Expedition · Flora Reef, Great Barrier Reef
HMCS Mermaid
The survey vessel that charted Australia’s coast, wrecked on an uncharted reef in 1829. Found 180 years later.
Divers recording the site during the 2009 search for HMCS Mermaid
Vessel
18m teak cutter of 84 tonnes
Wrecked
June 1829, Flora Reef
Expedition
2009, 180 years later
Partners
Silentworld Foundation & ANMM
Finding a Mermaid
A little workhorse of a vessel
Phillip Parker King’s one-time survey vessel, aboard which he conducted much of his hydrographic work charting the Australian coast and with which he circumnavigated the country, was wrecked on uncharted rocks in 1829.
The 18-metre, single-masted teak cutter of a mere 84 tonnes proved a most reliable vessel for this work. After a takeover and refit in 1821, the little Mermaid, now Her Majesty’s Colonial Schooner (HMCS), supported further survey work by John Oxley. Another refit in 1829 turned this little workhorse into an armed vessel with an additional mast.
In June 1829, sailing from Sydney with despatches and cargo under the command of Captain Samuel Nolbrow, the vessel was wrecked on Flora Reef, uncharted at the time.
180 years later, a collaborative expedition between Silentworld Foundation and the Australian National Maritime Museum went in search of this most nationally significant little vessel.
2009
On the reef
