The Vessels In Ships' Graveyard

Ships’ Graveyard

There are a total of 13 ships dumped on the western side of the island to remove them from the inner Lyttelton Harbour because they are disused and had become dilapidated. At low tide you can see the skeletons of the dumped, old ships at the bay. The first ship named “Novelty” was dumped at the bay in 1887. Novelty was built in New South Wales in 1863 by D.N Russell and Co. The first ship to be scuttled in the ships’ graveyard was the “Flying Squirrel”. It was registered in 1882 to 1874 to 1902 at the Port of Lyttelton and was used by a Lyttelton ballast man named J Haydon. The next five stream lighters named “Waiwera, Dorset, Don, Red Jacket, and Lyttelton was dumped at the bay in 1907. The ship “Lyttelton was used for many duties such as carrying the members of the permanent artillery to Ripapa Island for gun maintenance and provisions. One of the oldest ships dumped in Quail Island was the “Belle Isle”. The Belle Isle was built at Bristol, England in 1857 measuring 41 metres long and weigh 395 tonnes. Belle Isle was used in English waters until 1884, when it was registered in Sydney and later at Dunedin. The Belle Isle was used as a tea-trader and was owned by Union Steam Ship Company in 1893 to 1914. Belle Isle was later dumped at Quail Island around 1920.