Antares

Wreck Dive | Boat access

Three-Masted Iron Barque | Depth: 2 m (6.56 ft) to 6 m (20 ft)

Antares Wreck
Source: Heritage Victoria

Level: Open Water and beyond.

The Antares was the last sailing ship to be wrecked along Victoria's Shipwreck Coast. The Antares lies between Peterborough to the east and Warnnambool to the west, offshore from the Mepunga Coastal Reserve. It's part of the Great Ocean Road Historic Shipwreck Trail.

On a voyage from Marseilles to Melbourne during World War I, the vessel sank and all 24 people on board perished. The Antares is significant as a sail trader carrying an international inbound cargo.

She had been carrying a large cargo of roofing tiles from France to Melbourne. Many of them are now to be seen amongst the battered and scattered remains of the wreck, which lies in six metres of water, just west of what is now known as Antares Rock.
Latitude: 38° 33.475′ S (38.55792° S / 38° 33′ 28.51″ S)
Longitude: 142° 46.125′ E (142.76875° E / 142° 46′ 7.5″ E)
607 m, bearing 129°, SE

Diving and Snorkelling the Antares Shipwreck

The Antares today lies in only 2 to 6 metres of water and is a little more than 70 to 80 metres offshore, west of the Bay of Islands.

See WillyWeather (Bay of Islands) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.

Shipwrecks of South-west Victoria | Source: Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum

Shipwreck Coast - Children, John Scott and Antares Wrecks

Antares Shipwreck History — Built in 1888

Antares
Source: State Library Victoria

The Antares was a three-masted iron barque, built in 1888, in Glasgow, Scotland and originally named Sutlej. The 1749 ton Antares was 260.3 ft (79 m) long, with a beam of 38.2 ft (12 m), and a draught of 23.1 ft (7.04 m). Bought in 1907 by brothers from Genoa, she was refitted and renamed Antares.

Antares Sinking — November 1914

Antares Sailing
Source: State Library Victoria

The Italian barque Antares left Marseilles on 18 December 1913 for Melbourne but failed to arrive and was reported overdue on the 207th day of her voyage. In November 1914 wreckage was found at the base of a cliff at the Bay of Islands near Warrnambool and a body had washed ashore. Some of the timbers were charred by fire, and a small boat's stern board with the name Sutlej led to the identification of the wreck as the Antares which had been reported missing.

In late 1914, after the beginning of the First World War, a young local man went one evening to fish near the Bay of Islands, west of Peterborough. He later arrived home hurriedly and in an agitated state declaring, "The Germans are coming!" His family laughed and disbelieved him, as this young fellow was prone to telling fictional tales.

About a month later, local farmers Phillip Le Couteur and Peter Mathieson were riding in the vicinity, checking on cattle. Phillip Le Couteur saw what he "thought was the hull of a ship below the cliffs." He rode to Allansford and contacted police. The next day, two Constables and Phillip Le Couteur returned to the site, where they dug a trench near the top of the cliff and sank a log in it. To this, they attached a rope, which they threw down the cliff face. Constable Stainsbury and Phillip Le Couteur then made the dangerous descent down the rope on the sheer cliff face. They found wreckage strewn around a small cove and a portion of a man's body under the cliffs. The hull of the ship could be seen about 300 metres out to sea. Some of the wreckage revealed the name Antares and the remains of the ship's dinghy bore the name Sutlej. During the next two weeks and with the help of the Warrnambool lifeboat and crew, two more bodies were found.

It was later realised that the local lad who a month earlier had declared he had seen German guns being fired, had probably seen distress flares fired from the deck of the Antares the night she was wrecked.

Heritage Warning: Any shipwreck or shipwreck relic that is 75 years or older is protected by legislation. Other items of maritime heritage 75 years or older are also protected by legislation. Activities such as digging for bottles, coins or other artefacts that involve the disturbance of archaeological sites may be in breach of the legislation, and penalties may apply. The legislation requires the mandatory reporting to Heritage Victoria as soon as practicable of any archaeological site that is identified. See Maritime heritage. Anyone with information about looting or stolen artefacts should call Heritage Victoria on (03) 7022 6390, or send an email to heritage.victoria@delwp.vic.gov.au.

Finding the Antares Shipwreck

Over the years we've been provided with different GPS marks for the Antares. The GPS marks we know of in circulation for the Antares are:

GPS (verified):
Latitude: 38° 33.268′ S (38.554461769111° S / 38° 33′ 16.06″ S)
Longitude: 142° 45.801′ E (142.76335134739° E / 142° 45′ 48.06″ E)
Dive Victoria:
Latitude: 38° 33.500′ S (38.558333° S / 38° 33′ 30″ S)
Longitude: 142° 45.750′ E (142.7625° E / 142° 45′ 45″ E)
437 m, bearing 189°, S

Eastern Maar country

Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Eastern Maar people of south-western Victoria between the Shaw and Eumerella Rivers and from Yambuk in the south to beyond Lake Linlithgow in the north. This truly ancient Country extends as far north as Ararat and encompasses the coastal townships of Port Fairy in the west, Warrnambool, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, Lorne, and Airies Inlet in the east, including the Great Ocean Road area. It also stretches 100 metres out to sea from low tide and therefore includes the iconic Twelve Apostles. "Eastern Maar" is a name adopted by the people who identify as Maar, Eastern Gunditjmara, Tjap Wurrung, Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrung, Kuurn Kopan Noot and/or Yarro waetch (Tooram Tribe) amongst others. We wish to acknowledge the Eastern Maar as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging.

Antares Location Map

Latitude: 38° 33.268′ S (38.554462° S / 38° 33′ 16.06″ S)
Longitude: 142° 45.801′ E (142.763351° E / 142° 45′ 48.06″ E)
Datum: WGS84 | Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-05-21 20:30:21 GMT
Source: GPS (verified)
Nearest Neighbour: John Scott, 3,250 m, bearing 314°, NW
Three-Masted Iron Barque, 1742 ton.
Built: Glasgow, Scotland, 1888.
Sunk: November 1914.
Bay of Islands, Shipwreck Coast.
Depth: 2 to 6 m.

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DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.

The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.