From shipwreck to survey marker
At the time of North America’s 1843 grounding, the wreck of Samuel Wright was still visible a short distance away. In fact, enough of the Salem whaleship’s hull was extant following its loss that Francis Coffin — who purchased the wreck for £305 at auction in July 1840 — attempted to lease it as a storehouse to the first European settlers to inhabit what would become the town of Bunbury. By 1842 Samuel Wright was still in sound condition, although its back was broken as a consequence of sand being scoured from beneath the bow and stern.
Rev John Wollaston’s 1843 map, showing the wrecks of Samuel Wright and North America (inset). Image: Rev John Wollaston / Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.
In 1842, surveyor Henry Mortlock Ommaney laid out Bunbury’s town plan. He used the tallest and most conspicuous landmark then in existence to take angles and calculate the locations of the town’s streets and property boundaries. This was the mainmast of ‘Coffin’s Wreck’, a nickname Ommaney assigned to the remnants of Samuel Wright. Use of the wreck as a survey mark would ultimately (and inadvertently) distinguish Bunbury as the only municipality in Australia with an original town plan based on a shipwreck.
An 1843 tracing of Ommaney’s map drawn by Reverend John Wollaston includes hand-drawn annotated depictions of the ‘wreck of ship Samuel Wright’ and ‘the North America ashore’. Of note is that the hull of the former is shown largely intact, although only its mainmast remains in place and the bowsprit has been shortened. By contrast, North America seems to be a relatively new wreck with all three of its masts complete and still standing. The North America wrecked in 1840 appears to have largely broken up and disappeared from view by 1843, so there is every likelihood the latter North America is the one shown. This is supported by the fact the map was drafted only eight days after it first went aground.
The uncovered hull of the wrecked whaleship North America, circa 1962. Image: Rod Dixon / Western Australian Museum.
Buried by the sands of time
As the 19th century wore on, the wrecked whalers at Koombana Bay were abandoned and their remnant upper-works — where exposed above the sand — gradually deteriorated or were dismantled and dispersed. Their buried lower hulls, by contrast, became encapsulated in a preservative environment that was cool, dark, waterlogged and oxygen-deprived. This coincided with development of Bunbury’s port infrastructure, which culminated in the creation of a stone breakwater along the bay’s northwest periphery in 1896. The breakwater disrupted natural currents and longshore drift, which in turn resulted in sedimentation and accretion of the shoreline at North Beach. Between 1896 and 1936, the shoreline expanded approximately 200 metres north of its pre-1896 location, burying the wrecked American whaleships — and remnants of ten other vessels lost between 1843 and 1903 — under an additional three to six metres of beach sand.
The surviving hull of North America shortly after its discovery, c. 1962. Image: Rod Dixon / Western Australian Museum.
Bunbury residents inspect North America’s surviving hull shortly after its discovery, c. 1962. Image: Rod Dixon / Western Australian Museum.
North America’s surviving hull shortly before being excavated by the Bunbury Historical Society, c. 1962. Image: Rod Dixon / Western Australian Museum.
North Beach’s many shipwrecks might have been forgotten entirely had it not been for industrial-scale operations that took place in the area beginning in 1956. Bunbury’s sands are rich in a variety of minerals, including zircon, monazite and ilmenite, and were extensively mined with bulldozers, mechanical excavators and other heavy equipment. Between 1962 and 1963 bulldozer operators uncovered four well-preserved wooden shipwrecks at North Beach, three of which had copper-alloy fasteners. The fourth wreck site was unique because it featured both iron and timber structural components. One of the all-wooden shipwrecks was excavated by the Bunbury Historical Society, and a variety of artefacts, including ceramics, bricks, glass and a wooden cask lid branded with the words ‘Prime Pork Baltimore 18-1’, were collected. Dr Ian Crawford of the Western Australian Museum analysed these items, as well as timber samples and the overall construction and dimensions of the surviving hull, and tentatively identified the shipwreck as the North America lost in 1843.
A selection of artefacts recovered from North America during the early 1960s. Image: Western Australian Museum.
While the activities of the Bunbury Historical Society were well-intentioned, the wreck’s exposed and unmonitored condition left it open to theft, vandalism and damage from the elements. Following unauthorised removal of its windlass, rudder and several small artefacts, the site was reburied and recommendations put forward that the other shipwrecks be left undisturbed. At the conclusion of sand-mining operations in the mid-1960s, each site was buried in mine tailings. However, their exact locations were not documented and they were again lost and largely forgotten.
