The Shipwreck

by Larry Writer

The epic story of one of Australia's greatest maritime disasters, the wreck of the Dunbar .

The Dunbar was one of the most advanced and celebrated sailing ships of the mid-19th century. Built to carry passengers in speed and luxury on the long route from Britain to Australia, it was the Titanic of its day.

Late at night on 20 August 1857, after an 81-day voyage from Plymouth, the Dunbar was caught by massive waves and storm-force winds near the cliffs of The Gap at Sydney's South Head and smashed to pieces on the rocks. All but one of the 123 passengers and crew drowned, broken on the cliff face or mauled by sharks.

The catastrophe was one of the worst in Australia's history, and happened on the doorstep of the young city of Sydney. Bodies and wreckage swept through the Heads and washed up on the harbour's beaches for days. It demonstrated the precariousness of the colony's link to the mother country and devastated the city. Its aftermath saw enormous changes to navigation and maritime safety, including the building of the lighthouse that still stands overlooking the Heads.

The Shipwreck is the masterfully told story of the Dunbar . Using the wealth of contemporaneous sources that exist, it follows the personal stories of its crew, the passengers and the sole survivor, James Johnson, to bring to life the world of sail and the tragedy that changed the colony forever.

'A staggering true story that haunts, wonderfully well told.'
Peter FitzSimons

'A brilliant true story from our maritime colonial past. I honestly felt I was on the pitching deck of that doomed vessel. This is what modern history writing should be like. I wish I'd written it myself!'
Michael Veitch, author of Hell Ship

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Australia

342 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Jennifer Carrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very in depth account of travel on the seas in this era. Not only covering the wreck of the Dunbar, but how the safety on our coasts developed after this event. Was a bit repetitive in parts, but a good historical read.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, of this book, Larry Writer is an excellent writer, but I think he has tried to stretch the material for this book too thinly, in fact the contents would have made an excellent long article. Nevertheless the sinking of the clipper ship Dunbar at Sydney Heads in a ranging storm in August 1857 with the loss of 121 lives and one survivor. was a tragedy that impacted markedly on the young Sydney town. The tragedy also clearly showed the inadequacies of the navigation aids marking the entrance to Sydney Harbour and the poor pilot service available for ship's masters. Despite the Government trying to shrug off these problems, as a result of the public pressure they were eventially compelled to build new lighthouses and a phone line from the existing Macquarie Light House to Sydney to replace the existing arrangement which as a man on horseback bearing a message, as well as an imprved pilot service. The one survivor was a seaman James Johnson who was washed onto the rocks on South Head, near where The Gap is now located. He was a powerful man and survived the battering of the seas before he was eventually rescued by a seaman who originally came from Iceland. Johnson setttled in Australia in Newcastle, New South Wales and died in his 78th year in 1915. Despite my crticism that the mererial is spread a little thinly, it is an excellent and exhaustive account of an Australian tragedy and also tells us a lot about the society of the day and for that reason alone, it is worth a read.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 would be a better rating.
The Shipwreck started slowly for me, and I did push myself to keep reading. My husband's family were 'sent out' to Western Australia on the Phoebe Dunbar, so I was curious if there was some connection. Once I got into the actual storm and wreck of the Dunbar, I was hooked. There is so much to the history of this disaster that took the lives of 121 people in 1857.
I wish I could pop over the Sydney and start looking for all of the places/memorials that are discussed in the book (the cemetery, the bell, the Bible, the painting that was sent on a later ship). The aftermath of the sinking is actually more interesting; where the author has written about what happened to the sole survivor and the man who rescued him, as well as the salvage of the broken up Dunbar and the artifacts taken by divers.
After the sinking of the Dunbar enormous changes occurred to navigation and maritime safety, including the building of the lighthouse that still stands overlooking the Heads.
If you enjoy Australia history, read this book.

[Rozanna Lilley]

Having lived in Sydney for most of my life, I was aware of the wreck of the Dunbar in 1857 near The Gap at South Head. But I had no idea of the extent of the tragedy and the ways in which it became pivotal to a sense of community as well as colonial anxieties. Indeed, somewhat like Gallipoli did for white Australian identity, it seems that this shipwreck and the following events forged a sense of Sydney society. This book is well researched and much of the material is fascinating, especially the morbidly compelling bits. Contemporary readers become ghouls much as those who hung around the inlets of Sydney Harbour picking up body parts and bits and pieces of wrack were mesmerised by the Dunbar's demise. Well worth reading, especially if you are interested in the early history of the colony.

[Gordon Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most detailed and referenced book I have ever read

The tragic story was brought to life by the exhaustive research done by the author and referenced in the book. The detailed lives of those who died in the disaster was both a positive and a negative. We knew who they all were, their aspirations and who they left behind.

[Steve Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, fabulous details of living in the times of settlement, stories of families rich & poor, settlers, merchants & how Australia was built. So many ships, then came the Clippers, it was a busy hectic time. Then there was the Dunbar, the greatest, fastest ship of its time, captained by a man who had sailed across the world 17 times. Tha tale of the lone survivor tops it off, great read

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and researched. Excellent story of true events from Sydney's colonial past. Fantastic glimpse into colonial life and the stories of those associated with the Dunbar. Although sometimes tricky to understand sailing technicalities and vernacular.

[Maxwell Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greatly in depth history account of the tragic event that changed the early Sydney colony and the challenging nature of life in the early 19th century. Although it was repetitive in parts and a long lead up to the actual foundering of the ship it was a good, easy read.

[Peter Langston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book deeply, because it’s writer has recognised from the start he is has more to do than just present times and places; more even than history.

What can you bring to a story so well known?

You bring humanity and not just in colouring in the sketch lines of those who died. Larry Writer has delved deeply and avoided the retelling of this tale through the fanciful theories of those who might to make their own notoriety. He has explained their claims but stayed with reasonable and reliably established facts.

We get to know James Johnson, the sole survivor, to the point where his shoes become an uncomfortable fit as we walk in them. In acknowledging the pawl of tragedy this left on colonial Sydney for years after the 1957 disaster, Writer has been thorough in helping us understand the secondary and tertiary damage the loss of life and trade and reputation the wrecking of the highly reputable Dunbar had.

At the core of the work is the horror - well beyond fear, well beyond terror - those 122 souls experienced as their world came to such an unfairly quick and catastrophic end; and the horror of Sydney siders as they watched down on the wreck, it’s beams and ribs identifying its resting place and bodies, the majority naked, floating unnaturally in this natural place until smashed against the cliffs and then, sucked out only to have the treatment repeated. Further, parts, in various configurations, of what were once human beings, floated in the harbour and were revealed on beaches and in rock crevices for the weeks that followed.

This was a tough event for Sydney to absorb. This book reminds us of the fragility of life, even when technology might assure us it isn’t so. It’s the same ruse that blindsided us in our more advanced times of technical achievement, when we were no less flummoxed at the Space Shuttle accidents or the loss of the Concorde.

It’s still a tough event and in it retelling it so well, Writer provides us with a compelling warning of complacency.

An important book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably interesting account of the shipwreck of the Dunbar in 1857 and its aftermath. However, there is the sense that the author is trying to include every last detail about the ship into the book. On balance, it was worth reading, but with some more editing.

[Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched book, which creates a picture of some of the crew & passengers on the Dunbar & the events leading to her tragic loss, the saving of the sole survivor & the aftermath of the disaster.
A 'Good Read!' ;-)