The Empress of the Sea

The Empress of the Sea was built in Boston, USA in 1853. Her overall length was 240 ft, her beam was 43 ft and her draught was 27 ft giving her a displacement weight of 1647 tons. She was owned by James Baines of the Black Ball Line and captained by the infamous Captain Bully Bragg. She caught fire mysteriously of Queenscliff on the 19 December 1861 while preparing for a voyage to England with passengers and gold worth 80,000. As the masts fell, the passengers, crew and gold were taken off in the ship's boats aided by the pilot schooner Rip. The captain was in Geelong discharging ten of the crew for incompetence while the rest of the crew seething with discontent had threatened not to take the ship to sea. Her cables were slipped and she went ashore eastward of Point Nepean and scuttled. The crew was suspected of arson but nothing could be proved. Little remains on the site now in 5-7 meters of water some 700 m from Nepean Bay inside Port Phillip. A commemorative plinth has been place on the site. Location: Depth: 4m to 7m Subject to shipping: No