The "Star of Greece"

Artwork depicts the "Star of Greece", breaking up close to the shore at Port Willunga. The artist had included figures on the beach in the foregroud, and others being washed in to shore along with fragments of the ship. Escapment and jetty are illustrated in the distance to the left.

One of the most catastrophic maritime disasters in South Australia's history is the sinking of the Star of Greece in the early hours of 13 July 1888, 200 metres off the coast of Port Willunga.

Laden with 16,002 bags of wheat the Star of Greece ran into a violent storm where it is estimated that at least 18 people died. The rescue response was disastrous for a number of reasons including poor telegraphic communications, bad roads and lack of good vehicles or horses to bring the necessary rocket equipment (to fire a life line) from Normanville.

Following the tragedy, newspapers and public opinion strongly criticised the Marine Board and its rescue operations. It was later revealed that the Government had drastically reduced funding that kept safety crew and equipment up to date.

This artwork was undertaken by maritime artist George Frederick Gregory in 1888. Most of his work was undertaken in watercolour and the majority of his known work consists of side profile ship portraits, although naval battles such as Trafalgar, shipwrecks, reviews of the fleet, and group compositions of both sailing and steamships were also depicted.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

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