The General Grant
The story of the wreck of the General Grant in May of 1866 is by far my favourite! In an incredible story of incompetence, tragedy, dogged persistence & sheer good luck - only 15 people out of an original crew & passengers numbering 83 souls survived an ordeal off the Auckland Islands Archipelago that still makes my skin tingle!

On May 13, 1866 the General Grant, in calm conditions on her way from Melbourne to London via Cape Horn, inexplicably ran into the cliffs of the western-most side of Auckland Is - situated south-west of New Zealand. The current pushed the ship into an above-water cave where the rising tide incredibly rammed her masts through the hull of the boat and sank her to the bottom of an icy, merciless ocean!

Only three of the ship's long-boats made it off with immediate survivors and then sailed their way to the uninhabited Disappointment and then Ross Islands. People continued to die from the cold, hunger and illness - and a long-boat that set out to reach the NZ mainland disappeared without trace to this day. The fifteen remaining survivors then moved to Enderby Island where they were finally rescued in November 1867, 18 months since the General Grant sank with an overall loss of 68 lives. Interestingly, in the cargo on-board the ill-fated ship there was over 2700 ounces of gold from the Australian goldfields - a value in today's terms of AUD$4m! Further intrigue has it that the manifest of 9 tons of zinc ballast was in fact gold bars destined for the UK Treasury! Attempts to find the wreck have not been successful...BENGY