John Brewer Reef is located offshore from Townsville, Queensland, Australia, and measures . The origin of the reef's name is from the troop ships ''John Brewer'', ''Kelso'' and ''Arab'' which sailed from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for India on 16 June 1842. On board were 26 officers and 700 men of the

28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot The 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1694. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 61st (South Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot to form the Gloucestershire Re ...

(The Slashers). On 30 June 1842, all ships grounded on reefs north-east of Palm Island. The reef where the ''John Brewer'' struck is known as Slashers Reefs after then 28th Regiment's nickname. John Brewer Reef is notable as the site of the world's first floating hotel, now the

Hotel Haegumgang The Hotel Haegumgang is a floating hotel that began operations in Queensland, Australia, was moved to Vietnam, and is currently docked at Mount Kumgang on the east coast of North Korea. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it " ...

, and of ''The Coral Greenhouse'', which is one of the sculptures created by

Jason deCaires Taylor Jason deCaires Taylor (born 12 August 1974 in Dover) is a British sculptor and creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park – the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park – and underwater museum – Cancún Underwater Museum. He is best k ...

for the

Museum of Underwater Art The Museum of Underwater Art (MOUA) is a series of underwater art installations near Townsville, Australia. It is the only underwater art museum in the Southern Hemisphere and consists of three sculptures created by British sculptor Jason deCair ...

(MOUA) and at and is the world's largest underwater art structure. John Brewer Reef is within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. In March 2022 reef-wide cover of hard corals was 21.8 %, with some concerns from mass coral bleaching. Citizen scientists have reported over 240 species of fish and invertebrates, with the most notable being the whitetip reef shark.

References

{{coord, -18.629, 147.053, type:landmark_region:AU-QLD_dim:5000, display=title Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Reefs of Australia