SS Australasia

On October 17, 1896, the Australasia was bound from a port on Lake Erie for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, carrying 2,200 tons of soft coal.^[9] At around 6:00 p.m. near Baileys Harbor, the crew of the Australasia discovered "a fire beneath the texas on the main deck". They attempted to fight the blaze but failed. The crew abandoned the Australasia before she reached Jacksonport, Wisconsin. At 10:30 p.m., the Australasia was about four hours off Jacksonport when the tugboat John Leathem came upon the struggling steamer. The Leathem began towing the Australasia to shore, but the hawser connecting them kept burning through. At 9:00 a.m. on October 18, 1896, the crew of the Leathem gave up trying to salvage her and instead dragged her onto the beach in 15 feet (4.6 m) of water south of Cave Point.^[10] Her crew decided to scuttle her, by ramming a hole in the Australasia's side with the Leathem's stem.^[10] She burned until the night of October 18, 1896.^[10]

The Australasia was declared a total loss. Much of her cargo of soft coal and machinery was salvaged; however, her hull was beyond repair and was abandoned.^[11] Today her lower hull lies mostly buried in sand under 15 to 20 feet of water off Whitefish Dunes State Park.^[2] Because most of her hull remains buried in sand, there is the possibility that different hull sections may be uncovered which may reveal more significant information about her construction.^[2] Not a trace of her cargo is visible on the site of her wreck, but traces of coal are visible on a beach nearby.^[11] The wreck of the Australasia is rarely visited by divers which means that very little site disturbance to the site has occurred.^[11] Close by are the wrecks of several other ships, including the early steel freighter Lakeland, the large wooden bulk carrier Frank O'Connor, the wooden steamer Louisiana, which was lost during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the schooner Christina Nilsson and the steamboat Joys.