The Moltke was a three-masted barque built in Hamburg, Germany in 1870. The vessel was wrecked off the coast of northern Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 in 1890 before being refloated and hulked. In 1911 the vessel was scuttled off Geoffrey Bay, Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island is an island offshore from the city of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. This mountainous island in Cleveland Bay has effectively become a suburb of Townsville, with 2,107 permanent residents. The island is accessible from Townsville Breakwater to Nelly Bay Harbour by ferry...

. The wreck of the vessel now hosts a wide range of underwater life and is a popular open-water dive site.

History

Built by Godeffroy-Zeit in Hamburg, Germany in 1870 for the company Fritze & Gerdes, the Moltke was a three-masted, iron hulled, barque. The vessel sailed from Germany to Townsville, Australia in 1890 and was described as "beautiful, spotlessly clean and expensively furnished.". Having docked at Townsville to unload cargo and passengers the vessel continued onto Rockhampton

Rockhampton, Queensland

Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....

. On 1891-04-03, en-route to Rockhampton, at the northern end of the Flinders Channel to the east of Cape Bowling Green, the vessel ran aground upon a reef. The crew abandoned the vessel and returned to Townsville.

The vessel was refloated and towed back to Townsville port by the SS Christina Gollan, the salvage paid for by a syndicate of local investors led by a Mr. Page of the Port of Townsville. The contents and cargo of the vessel were then sold at a profit, with the vessel returning to service with Burns, Philp and Company Limited

Burns Philp

Burns Philp was once a major player in the food manufacturing business. Since its delisting from the Australian Stock Exchange in December 2006 and the subsequent sale of its assets, the company has mainly become a cashed up shell company...

 used as a coal hulk

Hulk (ship)

A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...

. In 1911, Dr McCabe, a local dentist who owned property at Geoffrey Bay purchased the hulk with the intent to scuttle the vessel to protect the jetty located in the bay. An explosives expert, William Bright, was contracted to sink the vessel. Accounts of the event suggest that while the vessel was being towed into place, the fuse for the explosives was lit prematurely by an intoxicated Bright. The tug boat pilot was able to release the tow lines and pilot clear of the vessel. However, the explosives aboard the vessel detonated and scuttled the boat in the wrong location.