''Wave'' was a

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

that was wrecked in 1848 at Cheynes Beach near

Cape Riche Cape Riche is a cape and rural locality in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. By road, it is 525 km south-east of Perth and 123 km north-east of Albany Facilities in the locality include a boat launching ramp and a ca ...

, Western Australia.

Description and use

Built in 1838 in Victoria,

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

, the vessel was constructed from wood and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

sheathed. It had a square stern, single deck, no galleries and a billet head. The vessel was acquired by R. Brown in 1847 and was registered in London. It was then acquired in 1848 by William Younghusband and Company of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and registered there.

1848 wreck

The vessel was in command of James C. Coke and was transporting cargo from Adelaide to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

via Albany and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. The brig left Adelaide on 5 June 1848 loaded mostly with flour and was en route to Albany to load a shipment of

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for us ...

. On 5 July 1848, the vessel was anchored at Cheyne Bay near

when it was blown ashore by a heavy gale. ''Champion'' and were dispatched from

King George Sound King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...

to assist. ''Champion'' managed to pull ''Wave'' offshore but ''Wave'' was leaking badly and foundered then sunk.

Salvage

''Champion'' then salvaged some of the cargo and then transported the crew, minus the captain, back to Albany. Captain Coke sailed to Adelaide aboard , commanded by Captain

John Lort Stokes Admiral John Lort Stokes, RN (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885)Although 1812 is frequently given as Stokes's year of birth, it has been argued by author Marsden Hordern that Stokes was born in 1811, citing a letter by fellow naval officer Crawford ...

. The owners of ''Arpenteur'' acquired the wreck of ''Wave'' and that cargo not already salvaged for £330. ''Arpenteur'' sailed for Fremantle with 27 tons of flour, 1,000 bushels of wheat, the rigging and sails that the crew had salvaged from ''Wave''.

References

{{coord, 34.5945, S, 118.7516, E, display=title Great Southern (Western Australia) Maritime incidents in July 1848 Shipwrecks of Western Australia Brigs of Australia 1838 ships Ships built in Bermuda

Description and use

1848 wreck

Salvage

See also

References