Dutch shipwreck Koning Willem de Tweede found off Robe in South Australia

You’d think an object this large in the waters off one of SA’s most popular holiday towns would be easy to find. But it’s baffled researchers for more than a century – until now.

A painting by Jacob Spin showing the Koning Willem de Tweede at Batavia (Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) in 1842. Picture: Rotterdam Maritime Museum.

Researchers say they have discovered the Dutch shipwreck of the Koning Willem de Tweede nearly 170 years after it ran aground near Robe in the SA’s South-East.

In June 1857, the merchant sailing ship was lost in Guichen Bay, after more than 400 Chinese miners disembarked days earlier destined for the Victorian goldfields.

Sixteen of the ship’s 25 Dutch crew drowned and were buried in the sand dunes of Long Beach, with the whereabouts of the vessel unknown until now.

Australian National Maritime Museum’s acting manager of marine archaeology James Hunter said its location had been uncovered 400m offshore and in depths of 4-6m.

SA’s maritime heritage officer Mark Polzer probes the seabed. Image: Ruud Stelten.

Iron windlass components. Image: Ruud Stelten.

“It was a bit surprising just how far off shore it was discovered,” Dr Hunter said.

“It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a long way if your ship’s wrecked and you’re looking back at salvation – it’s quite intimidating.”

By using a marine magnetometer and underwater metal detectors, Dr Hunter says they’ve found the iron components of the ship’s windlass, protruding from the seabed.

A magnetometer also detected anomalies that indicate other large iron artefacts at the site and which match the ship’s documented length of 140ft.

“We don’t know how deeply it’s buried in the sand as we’ve only found the windless, but there’s a well-preserved timber plank underneath it,” Dr Hunter said.

“There is some potential we might find quite a bit of the hull preserved in the sand and all of its artefacts – that’s really exciting.”

Part of the windlass was found protruding from the seabed. Image: Ruud Stelten.

About 16,000 Chinese miners arrived at Robe’s port between the 1850s and 60s to avoid a Victorian tax imposed on immigrants arriving by sea, to then walk the 400km to Ballarat.

The Koning Willem de Tweede was one of about five ships to arrive in 1857 and was destroyed by a storm.

Since 2022, researchers from the museum, the Silentworld Foundation, SA’s Environment and Water Department and Flinders University have worked collaboratively to discover the site.

Maritime conservator Heather Berry helps researchers prepare the marine magnetometer for its deployment. Image: James Hunter.

Its discovery comes two years after the team were last able to dive the site, due to the region’s turbulent seas and regular wild weather.

Dr Hunter said maritime conservator Heather Berry estimated the site was only recently uncovered and it was unknown how long it would remain visible.

“When we dived there last time in 2023 all we saw was sand. We came back this time and there were a few structural things sticking out,” Dr Hunter said.

“She said the site was probably only uncovered a month before we got there, so luck played a role. Ideally we’d like to document more (discoveries) – that would be fantastic.”

“But the environment can change drastically over the course of days or hours, we might come back to see more is uncovered, or it could cover right back up and completely disappear.”

Originally published as Dutch shipwreck Koning Willem de Tweede found off Robe in South Australia