Shipwrecks
Maroubra Beach and the adjoining coast has been the site of several famous shipwrecks. These events were highly newsworthy in their day, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the wreck sites.
On 6 May 1898 the Hereward sank at the northern end of Maroubra Beach. The Hereward was an iron ship weighing 1513 tones, and was heading to Newcastle. Several attempts to refloat the ship were unsuccessful, and on 9 Dec 1898 the waves broke the ship into two. In 1953 the Randwick asked the Navy to remove hazardous pieces of the wreck from the beach. When this was unsuccessful, Council Engineer Mr Harrison used three charges of gelignite to blew out the dangerous pieces.
On 16 May 1899 the SS Tekapo was shipwrecked at 3:45AM on the southern headland of Maroubra Beach. The fog was so heavy when the ship ran aground that the Captain ordered the lifeboats to be launched without realising they were already ashore!
On 2 April 1931 the MV Malabar became shipwrecked on the rocks of what is now the Malabar headland. The only life lost was the ship’s cat, who refused to leave the boat. Some of the crew were subsequently arrested for possession of opium.
In 1955 the SS Goolgwai became stranded on the Malabar headland. The ship’s dog, ‘Sluggo’ was lost in the wreck, but the cat was saved.
On 8 May 1937 the SS Minmi struck the shore on the outer headland of Botany Bay.
16 Jan 1939 the TSS Belbowrie became stranded on the rocks at Maroubra Beach. This was not the first time the Belbowrie had run into trouble, having run aground in 1923 on Wanda Beach.
For more information see:
Randwick City Council > About Randwick > Shipwrecks.