Agincourt
GPS: S 34° 12.871'
E 115° 02.020'
Location: Hamelin Bay
Site depth: 5 metres
Divable conditions: <1.5m swell
Visibilty: <10 metres
Vessel: Barque
Construction: Wood
Tons: 433
Vessel Length: 40 metres
Wreck event: Grounded in 1882
Launched in the same year as the Chaudiere in 1863 and lost only one year previous in Hamelin Bay in 1882, the 433 ton Agincourt was a very similar vessel in size and dimensions to the Chaudiere wreck that lays only a few hundred metres south of the Agincourt. The Adelaide owned vessel had arrived in Hamelin Bay in February and was loaded and ready to sail when a north west gale arose and the vessel began to drag and struck a reef inside of the bay. The Agincourt was holed and taking water faster than it could be pumped when the captain gave the order to let slip the anchor ropes and set the top sail in order to drive the Agincourt hard ashore rather than lose the vessel in deeper water. The crew initially abandoned the ship before the order was given and when recalled by the master of the vessel the lifeboat was capsized in the surf and the carpenter was drowned while attempting to reach the shore only 100 metres away.
The Agincourt site is another easily located wreck site very similar to the site of the Chaudiere in location and divable conditions. The wrecks is only 260 metres north of the Chaudiere and sits 100 metres west of the low water mark and visibility is subjected to the nearby breakers that crash on to the sandy beach. The site is also surrounded by sand making anchoring beside the wreck easy but swell does stir up the site. Of the three Hamelin Bay wrecks the Agincourt was the most weeded up site but this may have contributed to the site having the most small fish life of all the wrecks. The 140 year old wreck site provides a really interesting experience as the wooden wreckage that remains, is still in remarkable condition and like the other wrecks in the area the timber cargo of sleepers still remain neatly stacked in the centre of the site. * Like all sites older than 75 years it is fully protected from interference under the historic shipwrecks act.