Haymet Rocks on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Haymet Rocks were reported by J.E. Haymet, master and owner of the cutter ''Will Watch'', when on passage between
''Pacific Islands'', v. 3
year=1900 Phantom islands Reefs of the Pacific Ocean
The Haymet Rocks were reported by J.E. Haymet, master and owner of the cutter ''Will Watch'', when on passage between Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...
and Rarotonga
Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings a ...
; in 1863 the cutter passed between two rocks and struck on the northern of the two, damaging her false keel The false keel was a timber, forming part of the hull of a wooden sailing ship. Typically thick for a 74-gun ship in the 19th century, the false keel was constructed in several pieces, which were scarfed together, and attached to the underside of ...
. The rocks are said to extend over a space of about a quarter of a mile, to have been distinctly seen, and with apparently 7 or 8 feet (2.1 or 2.4 m) of water over them. Haymet gave their position as , which would place them about 135 miles (217 km) west of the position assigned to Orne Bank.
These rocks were unsuccessfully searched for, in the position given, by HMS ''Satellite'' in 1886, and again by the French Government vessel ''Fabert'' in 1887; the latter vessel spent three days in the search under favourable circumstances of wind and weather, running over some 253 miles (407 km) within a radius of from 20 to 25 miles (32 to 40 km) of the position assigned, and with no result. A depth of 68 fathoms (124 m) to the rocky ocean floor was found by the ''Fabert'' at .
In December 1882, however, a Lloyd's agent at Rarotonga reported that the Haymet rocks were supposed to exist about 150 miles (240 km) SSW of Rarotonga, and therefore right in the track of vessels bound from Auckland to that island, who always give this supposed position a wide berth. If this information is correct, these rocks are about 240 miles (385 km) NNW of the position as given by Haymet and still shown on the charts.
It was suggested that the Haymet Rocks were a remnant of sunken island Tuanaki.
Notes
{{PD-old-text, titl''Pacific Islands'', v. 3
year=1900 Phantom islands Reefs of the Pacific Ocean