Wreck of the Advance

History

The Advance was built at Williamstown, Victoria, in 1884: an iron tug of 181 tons and about 37 metres. She worked as a pilot vessel and tug in Moreton Bay before being sold to Newcastle tug owners.

On Christmas Day 1908 she left Newcastle to meet the iron barque Inverna. Cutting across the barque’s bow, she was struck and knocked onto her side, the sea flooded in and put out her boiler fires, and she rolled over and sank. Witnesses on the barque saw Captain Mackenzie swim clear of the wheelhouse, but he was lost minutes later. The pilot boat that came out found no one and searched no further. Twelve hours later the mate, Alfred Wills, the only survivor, struggled ashore at Dudley Beach after clinging to a grating.

The wreck

The tug sits upright on sand. Her big boiler is the main feature, the galley stove can still be seen, and much of the side plating is intact. As on most wrecks off this coast, fishing net is tangled through the wreckage, and schools of nannygai hover above.

Sources put the depth at 44 to 50 metres . Either way, this is a technical dive that needs decompression planning.

Protected site

The Advance is protected under the Commonwealth Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018, which covers wrecks more than 75 years old. You can dive it, but disturbing, damaging or removing anything without a permit is an offence.