A tree in a ship.

The Garden Island Ships' Graveyard, in the North Arm of the Port Adelaide River, offers paddlers a chance to experience part of South Australia's early maritime history.

The 26 wrecks at Garden Island are part of one of the world's largest and most diverse ships' graveyards. Boasting the remains of sailing ships, steamers, motor vessels, ferries, barges, dredgers and pontoons, the site provides a unique glimpse into our past.

The mudflats the wrecks lay on are bounded by mangroves – one of the few remaining systems in metropolitan Adelaide. This eco-system provides a habitat for dolphins, other marine creatures and bird species, enhancing a recreational paddler's experience.

The Garden Island Ships' Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail is marked by three on-water signs near the main group of wrecks, as well as two on-land signs at the Garden Island boat ramp.

For more information visit "shipsgraveyards"

       Dorothy H. Sterling, Port Adelaide, 1929
(South Australian Maritime Museum)
Six masted schooner; wooden hull; 2526 tons gross
Length 81.4m; Breadth 15.3m; Depth 7.7m
Built: 1920 - Portland, Oregon, USA

Dorothy H. Sterling (1920 - 1932)
The Dorothy H. Sterling (formerly named Oregon Pine) became a victim of the Great Depression when it arrived in Port Adelaide in 1929 with a cargo of timber from the USA. Unpaid harbour dues resulted in the schooner being seized and offered at auction.
Bids did not reach the reserve and the vessel was eventually sold to a local shipbreaker. The six lower masts were purchased and removed by the Harbors Board, subsequently being cut into three sections and used at Outer Harbor.
During the next three years the wooden schooner was systematically dismantled in the Jervois Basin, Port Adelaide.
On 6 June 1932 the gutted hull was towed to the eastern end of the North Arm to be broken apart by the unemployed as a source of free firewood.
The Dorothy H. Sterling was the largest vessel abandoned in the Ships’ Graveyard. Today the hull structure is easily seen above and below water. The remains form a small island, reclaimed by silt and colonised by mangroves.

      **Please note The cache is not on any part of the wreckage.**

Boat operators should remember that it is illegal to anchor into an Historic Shipwreck as this will inevitably cause damage. As most wrecks do not have permanent mooring facilities, recreational divers and anglers should anchor off the wreck and allow the vessel to drift back to the required position.