''Cato'' was launched at Stockton in 1800 and registered in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to Reeve & Green. She was wrecked on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

, Australia, in 1803 at ().

History

''Cato'' first appears in ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...

'' in 1802 with C. Pearson, master, changing to I. Park, and trade London—Suriname.''Lloyd's Register'' (1802), Seq.№C194.
/ref> The ''Register of Shipping'' has a little more information; it also reports ''Cato''s armament, and shows her trade changing to London—

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

.''Register of Shipping'' (1802), Seq. №179.
/ref> ''Cato'', Park, master, arrived in

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, from England on 9 March 1803, carrying stores. On 10 August 1803, ''Cato'' left Sydney in the company of and , all bound for Canton. On 17 August the three ships got caught near a sandbank, 157 miles north and 51 miles east of Sandy Cape. With shrinking leeway, both ''Cato'' and ''Porpoise'' grounded. ''Bridgewater'' sailed on, despite knowing that the other two vessels had come to grief. The crew and passengers of the wrecked vessels were able to land on a sandbank as both their ships broke up. On 26 August 1803 with no sign of rescue, ''Porpoise'' passenger Matthew Flinders and Captain John Park of ''Cato'' took the largest cutter (which they named ''Hope''), and twelve crewmen and headed to Sydney to seek rescue. Through marvelous navigation, ''Hope'' made it to

by 8 September. Although three lives had been lost in the joint shipwreck, , and the schooners and , were able to rescue all the remaining passengers. ''Rolla'' then took the people she had rescued to Canton.

Naming

This sandbank become known as Wreck Reefs and is located in the southern part of the Coral Sea Islands approximately East Nor East of Gladstone,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

or east of the Swain reefs complex. They form a narrow chain of reefs with small cays that extends for around in a west to east line. ''Cato'' also gave its name to the nearby

Cato Reef Cato Reef, a part of Cato Bank, is an area in the Coral Sea off the central coast of Queensland, Australia. Geography Cato Bank measures approximately with an area of . Water depth is typically less than . As part of Cato Bank, Cato Reef ...

, which it discovered.

Citations and references

Citations References * * {{Australian historic shipwrecks with a protected zone, state=collapsed Shipwrecks of Queensland Ships built on the River Tees Shipwrecks in the Coral Sea History of New South Wales Maritime incidents in 1803 1804 in Australia 1788–1850 ships of Australia Merchant ships of Australia Full-rigged ships of Australia Australian Shipwrecks with protected zone Age of Sail merchant ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom