SS Australasia

The Australasia (Official number 106302) was built in 1884 in West Bay City, Michigan, by the shipyard owned by Captain James Davidson. She was built for the Davidson Steamship Company, which was also owned by Captain Davidson. At a length of {{convert|285|ft|m}}, the Australasia was one of the largest wooden ships ever built; her beam was {{convert|39|ft|m}} wide and her cargo hold was {{convert|21.2|ft|m}} deep. She was powered by a fore-and-aft compound engine which was fueled by two coal-burning Scotch marine boilers. File:Australasia ship.png She had a gross tonnage of 1829.32 tons and a net tonnage of 1539.20 tons.{{cite web |url = https://www.greatlakesvesselhistory.com/histories-by-name/a/australasia/ |title = Australasia |work = Great Lakes Vessel Histories of Sterling Berry |access-date = March 9, 2018 }}

On September 17, 1884, the Australasia was launched as hull number #9.{{cite web |url=https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?159314 |title=SS Australasia (+1896) |work=Wrecksite |accessdate=13 March 2018}} At the time of her launch, the Australasia was the largest wooden-hulled ship in the world.{{cite web |url = http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/47?region=Index |title = Service History |work = Wisconsin Shipwrecks |access-date = March 10, 2018 }} Because of her enormous size, the Australasia needed iron cross bracing, an iron keelson, iron plates, and several iron arches to increase her strength.{{cite web |url = https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/13000466.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140201232633/http://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/13000466.htm |url-status = dead |archive-date = February 1, 2014 |title = National Register of Historic Places Program |publisher = National Park Service |access-date = March 10, 2018 }}{{efn-ua|James Davidson was a well-known builder of wooden ships. While most companies started to build ships with steel hulls, Davidson kept building wooden ships and pushed the boundaries of wooden boat technology. Because of this he eventually manufactured some of the largest wooden ships in the world like: the Appomattox, the Frank O'Connor and the Pretoria{{cite web |url=http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/vessel/Details/218 |title=Davidson Shipbuilding |work=Wisconsin Shipwrecks |accessdate=17 March 2018}}|group=Note}}

She was used to haul bulk cargoes such as iron ore, coal, grain and sometimes salt. She could carry these cargoes so efficiently that she earned a fortune for her owners at a time when small, less versatile wooden vessels were quickly being replaced by larger, and stronger iron or steel vessels. Just like all ships owned by Captain Davidson, the Australasia used to tow a wooden schooner barge.

On October 17, 1896, the Australasia was bound from a port on Lake Erie for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, carrying 2,200 tons of soft coal.{{cite web |url = http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/vessel/view/000453 |title = Australasia |publisher = Bowling Green State University |access-date = March 10, 2018 }} At around 6:00 p.m. near Baileys Harbor, the crew of the Australasia discovered "a fire beneath the texas on the main deck". They attempted to fight the blaze but failed. The crew abandoned the Australasia before she reached Jacksonport, Wisconsin. At 10:30 p.m., the Australasia was about four hours off Jacksonport when the tugboat John Leathem came upon the struggling steamer. The Leathem began towing the Australasia to shore, but the hawser connecting them kept burning through. At 9:00 a.m. on October 18, 1896, the crew of the Leathem gave up trying to salvage her and instead dragged her onto the beach in {{convert|15|ft|m}} of water south of Cave Point.{{cite web |url = http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/47?region=Index |title = Final Voyage |work = Wisconsin Shipwrecks |access-date = March 10, 2018 }} Her crew decided to scuttle her, by ramming a hole in the Australasia{{'}}s side with the Leathem{{'}}s stem. She burned until the night of October 18, 1896.

The Australasia was declared a total loss. Much of her cargo of soft coal and machinery was salvaged; however, her hull was beyond repair and was abandoned.{{cite web |url = http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/47?region=Index |title = Today |work = Wisconsin Shipwrecks |access-date = March 10, 2018 }} Today her lower hull lies mostly buried in sand under 15 to 20 feet of water off Whitefish Dunes State Park. Because most of her hull remains buried in sand, there is the possibility that different hull sections may be uncovered which may reveal more significant information about her construction. Not a trace of her cargo is visible on the site of her wreck, but traces of coal are visible on a beach nearby. The wreck of the Australasia is rarely visited by divers which means that very little site disturbance to the site has occurred. Close by are the wrecks of several other ships, including the early steel freighter Lakeland, the large wooden bulk carrier Frank O'Connor, the wooden steamer Louisiana, which was lost during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the schooner Christina Nilsson and the steamboat Joys.

{{commons category|Australasia (ship, 1884)}}

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{{Registered Historic Places}}

{{NRHP Lake Michigan shipwrecks of Wisconsin|state=collapsed}}

{{World's largest wooden ships}}

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Category:1884 ships

Category:Maritime incidents in 1896

Category:Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Door County, Wisconsin

Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan

Category:Great Lakes freighters

Category:Steamships of the United States

Category:Merchant ships of the United States

Category:Door County, Wisconsin

Category:Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast

Category:Ships sunk with no fatalities

Category:Ships built by James Davidson

Category:Wreck diving sites in the United States