Kent Group
| Kent Group National Park | |
|---|---|
|
IUCN category II (national park) | |
  | |
| Nearest town or city | Launceston |
| Coordinates | 39°28′0″S 147°18′30″E / 39.46667°S 147.30833°ECoordinates: 39°28′0″S 147°18′30″E / 39.46667°S 147.30833°E |
| Area | 165 km² |
| Established | 1947 |
| Visitation | 25,000 (in 1998) |
| Managing authorities | Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service |
| Official site | Kent Group National Park |
The Kent Group of Islands lies in Bass Strait, Australia, north-west of the Furneaux Group near Tasmania. They form the Kent Group National Park.[1]
The granite islands were named Kent's Group by Matthew Flinders, "in honour of my friend captain William Kent, then commander of the Supply" when Flinders passed them on 8 February 1798 in the Francis (on her way to salvage the Sydney Cove).[2] The largest island in the group is Deal Island; the others, in order of descending size, are Erith Island, Dover Island, North East Isle, South West Isle and Judgement Rocks.
Shipwrecks
Murray Pass, named for the explorer John Murray, between Deal and Erith Islands has long been used by ships to shelter from gales in Bass Strait, but it is a dangerous, partly open, roadstead, and many ships have been wrecked after sudden changes in wind direction and speed. Others have hit the island either while attempting to shelter or through poor navigation in darkness or bad weather, several with heavy loss of life. They include:[3]
- 1816, Brothers, schooner, 40 tons, Captain William Hovell, one life lost.
- 1819, Daphne, brig, 151 tons, Captain John Howard, no lives lost.
- 1819, John Palmer, schooner, 37 tons, Captain Bastian, two lives lost (one ex Daphne)
- 1831, Ionia, snow, 226 tons, Captain Buck. ?Three lives lost.
- 1850, Ida, schooner, 50 tons, no loss of life.
- 1851, White Squall, schooner, 104 tons, Captain Chattock, no loss of life.
- 1852, Dorset, brig, 82 tons, Captain Birdwood, no loss of life.
- 1852, Mary, brig, 308 tons, no loss of life.
- 1855, Elizabeth Mason, schooner, 79 tons, Captain McIntyre, no loss of life.
- 1856, Kendall, schooner, 157 tons, Captain Read, no lives lost.
- 1862, Reindeer, schooner, 104 tons, Captain Morris, all hands (about 8) lost.
- 1863, General Jessup, barque, 193 tons, Captain Hodge, no loss of life.
- 1866, Boscarne, schooner, 63 tons, Captain Black, no loss of life.
- 1875, Essie Black, barque, 281 tons, Captain Sivier, all hands (about 10) lost.
- 1877, Bulli, iron steamship, 524 tons, Captain Randell, no loss of life (a popular dive wreck).
- 1921, Karitane, steel steamship, 1376 tons, Captain Spain, no loss of life.
- 1930, Ida N, new fishing boat, 25 tons, Captain Busk, no lives lost.
- 1961, St Nicholas, newly completed fish carrier, 45 tons, no loss of life.
See also
References
- ↑ Kent Group National Park page at the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service
- ↑ Flinders, Matthew (1814), A Voyage to Terra Australis, London: G. and W. Nicol, entry for 8 February 1798
- ↑ Broxam & Nash, Tasmanian Shipwrecks, Volumes 1 and 2, Navarine Publishing, Canberra, 1998 and 2000, ISBN 0-9586561-5-0 and ISBN 0-9586561-6-9