The Belinda was a brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 that was wrecked in 1824 off the coast of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

The Belinda was a brig of 160 tons that was built in Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1810. It arrived in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 on 23 February 1824, captained by Thomas Coverdale and crewed by 28 sailors. The ship sailed for the sealing

Seal hunting

Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...

 grounds of Archipelago of the Recherche

Archipelago of the Recherche

Archipelago of the Recherche is a group of 105 islands, and over 1200 "obstacles to shipping", off the southern coast of Western Australia. The islands, also known as the Recherche Archipelago, stretch from East to West and to off-shore....

from Sydney on 17 May 1824 and on arrival was wrecked on 19 July 1824.

While the ship was completely wrecked, two small ships boats were saved and the crew attempted to return to Sydney. After travelling 200 miles (321.9 km), one of the boats was swamped and sank. The party split into two with one half walking back to Middle Island in the Archipelago of the Recherche and the others keeping time with them in the remaining boat. After considerable struggle they returned to Middle Island where they were found in an exhausted state with all their provisions gone by the sealing brig Nereus, under the command of Thomas Swindles on 8 December 1824. All the crew were rescued and returned to Sydney on 11 March 1825. In 1826 the Schooner Liberty undertook salvage work and returned to Sydney with a quantity of iron work, including two sea anchors.