Agra Shipwreck

The ship Agra was a wooden barque built in the Norwegian town of Arendel by N Evensen, weighing 962 tonnes and 52.1 meters long (reference). It was owned by H Morgenson and was insured for £8000 (reference). The ship arrived in Fremantle from Adelaide on 14 April 1895, where it unloaded its cargo before departing for Bunbury (reference). Due to the weather, the ship had only been loaded with 462 loads of jarrah paving blocks and livestock despite having been in port for nine weeks (reference). It was anchored off the Bunbury Jetty, waiting for calmer weather when the ship’s mate decided to move the vessel back to the jetty to continue loading on 25 July 1895 (reference). Two days later, it ran aground at the entrance to the Bunbury Inlet.

The Agra was initially condemned as a wreck by a Norwegian Underwriters’ Association (reference). However, everything possible was salvaged from the wreckage, with crews stripping it of sails, running gear and everything else except for the lower masts (reference).

Later that year, the timber initially loaded for London was reloaded onto the Kingdom of Saxony (reference; (reference).

In March 1896, John Bateman purchased the wreck and raised it from the sea with a powerful pump (reference). Temporary repairs were made to the vessel in April before it was sent to Careening Bay to be repaired entirely (reference). John registered it at the Port of Fremantle in 1893, renaming the Rose in 1897, after which it was used as a coal hulk in Fremantle for many years (reference).

The shipwreck Agra at the north shore of Koombana Bay demonstrates how dangerous early trade and transport was in and out of the Bunbury Port. The Agra differs from other Bunbury shipwrecks as it was salvaged and reused.

Information retrieved from Inherit with permission.