Star of Greece shipwreck: Lisa reviews the history of the Adelaide Coast region of South Australia

The waters of Gulf Saint Vincent can turn violent and that's what happened in 1888 when the Star of Greece came to grief just off the cliffs off Port Willunga. Built in Belfast, the three masted 70 metre long iron ship was a regular visitor to Adelaide and was bound for England with her cargo of 16-thousand bags of wheat when disaster struck.

Allen Lyne, Naval Historian: "She set sail from Semaphore around 7 o'clock and sailed down the coast hoping to pass through Backstairs Passage at dawn. But she ran into a very bad storm about 9pm, the captain put her topsails back and tried to heave too to ride out the storm. In hindsight, hindsight's always a wonderful thing isn't it? He really should have run for Kangaroo Island and fetched up in the lee of Kangaroo Island for safety. But he didn't - he tried to heave too and the ship of course came aground at Port Willunga at about 2am on the 13th of July in 1888."

18 men lost their lives on that dreadful night when they were hit by a 'one in a hundred years' storm.

Allen Lyne: "The ship was only about 200 yards from shore and yet they couldn't rescue the sailors - the seas were the highest in recorded history, they were around 50 feet and the winds were up around 80 miles an hour."

Rescue efforts were marred by a series of disasters throughout the day. Despite being spotted at first light the alarm couldn't be raised until the Willunga Telegraph Station opened at 9am. A buoy now marks the location of the wreck and when the weather is right it's an easy dive. Resting peacefully on the sandy ocean floor, the remains of the Star of Greece belie the violent seas that broke her up 121 years ago and back on shore, members of the Friends of the Aldinga Library do their bit to play tribute to the men who died. They recreate the anguish felt by the locals as they were forced to watch from the clifftop and the beach as the waves pounded the wreck and took the lives of 18 of the 28 crew - or was that 29?

Local author and theatre enthusiast, Tony Brooks dons a waistcoat and top hat to play the part of the ghost of the so called '29th Man'.

Tony Brooks: "It's not confirmed but there is a very strong feeling that there was a 29th man on board and the police helped to identify who it might have been. It was a fellow they were after for all sorts of financial scull-duggery. He was the props man at the Theatre Royal and he disappeared just before the Star of Greece went out. They never found him again so the assumption was that Captain Harrower had taken him on as an extra hand. It was a very bad choice on his part as only 11 survived and none of them was the fellow that the police were after."

For another part of the story, head to the Aldinga Library where a newly discovered relic of the ship has been unveiled. What's thought to be a spar from the ill-fated Star of Greece now hangs in the library after lying in the back of someone's garage for the last few decades. But some good did come of the tragedy - the bungled rescue attempts revealed the flaws in South Australia's lifeboat rescue network and as a result it was revised and improved in 1889.

The wreck of the Star of Greece lies in about three metres of water at low tide. It's marked by a buoy at the northern end of the Port Willunga Beach. If you prefer to stay dry you can se the spar at the Aldinga Library - it's in the Aldinga Central Shopping Centre on Pridham Boulevard, Aldinga Beach. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au

Aldinga Library
Aldinga Central Shopping Centre
Pridham Boulevard
Aldinga Beach

Published 16th August 2009