Meet the site
The USS Peary is the most significant wreck in Darwin Harbour and a war grave. The four-funnel Clemson-class destroyer was built by William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia and launched in 1919. After the Pearl Harbor attack she fought her way south from the Philippines, was mistakenly attacked by RAAF Hudsons near Sulawesi and reached Darwin on 3 January 1942. On the morning of 19 February, while getting under way, she was hit by five bombs: the first on the fantail, an incendiary in the galley deckhouse, one that failed to explode, one forward that detonated the magazines and a final incendiary in the after engine room. She sank stern first around 1300, with 88 officers and men lost, including Lieutenant Commander John Bermingham - the heaviest loss of life of any ship that day. Survivor accounts say a gunner was still firing her anti-aircraft gun as she went down. The 19 February 1942 raids - two waves of Japanese carrier and land-based aircraft, the first and heaviest attack ever made on mainland Australia - sank eight ships in the harbour and killed more than 230 people. In 1959-60 the Japanese firm Fujita Salvage cut most of the wrecks down to or below the waterline for scrap, so what divers find today is usually the lower hull, machinery that was too heavy to lift, and the cargo that the salvors were not permitted to remove. On the Peary that means a broken field of hull plating, frames, boiler and machinery remains and scattered relics lying on a silty bottom in about 27 m. Live ammunition has been reported among the wreckage. In May 2020 Darwin Sub Aqua Club divers Roland Hugli, Clive Bartsch and Grant Treloar found her two 3 m bronze propellers and shafts more than 2 km from the accepted sinking site, showing that the stern was blown off in the first attack and the ship was effectively disabled from the start; that location is kept confidential. One of her 4-inch deck guns stands in Bicentennial Park on the Esplanade, pointing towards the wreck. This is a dive for experienced, well-weighted divers comfortable at 30 m in dark, low-visibility water, and it is best treated as an act of remembrance rather than an exploration.
What you might see
Golden snapper, black jewfish, estuary cod, trevally, batfish, barracuda, sea snakes, sponges and gorgonians on the larger pieces
Location
Main Darwin Harbour anchorage off the Stokes Hill and Fort Hill wharf area, south-west of the CBD; stern sections and propellers located separately in 2020 some kilometres from the accepted wreck site.
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
dsac.com.aumarinelife.org.auen.wikipedia.orgabc.net.aunt.gov.auen.wikipedia.orgdsac.com.auRecord updated 26 Sept 2026. Source claims are being reviewed.