City Of Hobart
One of our projects was to find and map the steamship “City of Hobart” which foundered in 1877.Due to its remote location Air View will be used as a liveaboard dive vessel .There are two wrecks close to this site .A search was planned for early 2015 when favourable sea conditions were forecast .After many searches the wreck was finally discovered by chance.
It has taken almost 11 years but the Ship has finally been found and dived in early 2026. A team of IANTD divers and SOE confirmed the identity of the vessel. The ship was lost when her prop shaft broke and fell out in 1877. Propeller picture is listed above. The 150-year-old wreckage of the City of Hobart, an iron steamer that sank in 1877, was officially identified in February 2026. Resting at a depth of 60 metres (roughly 200 feet) about 30 km off the Gippsland coast of Victoria, the protected site was discovered during a seabed survey for a wind farm. The 56-metre cargo and passenger steamer originally sank after its propeller shaft sheared off, piercing the hull and causing the ship to take on water during a coal run from Newcastle to Melbourne. The wreckage is highly protected under federal heritage laws, meaning that unauthorized diving or interference with the site is strictly prohibited. IANTD Instructor Trainer , founder of SOE and MAAV Vice-President Mark Ryan was approached by Heritage Victoria to confirm the Wrecks identity. See projects at https://maav.net.au/. Because of its technical depth and protected status, the site is only accessible to specialized marine researchers and experienced technical divers with official permits.
