City of York Wreck - Rottnest Island snorkelling

The City of York was a Glasgow-built iron barque of about 1,200 tons and 68 metres, inbound to Fremantle from San Francisco with timber and thousands of doors after a record passage. On the stormy night of 12 July 1899 a flare from the island, sent up to ask whether she wanted a pilot, was taken by Captain Jones as the signal of a pilot boat ahead. He steered towards it and she struck the reef about 200 metres off what is now City of York Bay.

Eleven men, including the captain, drowned when their lifeboat capsized in the surf. The first inquiry blamed the master, but a parliamentary committee later found the island's signals had been misleading, and the ship's owners were eventually compensated. One of her anchors is displayed near Thomson Bay.

The hull broke up on the reef and lies in about 7 metres of water, bow towards the shore: a tangle of iron plates, frames and deck framing among kelp, with the stern the most recognisable section, a swim-through cave in the reef alongside and an underwater heritage plaque. As one of the deadliest wrecks in Rottnest's history, it deserves respectful exploring.

• Experience level: Advanced
• Depth: 4-10 m (wreck about 7 m)
• Access: Boat needed: the WA Museum/RIA wreck trail lists every wreck except Uribes and Shark as a boat trip. The wreck lies on reef roughly 200-450 m off City of York Bay on the north-west coast (sources say 200 m; the nearest dry land on the DoT survey is about 430 m away). Exposed reef; the dive guide advises swell under 1.5 m. Heritage-protected wreck - look, but do not touch or remove anything.
• Historic Wreck (1899)
• Iron Barque
• 11 Lives Lost
• Misread Signal Flare
• Deck Framing
• Heritage Plaque

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