All the Queen's Own & the Indian
Shipwreck. Survival. Battle.
Shipwreck. Survival. Mystery.
Carrying the Queen’s own 50th Regiment of Foot from Sydney bound for battles in India, Fergusson, a three masted armed vessel of 555 tonnes, wrecked in the Coral Sea in 1841. All were rescued by accompanying vessels. The reef upon which it struck is now known as Ferguson Reef.
The opium trader, Morning Star, is reported to have been lost in 1814 about 10 nautical miles inshore of Fergusson Reef. Some survivors set off in a boat to reach help – those stranded were rescued by a passing vessel. Of the boat crew, only one survived a capsizing event.
The Australian National Maritime Museum in collaboration once more with the Silentworld Foundation set out on the 20th March 2013 to locate both vessels.