrenjoey Lighthouse was constructed in 1881 to guide ships away from the prominent headland. The bay comprises three arms, being the prominent estuary of the Hawkesbury River in the west, Pittwater to the south, and Brisbane Water to the north. These three arms are flooded rivers (rias) formed at a time when the

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

was much lower than it is at the present day. The Hawkesbury River flows from the confluence of the

Grose The Grose was an English automobile built between 1898 and 1901, Grose also built bodies for cars, buses, ambulances and commercial vehicles until the late 1950s. Company History Mr. Joseph G. Grose began work as a leather currier in Ambush ...

and

Nepean River Nepean River (Darug: Yandhai), is a major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River and its associated mouth, the Hawkesbury River, almost encircles the metropolitan region of ...

s at the base of the Blue Mountains.

extends south from Broken Bay and is the northernmost extent of the greater Sydney area. Pittwater's calm waters make it a popular sailing area. West Head, west of Barrenjoey Head, marks the divide between Pittwater and the Hawkesbury. Brisbane Water is the northern arm of Broken Bay and has the towns of

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extr ...

and Woy Woy on its shores. Lion Island, named for its profile's resemblance to a

Sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

from some viewpoints, is located at the entrance of Broken Bay. Lion Island Nature Reserve covers the entire island, and is home to a colony of fairy penguins.

European discovery

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

recorded "broken land" seen north of

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman S ...

just before sunset on 7 May 1770, and named it Broken Bay. However, there has been some controversy over whether what is now known as 'Broken Bay' was what was sighted by Cook. :

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to ut ...

, The colonists have called this place Broken Bay, but it is not what was so named by Captain Cook''.

Ray Parkin Raymond Edward Parkin (6 November 191019 June 2005) was an Australian naval seaman, writer, draftsman, artist and historian. He is noted for his memoirs of World War II (including his time as a prisoner-of-war), and for a major work on James C ...

in his book ''H. M. Bark Endeavour'' claims that the modern 'Broken Bay' was passed unremarked at night, and that Cook was in fact referring to the area around Narrabeen Lagoon. Matthew Flinders placed Cook's 'Broken Bay' at 33° 42' South, near to the mouth of Narrabeen Lagoon.A Voyage to Terra Australia, Vol Two page 2 (22 July 1802) Whatever the case, Governor Phillip was the first non-Indigenous person to examine the present day Broken Bay in a longboat from the ''

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CM ...

'' on 2 March 1788.

Role in attack on Sydney Harbour

On 28 November 2005, documentary film-maker Damien Lay claimed that the wreckage of ''M-24'', a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

midget submarine A midget submarine (also called a mini submarine) is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, ...

involved in the

attack on Sydney Harbour In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, Imperial Japanese Navy submarines made a series of attacks on the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three ''Ko-hyoteki''-class midget submarin ...

in 1942 and disappeared soon afterward, was buried under sand on the seabed, just east of Lion Island. Lay claimed to have confirmed that copper wiring found at the site was consistent with that used in similar Japanese vessels. A few weeks later,

Planning Minister

Frank Sartor Francesco Ernest "Frank" Sartor AO (born 9 November 1951) is a former Australian politician who served as New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) between 2009 and ...

announced that sonar scans conducted by the New South Wales Heritage Office at the location specified had found no trace of the lost submarine. ''M-24'' was eventually found approximately 13 kilometres south of Broken Bay, 5 kilometres off Bungan Head, proving the hypothesis that ''M-24'' chose to not draw attention to its mother submarines to the south of Sydney Harbour and instead moved north towards Broken Bay.

Gallery

Broken Bay with Lion Island.jpg, Broken Bay from Flint and Steel Beach Lion Island at sunset.jpg, Lion Island with the Central Coast in the background Barrenjoey Head from West Head.jpg, Barrenjoey Headland Pearlbeach01.JPG, Pearl Beach with Lion Island in the middleground and Pittwater in the background umina01.jpg,

Umina Beach Umina Beach is a suburb within the local government area on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. By road, it is north of the Sydney CBD and south of the Newcastle CBD. Umina Beach is locally known on the Central Coast as being o ...

on the northern side of Broken Bay

References

{{Authority control Central Coast (New South Wales) Bays of New South Wales Coastline of New South Wales Northern Beaches

Geography

European discovery

Role in attack on Sydney Harbour

Gallery

See also

References