Dotted with sunken ships from World War II, Cyclone Tracy and confiscated Indonesian fishing vessels, Darwin Harbour is surrounded by scenic mangroves and pristine tidal waters, meeting at Darwin's cosmopolitan foreshore. Larger than Sydney Harbour, it offers a range of recreational activies, supports a diverse range of marine ecosystems, has significant cultural heritage and is a vital transport hub for northern Australia.
Darwin Harbour, which lends its name to the city that stands on its shores, was named after the naturalist Charles Darwin who sailed with Robert Fitzroy on the ship HMS Beagle around parts of Australia. However, Darwin and Fitzroy sailed in 1836 from King George's Sound (Western Australia) directly to the Cocos-Keeling Islands, at the south coast of Java, and from there to Cape Town and back to England. They stayed thus away from Darwin Harbour by 3000 sea miles and did not know of its existence.
The historic Stokes Hill Wharf Precinct is a popular multi-purpose harbourside venue located only 5 minutes drive from the Darwin CBD. It features shopping, restaurant and tourist facilities complex on Darwin Harbour. The centrepiece of the complex is a Function Centre, around which are tourism facilities like a cruise ship wharf, alfresco dining areas, recreational fishing platforms and fishing charters, harbour cruises, sightseeing, shopping and live entertainment.
The Wharf remains a working wharf for smaller marine industry users and cruising yachts. Harbour cruise vessels are moored at the wharf and there are facilities to embark and disembark passengers. Location: Stokes Hill Wharf, Kitchener Dve., Darwin.
In 1885-86 the Railway Jetty was built of timber construction in the same general position as today s Stokes Hill Wharf but considerably smaller in size. As the railway (Palmerston to Pine Creek) ran onto the wharf it enabled direct transshipment from ship to rail.
The original railway wharf of 1885 didn t last long, since the timbers were eaten by termites. Consequently it was replaced, on virtually the same Stokes Hill site in 1904, by a new wharf which became known as Town Wharf.
Its poor design, allowing only five railway wagons on the wharf at one time and no access for a locomotive, was criticised continually throughout its life, and much of the high cost of goods in Darwin was attributed to it. Nevertheless it gave the Port of Darwin good service until it was severely damaged in the Japanese bombing raids of 1942. During this period 1903-1942 it was Darwin s only wharf, and handled all cargo and passengers. Some repairs and reconstruction were carried out during World War II but the sunken wrecks were not finally removed until 1961.
Stokes Hill Wharf, as we know it today, was commenced in 1953, completed in 1956 and continually modified until 1972. Up until the commissioning of the New Fort Hill Wharf in 1981, it was the main general cargo wharf for the port.
Stokes Hill was named in November 1838 by John Clements Wickham, expedition leader of HMS Beagle, after John Lort Stokes, Wickham's Lieutenant and Assistant Surveyor. From 1831 to 1836 they sailed on the Beagle's voyage around the world under Captain Robert FitzRoy. Wickham was then appointed commander of the expedition to survey the coast of Australia on the Beagle, with Stokes, his second in charge.
On Christmas Eve 1974 this cyclone hit the town and flattened it with 217km/hr winds. 10,000 houses were destroyed and 1,000 people injured. There were 40 vessels in the harbour, few survived the massive seas and winds. Sixteen seamen lost their lives on ships in the harbour. The largest was the Navy patrol boat Arrow which disintegrated against Darwin wharf.
Above: The SS Neptuna explodes at Stokes Hill Wharf during the Darwin attacks in 1942.
In February 1942, the Allies were reeling from a series of defeats at the hands of the Japanese. They had pulled some of their surviving naval escort forces south to protect a convoy assembling in Darwin that was making ready to send reinforcements to Timor. The activity was noticed by Japanese reconnaissance planes. By the 19th February over 45 ships were jamming the harbour. The Japanese struck with nearly 200 aircraft from four fleet carriers. Allied fighter aircraft were quickly destroyed on the ground and most ships were caught at anchor. Within 40 minutes a hail of bombs had badly damaged the town and sunk several large vessels. Most of the convoy was either destroyed or damaged. Some 20,000 tonnes of shipping went to the bottom. The Japanese lost only 7 aircraft.
Ironically, it was the Japanese who returned in 1959/60 to salvage the wrecks for scrap, but there are still plenty of reminders of the day when mainland Australia was attacked. Several Catalina flying boats and other World War II debris also rests in the harbour depths. The wrecks are in difficult areas with variable visibility and strong tides, but they are evocative wrecks that mark an important point in our history, and they are still popular dives.
Within the East Arm itself are remnants of six Consolidated Catalina flying boats. Three were assigned to the U.S. Navy's (USN) Patrol Wing Ten, and three were operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. The USN aircraft were responsible for conducting reconnaissance and patrol duties in northern Australian waters, but were caught at their moorings when Japanese aircraft attacked Darwin on the morning of 19 February 1942. Three Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters strafed the Catalinas during the first wave of the assault, causing two to sink almost immediately. One remained afloat and was ultimately destroyed by a Japanese dive bomber. Incredibly, no loss of life occurred with any of the American aircraft, although one was undergoing maintenance at the time of the attack, and its ground crew was strafed on at least two separate occasions. Today, all three USN flying boat wrecks are located on the seabed where they sank and are in varying states of preservation.
Above: USS Peary was refuelling from the 6,891 ton tanker British Motorist when the air attack on Darwin began. Both were heavily hit in the first minutes of the raid, here they have drifted farther apart and are sinking. Despite five bomb hits USS Peary had continued firing at the attackers for the full 40 minutes that the first main attack group of 188 aircraft were over Darwin.
Darwin Harbour also contains the wrecks of American military vessels, as well as Australian ships employed by the merchant marine during the Second World War. The highest loss of life of any vessel attacked during the Bombing of Darwin was that of the American destroyer USS Peary, which was struck by five bombs including one that detonated the ship's forward ammunition magazines. The damage to Peary was extensive and 88 officers and ratings perished with the vessel, but incredibly some crewmen returned anti-aircraft fire at their attackers until the raid ended.
Two other American military vessels, the troop transports USAT Meigs and USAT Mauna Loa, were also attacked and sunk by Japanese dive and torpedo bombers. Thankfully, the loss of life was significantly less aboard these ships only one Meigs crewman was killed as a result of the raid, and all of Mauna Loa's complement of 44 escaped unharmed. Ironically, the superstructures of all three wreck sites were removed by a Japanese salvage company during the 1950s, but their lower hulls were left largely intact and undisturbed. Consequently, both Meigs and Mauna Loa still retain portions of the military cargoes they carried when they sank, including complete armoured personnel carriers, motorcycles, military trucks, gas masks, small arms, and various types of munitions.
The 145 metre long, 6891 ton steel tanker British Motorist was on its way to refuel the USS Peary when it was hit by two Japanese bombs and sank on its side. Half of the ship was exposed at low water. This allowed post-war Japanese divers to heavily salvage the vessel and all but her engine room was removed. Due to her massive size, the remaining section is still modestly substantial. She lies a short distance from the Darwin wharf and consists of a jumble of artefacts on a silty bottom. She is occasionally visited by divers. Some snapper and rock cod can be seen.
The USS Meigs was a 140 metre long, 12,000 ton American transport vessel. She was the largest ship in the harbour and drew Japanese planes like bees to honey. She was hit by 20 bombs and then constantly machine-gunned. After a 40 minute battering they finished her off with two torpedoes. At very low tides the masts and cranes once broke the surface. The wreck is a remnant left behind after extensive salvage in 1960. She was basically cut off at the waterline. The wreck is now a vast jumble of steel on a silty bottom on a north-south orientation. She is still huge and takes about 3 dives to cover. The most recognisable parts are in the bow where a Bren Gun carrier can be found. Several trucks are almost buried. A large pile of railway iron lies in the mid-section. Rifle ammunition dumps are common. It is home to many kinds of fish including cod, barracuda, snapper and angel fish. Gorgonia fans and sponges cover parts of the wreck.
The 5,436 ton American transport ship SS Mauna Loa lies only a kilometre from the Meigs. She was hit by two bombs that broke her back and set her alight. Five men were killed. She settled on a sand and silt bottom about three kilometres from the Darwin Wharf. She is similar to the eigs, a jumble of debris after the ship was heavily salvaged in 1960. There is also plenty of ammunition as well as old motorcycles in the former holds.
SS Zealandia was an old steel merchant ship of 123 metres length and 6,600 registered tons. She was a well known local ship and was in the harbour to take refugees south. The ship ducked a few bombs, but one hit in the No.3 hold and set her alight. The fires reached ammunition in the No.1 hold and it started to cook off and explode, then the fire hoses failed. Only two were killed as the ship slowly settled on the silty sand bottom with the tops of her masts showing. Although a lot of the ship has been salvaged, there is is the usual jumble of structures and cargo items. The ship is covered in soft corals and is home to good fish life.
The Kelat was built in England in 1881 as a glamourous 1,849 ton iron sailing ship. By 1941 she was an unwanted hulk in Fremantle. The Navy filled her with coal and towed her to Darwin to refuel the convoys. She had not long arrived before the attack. Zero fighters machine-gunned her full of holes. Everyone had more pressing things to do than to try and bail out an old hulk and she took two days to sink. Now she is a jumble of small relics well spread out over a shallow 100m x 20m area. This is a relaxing dive with some smaller marine life to investigate.
An Australian capital city with a difference, Darwin boasts an easy-going lifestyle (in the dry season at least) and extends a warm welcome to visitors from the south, eager for a taste of Territory life. Darwin has the largest proportional population of Indigenous Australians of any Australian capital city, and a significant percentage of the people in Darwin are recent immigrants from South and East Asia; as such Darwin is often called the multicultural capital of Australia. Due to its proximity to Asia, Darwin is an important port, particularly for the live export of sheep and cattle, and of minerals. It is also the site of a large Australian Army base and a naval facility supporting patrol boat activity off Australia's northern coastline.
Darwin's central business district is bounded by Daly Street in the north-west, McMinn Street in the north-east, Mitchell Street on the south-west and Bennett Street on the south-east. The CBD has been the focus of a number of major projects, including the billion dollar redevelopment of the Stokes Hill wharf waterfront area including a convention centre with seating for 1500 people and approximately 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft) of exhibition space. The development includes hotels, residential apartments and public space.
The Darwin Waterfront Precinct (above) is a recreational/tourist area featuring restaurants, bars, a wave pool and a man-made beach. It is located five minutes' walk from the Darwin Central Business District (CBD). The Waterfront Precinct is built on reclaimed land from Kitchener Bay between Stokes Hill and Fort Hill (which has since been removed). The inviting, crystal blue waters of the Wave Lagoon draw everyone to the centre of the precinct with 10 different wave patterns to excite people of all ages. Open 10 am - 6 pm seven days a week, the Wave Lagoon is open all year round except Christmas Day.
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