Don Isidro

Meet the site

Don Isidro was a fast, modern motor ship built in 1939 by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel for the De La Rama Steamship Company's inter-island passenger and cargo service in the Philippines. She measured 97.8 m (320.9 ft) and 3,261 GRT and was driven by two nine-cylinder turbocharged diesels at up to 20 knots. After Japan attacked the Philippines in December 1941, she was chartered by the US Army as a transport and blockade runner.

She sailed from Brisbane on 27 January 1942 bound for Corregidor with rations and ammunition. On 19 February 1942 – the day of the first raids on Darwin – Japanese fighters strafed her about 25 miles north of Bathurst Island, destroying her lifeboats, and dive bombers then set her on fire. Captain Rafael Cisneros tried to beach her on the Tiwi coast, but she grounded about three miles offshore when her engines failed. Eleven of her 67 crew and one of the 16 soldiers aboard were killed; the detachment commander, Second Lieutenant Joseph Kane, later died of gangrene in Darwin. The Florence D was sunk nearby the same day.

The wreck lies off the north-west Tiwi coast at about 11°42.3'S 130°02'E. Its remains are protected under Commonwealth historic shipwreck legislation, and two relics – reportedly a silver salt dish and platter – are held by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

For divers, Don Isidro is more a historical landmark than an accessible dive: remote, undocumented and on a coast with strict Tiwi access rules. It matters as part of the story of the 19 February 1942 raids and the Filipino seamen who died in them. Anyone contemplating a visit should contact the NT Heritage Branch and Tiwi Land Council first.

What you might see

Unknown – no published underwater observations

Location

Remains of a Philippine motor ship beached burning off the north-west Tiwi coast on 19 February 1942 (11°42.3'S 130°02'E).