Meet the site
Speke was one of the last and largest of the great steel sailing ships: a three-masted, full-rigged ship of 2,876 gross tons built by T. R. Oswald and Co at Milford Haven, Wales, in 1891, and the second-largest ship-rigged vessel ever built. She spent fifteen years in the bulk trades – grain, coal, nitrate – around the Horn and the Cape. On 22 February 1906, in ballast from Peru to Sydney and approaching Port Phillip Heads to pick up orders, she was caught by strong westerly winds, became unmanageable and ran ashore on Phillip Island's south coast at Kitty Miller Bay; one man drowned trying to get a line ashore, the rest of the crew were saved, and the ship broke up where she lay. The bow is the famous part. It stands on the drying reef at Watt Point, a rusting stem and forefoot rising from the rocks, walkable at low tide at the end of the Kitty Miller Bay track and one of the most photographed shipwrecks in Victoria. Close inspection shows the concreted stem with deteriorated plating and, unusually, timber construction in the bow structure; an anchor cathead with wooden sheaves lies nearby. Underwater, the midships and stern including the rudderpost lie off the beach and have been heavily eroded by a century of Southern Ocean swell, so that the diver finds plates, frames and fittings scattered down the reef from 3 m to about 26 m rather than a hull. Kelp, sweep, wrasse, zebrafish and crayfish live in the wreckage and seals from the nearby colonies pass through. As a dive it is marginal – an 800 m cliff-track carry to a surf-zone entry that is safe only after days of northerlies – and most visitors experience the Speke on foot. For divers it suits fit, experienced people on Phillip Island when a glassy day coincides with high tide, and it is worth it for the rare chance to swim around the bones of one of the biggest sailing ships ever built.
What you might see
Kelp, sweep, wrasse, zebrafish, southern rock lobster, Australian fur seals, sea urchins, abalone
Location
On the rocks and reef at Watt Point on the western side of Kitty Miller Bay, south coast of Phillip Island; the bow section stands on the drying reef and the midships and stern lie underwater off the beach.
Facilities nearby
Kitty Miller Bay car park (toilets); no other facilities; fills and advice at Island Dive, Cowes
Before you make plans
Conditions, access and operator schedules can change. This is a location guide, not a dive plan. Ask a local operator about current conditions and suitability for your training and experience.
Sources & further reading
scubadoctor.com.auen.wikipedia.orgpenguins.org.auRecord updated 26 Sept 2026. Source claims are being reviewed.