SS ''Ellengowan'' was a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

rigged, single screw steamer built by Akers Mekaniske Verksted in Christiania (

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

)

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, under her original name, ''Nøkken''. The vessel was powered by sail and a vertical direct acting steam engine. ''Ellengowan'' sank at its moorings, unmanned, during the night of 27 April 1888 in

Port Darwin Port Darwin is the port in Darwin, Northern Territory, in northern Australia. The port has operated in a number of locations, including Stokes Hill Wharf, Cullen Bay and East Arm Wharf. In 2015, a 99-year lease was granted to the Chinese-owned ...

and was abandoned. 103 years later, in 1991, she was discovered by divers making it the oldest known shipwreck in Darwin Harbour.Heritage: SS Ellengowan
(2007). Northern Territory Government. Department of Natural Resources, Environment and The Arts. Retrieved on 31 January 2010.Shipswrecks in Darwin Harbour
(2002). NT Government: Heritage Notes. Retrieved on 8 February 2010.

Early history

Built in 1866 by

Akers Mekaniske Verksted Akers mekaniske Verksted (often abbreviated ''Akers mek. Verksted'' or ''Akers Mek.'') was a workshop, later a shipyard which was established in Fossveien by the Aker River in Oslo in 1841. In 1854 the company moved to Holmen on the west side of P ...

in Christiania in Norway, ''Ellengowan'' was originally named ''Nøkken''. She was built for Mr D. Hegermann. The vessel was long, wide, had a depth of and had a gross register tonnage of 58. She was powered by sail and a vertical direct acting steam engine. Steam was supplied by a round

scotch boiler A "Scotch" marine boiler (or simply Scotch boiler) is a design of steam boiler best known for its use on ships. The general layout is that of a squat horizontal cylinder. One or more large cylindrical furnaces are in the lower part of the boiler ...

. Hegermann used ''Nøkken'' as a private

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

until it was sold to the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...

(LMS) in 1874. The Reverend Samuel Macfarlane persuaded Miss Baxter, of Dundee, to donate £3,000 for the steamer, renaming it after her own home "Ellengowan". Macfarlane wanted ''Ellengowan'' for missionary work in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. Departing from

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

, the work began with a trip to Anuapata (

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

) in November 1874, to establish the first mission in New Guinea. W. G. Lawes, a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

with LMS, his wife and the Reverend A.W. Murray travelled on this first trip. Lawes later became the first European missionary to take-up residence in Port Morseby. Macfarlane then organised an expedition to find the mainstream of the

Fly River The Fly River is the third longest river in the island of New Guinea, after the Sepik River and Mamberamo River, with a total length of and the largest by volume of discharge in Oceania, the largest in the world without a single dam in its catc ...

, a major waterway in

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, to determine if suitable land was available up-river to establish further missions. ''Ellengowan'' steamed for about up a river, but it was not the Fly. Macfarlane named this river the Baxter River (also called Mai-Kassa River), after Miss Baxter. Upon the vessel's return to Somerset, Macfarlane granted leave to James Runcie, captain of ''Ellengowan'', to take

Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave, MRAeS, (29 January 18506 July 1915) was a British-born Australian engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer. Biography Lawrence Hargrave was born in Greenwich, England, the second son of John Fletch ...

, an Australian inventor and explorer, Octavius Stone and Kendal Broadbent, both naturalists, in another (unsuccessful) attempt to find the mainstream of the Fly River and to cross the

Owen Stanley Mountains Owen Stanley Range is the south-eastern part of the central mountain-chain in Papua New Guinea. Its highest point is Mount Victoria at , while its most prominent peak is Mount Suckling. History Owen Stanley Range was seen in 1849 by Captain Ow ...

. A third expedition to find the Fly River was again mounted by Macfarlane on 3 December 1875. He was accompanied by Luigi M D'Albertis, an Italian naturalist and the police magistrate in Somerset, Lieutenant Cherster. On this occasion, the expedition was successful. ''Ellengowan'' steamed upstream for , establishing that the Fly was a large and navigable river. As a result, ''Ellengowan'' was the first European vessel to sail up the Fly and Baxter rivers. The furthest-most point on the Fly River that the expedition reached, on 14 December 1875, was named Ellengowan Island (7°49'13.66"S, 141°40'59.68"E)d'Albertis, Luigi Maria (1880, p. 28). ''New Guinea: What I Did and What I Saw'' Vol.II London: S. Low Marston Searle & Rivington. after the vessel.

''Ellengowan'' in the Northern Territory

The vessel was purchased from LMS in 1881 by the Palmerston Plantation Company, managed by Mr W. Owston, to undertake supply voyages from Palmerston (Darwin) to the Daly River where a sugar plantation had been established. While operating in this role, she struck a sandbar on the Daly River and sank.Searcy, Alfred (1907, p. 137-146)
''In Australian Tropics''
Published by BiblioBazaar, LLC. . ''Ellengowan'' remained a shipwreck for four years until she was eventually raised in 1885 by Charles Stuart Copeland, who intended to use the vessel to supply camps along the

Roper Roper is a craftsman who makes ropes; a ropemaker. It may also refer to: Places *Roper, North Carolina, USA *Roper River, Northern Territory, Australia People * Roper (surname) Other *'' Roper v. Simmons'', a decision of the United States Sup ...

and

McArthur River The McArthur River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria at Port McArthur, opposite the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands. The river was named by Ludwig Leichhardt while he explored the are ...

s. The vessel's first trip since being raised was a charter from the government to take a customs officer,

Alfred Searcy Alfred Searcy (4 January 1854 – 1 October 1925) was a South Australian public servant and writer. He was based in Darwin from 1882 to 1896 and was a booster for development of northern Australia during and after his time there. Family and edu ...

, in search of Macassan perahu along the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

coast. However, ''Ellengowan'' was so poorly repaired after its stay at the bottom of the Daly River, that upon its return to Port Darwin she was pronounced unseaworthy. Copeland had mortgaged ''Ellengowan'' to Herbert H. Adcock and Richard De la Poer Beresford, who then used her as a

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

hulk for Chinese passengers from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

to make up the 21 days port before being allowed to land. Being in such poor condition, ''Ellengowan'' sank at its mooring off Channel Island, unmanned, during the night of 27 April 1888 and was abandoned.

Discovery

The ''Ellengowan'' shipwreck was discovered in 1991 by local scuba divers following the assistance of historical research conducted by Margaret Clinch.S.S. Ellengowan 1866 - 1888 (1999). NT Government Department of Planning & Environment. Northern Territory Shipwrecks. Published by NTUiprint. The shipwreck's discovery and identity was later verified by archaeologists from the

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the ...

in 1994, making it the oldest known shipwreck in

Darwin Harbour Darwin Harbour is the body of water close to Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It opens to the north at a line from Charles Point in the west to Lee Point in the east into the Beagle Gulf and connects via the Clarence Strait wit ...

and the only known Norwegian built iron steamer in Australian waters. The shipwreck lies at a depth of approximately , in the channel between Wickham Point and

Channel Island The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, in Darwin Harbour's middle arm. The wreck is the largest feature to appear on a depth sounder in the area, standing about 3 metres off the harbour floor. Her exact location is given at: 12°32'28"S, 130°52'08"E. ''Ellengowan'' is a protected shipwreck under the ''Northern Territory Conservation Act 1991''. Visitors to the site are required not to disturb the site in any way, in an effort to preserve the remaining structure and artefacts for the enjoyment of future generations of site visitors.

Legacy

* A second ''Ellengowan'', also funded by Miss Baxter, was built for the London Missionary Society in 1881 by R. & H. Green at Blackwall. She was a 33 NRT iron-hulled sailing schooner with dimensions length, beam and depth. In 1895 she was chartered by British naturalist

Albert Stewart Meek Albert Stewart Meek (26 October 1871 – 1 October 1943) was an English bird collector and naturalist. Biography Meek was born on 26 October 1871 in Bow, London, the son of a merchant in natural history. In 1893 he travelled to Australia and ...

to make his first collecting trip to

Woodlark Island Woodlark Island, known to its inhabitants simply as Woodlark or Muyua, is the main island of the Woodlark Islands archipelago, located in Milne Bay Province and the Solomon Sea, Papua New Guinea. Although no formal census has been conducted sinc ...

, 170 km ESE. This vessel, under Captain Whitten, also operated between

Cooktown, Queensland Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...

, and

Samarai Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The island is historically significant as the site of a trading port and stop-over between Australia and East Asia. Samarai town was established on ...

, Milne Bay Province. In December 1898 the schooner was wrecked in New Guinea during a hurricane. * Ellengowan Drive, a street in the northern Darwin suburb of Brinkin, was named after the ship.Ellengowan Drive
(2010). Northern Territory Government: NT Place Names Register. Retrieved on 6 February 2010. * On the

Territory of Papua and New Guinea The Territory of Papua and New Guinea, officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New G ...

1:100,000 Topographic Survey maps Sheet 7282, which encompasses Ellengowan Island and the Middle Fly River, is titled ELLANGOWAN(

sic The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...

),and the island is named as Ellangowan(sic) Island.

Early history

''Ellengowan'' in the Northern Territory

Discovery

Legacy

References

Further reading