The ''Moltke'' was a three-masted barque built in

Hamburg, Germany (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1870. The vessel was wrecked off the coast of northern Queensland, Australia in 1890 before being refloated and hulked. In 1911 the vessel was scuttled off

Geoffrey Bay Geoffrey Bay is a bay with a large sweeping beach on Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia. It is offshore from the suburb of Arcadia. The wreck of the sailing barque the ''Moltke The House of Moltke is the name of an old German noble fa ...

, Magnetic Island. The wreck of the vessel now hosts a wide range of underwater life and is a popular open-water dive site.

History

Built by Godeffroy-Zeit in

Hamburg, Germany (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1870 for the company Fritze & Gerdes, the ''Moltke'' was a three-masted, iron hulled, barque. The vessel sailed from Germany to Townsville, Australia in 1890 and was described as "beautiful, spotlessly clean and expensively furnished.". Having docked at Townsville to unload cargo and passengers the vessel continued onto

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

. On 1891-04-03, en route to Rockhampton, at the northern end of the Flinders Channel to the east of

Cape Bowling Green Cape Bowling Green Light is an active lighthouse on Cape Bowling Green, a long headland ending in a long low sandspit, about from Ayr, Queensland, Australia. The lighthouse is at the end of the headland, near the base of the sandspit. The ...

, the vessel ran aground upon a reef. The crew abandoned the vessel and returned to Townsville. The vessel was refloated and towed back to Townsville port by the , the salvage paid for by a syndicate of local investors led by a Mr. Page of the Port of Townsville. The contents and cargo of the vessel were then sold at a profit, with the vessel returning to service with Burns, Philp and Company Limited used as a coal

hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...

. In 1911, Dr McCabe, a local dentist who owned property at Geoffrey Bay purchased the hulk with the intent to scuttle the vessel to protect the jetty located in the bay. An explosives expert, William Bright, was contracted to sink the vessel. Accounts of the event suggest that while the vessel was being towed into place, the fuse for the explosives was lit prematurely by an intoxicated Bright. The tug boat pilot was able to release the tow lines and pilot clear of the vessel. However, the explosives aboard the vessel detonated and scuttled the boat in the wrong location and 10m depth.

References

{{Coord, -19.153745, 146.869344, display=title Shipwrecks of Magnetic Island Ships built in Hamburg 1870 ships Maritime incidents in 1911 1911 disestablishments in Australia 1871–1900 ships of Australia Colliers of Australia Coal hulks Merchant ships of Australia Passenger ships of Australia Barques of Australia