vicshipwrecks.com

Welcome

You have reached the official site of the Red October Dive Club, formed in September 1999 to bring together scuba divers with a common interest in exploring shipwrecks in the treacherous waters of Bass Strait. It is estimated that Bass Strait, the narrow stretch of water that lies between Tasmania and Mainland Australia (375 miles/600 km long by 185 miles/300 km wide) has over 700 shipwrecks. Some of these wrecks have never been explored, their final resting place unknown. The average depth of water in Bass Strait reaches 90 metres. Only in recent years has technology become available to allow recreational divers to safely explore these depths and visit wrecks that have remained silent and untouched on the ocean floor for well over 100 years ... until now.

Ships' Graveyard Project

Check out the latest news here.

The main project of the Red October Group involves researching, locating, diving and positively identifying all wrecks in the Victorian Ships' Graveyard. It is expected that this project will run for a period of 10 years from June 2000 to June 2010.

The key outcome of this project is to produce an historical thesis about this very special area of the Bass Strait where some 46 obsolete vessels were scuttled. Before this project the local dive industry knew the locations of about 22 vessels in the graveyard. Since June 2000 the project has uncovered 14 new shipwrecks which are now regularly visited by local charter operators operating out of Portsea, Queenscliffe and Torquay.

All shipwrecks in Bass Strait are protected by Federal and State laws, click here for more information.