Wolf Rock, or sometimes spelt Wolfe Rock in the past, is a submerged rock and reef east of Lord Howe Island. At low tide, it is 9 feet above the water.[1]
The rock is named after the Wolf, an ex-Royal Navy gun brig built in 1814, which was working as a whaling ship when on 6 August 1837 it struck an outer reef near Lord Howe Island. She escaped the reef and was thought to be undamaged, but the vessel sank in deep water about 10 miles off the island, taking with it a valuable cargo of sperm whale oil.[2] In 2002 the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Nottingham struck the rock itself just after manoevres to airlift a sick crewman onto Lord Howe Island,[3] causing the ship to nearly sink from a resulting 160 ft (50 m) gash along its side.[4]
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Wolf Rock - East of Lord Howe Island (white foam patch near center of the photo)
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Wolf Rock East of Lord Howe Island - to the RHS of the photo
References
- ^ New South Wales Land Division map of 1952: 9 ft. above L.W.
- ^ Wolfe Rock shipwreck page at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- ^ "Battle to save stricken warship". British Broadcasting Corporation. 2002-07-07. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
- ^ "Board of Inquiry Report into the grounding of HMS Nottingham at Wolf Rock, Lord Howe Island, Australia on 7 July 2002" (PDF). www.whatdotheyknow.com. 22 July 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2015.