Name/TitleModel of HMS PANDORA
About this objectThe PANDORA was a 35m long frigate (keel length 29m) built in 1779, which carried 24 guns, and was commanded by Captain Edward Edwards. She left England in November 1790 and rounded Cape Horn to reach the Pacific. In 1791 PANDORA reached Tahiti and arrested 14 mutineers there. The prisoners were put in a cage on deck, which fittingly got the name “Pandora’s box”.
Finding no more mutineers, PANDORA headed back for England. The nearest way back was Torres Straits – the narrow and shallow passage between Australia and New Guinea. This is also next to the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. An area full of submerged coral rocks hidden slightly below surface, with only a few navigable passages.
The PANDORA hit one of the rocks and sank. Most of the crew and prisoners survived, and continued with the ship’s boats to Batavia (present Jakarta). Later, the mutineers were finally tried in London and three of them were hanged.
MakerThe Model Shipyard - Model maker
Maker RoleModel maker
Date MadeModern reproduction
Period21st century
Place MadeAustralia
Medium and MaterialsPaint, textile and wood
Object TypeShip Models
Object numberSF000894
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art