SS Saint Paul

It was late evening on March 26th 1914, when Captain George Corree approached Cape Moreton to the North-East of Brisbane in the Steam Ship SS Saint Paul. It was a fine evening with a slight current and good visibility. The St Paul's freighter was some 1660 tons in mass and 60-70 metres in length was inbound from New Caledonia to Brisbane and carried 2800 tons of Chromium ore. The Chromium was intended for Europe and was meant to be transferred to the SS Port Lincoln. Late evening (11pm), the Captain requested a pilot vessel be signaled to Cape Moreton light station, and the ship to slow to half speed and wait it's arrival.The St Paul's was signaled back once she was identified (9 miles East Northeast off the Cape). Shortly after 12pm Pilot Boat Llewellyn made steam to assist the St Paul's. Moments after the Station's transmissions were made, the St Paul hit Smiths Rock. At 12:40am the Llewellyn pilot boat arrived to find survivors in the water and the St Paul gone. With the St Paul's wreck found 1000 meters East of Smith's Rock it would indicate that it took some time for the ship to flood. 18 people lost their lives, of which the Captain was one of. Eleven lucky people were rescued that night. The wreck of the Saint Paul lies between 38-43 metres on a sandy bottom. Nearly 100 years on the sea floor in an exposed area of the ocean. Most of the superstructure and hull is gone now, leaving two large boilers, winches and some large beams behind. This is a very challenging dive, diving to 43 meters at recreational dive limits. With an 'air no decompression limit' of 7-8 minutes, there's not much time on the bottom to see everything in one dive. With twin's and deco bottles this dive is a lot more fun and safe. Most people dive this wreck in the morning due to the better weather and dive profile. Afternoon is known to bring more marine life with snapper, yellowtail kingfish, huge cod, bull rays and estuary cod. Current can also be an issue at this site, sometime only on the surface. Not far from Flinders Reef, the St Paul's wreck lies 1km east of Smiths Rock. Day boats and Liveaboard's are your best diving platform for this site. Weather is a issue at this dive site, (due to being exposed to the open ocean). SS Saint Paul is also known as St Paul.