The mystery of an unknown shipwreck in a remote part of Fiordland may have been solved.
A cannon, found by a scientific expedition team from Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, is possibly from the Star of the South. The steamship wrecked in the area in 1865. Its passengers and crew were all rescued.
The drawing of a galleon with names etched underneath in a nearby cave is unlikely to be related. They are believed to have been left by early sealers.
Members of the expedition made the discovery of the cannon in June, as they searched for the elusive South Island kōkako.
They unearthed the vintage naval gun by moving stones with their bare hands after spotting a patch of rust on the stony beach at Chalky Inlet. It followed them viewing the etchings in the cave the previous month, and they wondered if the cannon and etchings may be linked and both be evidence of an unknown shipwreck.
Managing director Michael Willis, who lives in Halkett, said information which has surfaced since, suggested the cannon may have come from the shipwrecked Star of the South.
A newspaper article on Papers Past, discovered by a follower on the Willowbank Facebook page, suggests one of the ship’s cannons was taken to a nearby shore by a look-out party to be used as a signal gun. A January 18, 1866, The Press article details the efforts of two crew members going in the ship's boat to the shore in the Cape Providence area, and climbing a hill to light a fire to alert passing ships so they could be rescued.
"By the difficulty they had in ascending and descending the hill, they also ascertained that to convey to the summit the cannon they brought with them as a signal-gun, was out of the question," the article says.
This suggests that after arriving in the boat, they left the cannon behind on the beach as they climbed the hill.
Willowbank general manager Dale Hedgcock said the area of the beach where he and his fellow team members found the cannon would have been an obvious location for the two Star of the South crewmen to land their boat, before walking along the beach for about one kilometre to access the hill referred to in the article.
"That's probably the only area you would try and land a boat, there's so many rocks around," Hedgcock said.
Other articles on Papers Past reveal the more than 15 passengers and crew were lucky to be rescued from the remote location six days after the shipwreck, on December 21. Another steam ship, the William Miskin, happened to come across the wreck as she took shelter from stormy seas.
"Through her providential arrival, the passengers and crew were saved much distress and inconvenience," said a reporter in the January 20, 1866, edition of the Taranaki Herald.
The passengers arrived at their original destination of Hokitika on December 27. The Star of the South was retrieved, but later stranded on a beach, at Napier in 1870, before ultimately wrecking in 1884, on the mouth of the Grey River.
Hedgcock said a maritime historian, archaeologist and DOC representative planned to visit the site and ultimately preserve the cannon. They hoped to determine whether it came from the Star of the South or an unknown shipwreck. The team was awaiting the right permissions in order to make the visit.
Naval artillery expert Peter Cooke said the Star of the South story “seems to ring true” in answering the question as to how the cannon was buried on the beach at Chalky Inlet.
"If that story places the wreck of the Star of the South or the people from it at this location, then I think that does solve the mystery,” Cooke said.
He said merchant ships carried arms in the 1800s in case of attack from pirates. Additionally, cannons were used for signalling. They were fired as a ship came into harbour to alert the pilot boat to come out and guide the ship into port.
"It's great that it has been found and has a back story to it, because hopefully now some museum authorities will preserve it," Cooke said.
Weapons of that sort needed a special type of preservation involving an electrolysis bath to reverse the rusting process.
Cooke said it was an exciting find, in that it referenced an event that went back to New Zealand's early history.
From looking at photos of the cannon, he determined it was a Carronade. These type of cannons were first used in 1779, and generally dated from at least 1800. They were named after the Scottish foundry Carron where they were designed and made, initially for the Royal Navy. There were 37 other cannons of this type that he was aware of in New Zealand, most of them held in museums around the country.
Department of Conservation senior heritage adviser Matthew Schmidt said the etchings which had also been viewed by the Willowbank party, were possibly left by early sealers using the cave for shelter.
He said the cave itself did not have a formal name, but the site was familiar with locals and formally recorded in the early 1980s.
DOC issued a reminder after the cannon find about the importance of not disturbing heritage sites.
However, Schmidt acknowledged the Willowbank team made the right decision following their find of the cannon to contact the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
“The immediate parties which additionally should have been contacted were Environment Southland and the Department of Conservation,” Schmidt said.
However, Willis said if DOC wanted to be told, this information should be on the Ministry for Culture and Heritage website. Ten weeks after informing the ministry, he still had not heard back from anyone from the ministry.
Meanwhile, while Willowbank initially hoped to obtain custodianship of the cannon, this now seems unlikely.
“For finds like this, it is important for finders to work with local agencies and the community to ensure that if it is recovered and conserved, it is displayed locally so it remains part of the heritage story of Fiordland. The finders and conservators would then become part of that local heritage story,” Schmidt said.
- Susan Sandys
