SS Investigator
GPS: -34.527066 137.334731
Last Edited: 2/24/2021, 7:12:11 AM
Description
Investigator was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1882, and operated by the Adelaide Steamship Company when it was lost. On 24 April 1918 Investigator was on a voyage between Port Pirie to Port Victoria with a cargo of about 200 tons of superphosphate when it grounded on rocks southwest of Wardang Island.
A Marine Board enquiry found that government charts were inaccurate, and cleared the mate, who was on watch, of any blame. The wreck lies on a rocky reef seafloor in about 4m of water. The remains are collapsed and broken down with boilers and tubes and the engine in the centre of site with propeller shaft and iron stern. Some frames and iron plating are collapsed and an unidentified iron object lies just north of boiler.
Access
This wreck is part of the Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail and can be accessed by boat from the Port Victoria Boat Ramp.
The Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail features eight shipwrecks located around Wardang Island, near Port Victoria in Spencer Gulf.
Port Victoria, on the west coast of Yorke Peninsula, was an important trading port in the early 1900s and was one of the last Australian ports to see large square-rigged sailing vessels operate on a commercial basis. The last 'Grain Race' from Australia to Britain began from Port Victoria in 1949.