Rottnest Island Cats??

[DaveM2]

‘Black’ Cats ( named Antaris , Rigal, Altier and Rega Star) were scuttled following the end of the war at the so called Rottnest Graveyard in waters too deep to access –at that time anyway. I believe the RAN conducted searches for them some years ago, but I am unsure if they were ever located and if so, in what condition.....

Any of our Digger mates have a 'recent' update?

TIA
Dave

[DaveG]

Don't know a thing about the Cats, but I do think it's cool that, to the west of the runway at the airport there, "Rottnest" is spelled out in planted trees.

okay, back to the thread, which is already in progress

[Rick65]

Fascinating - I go to Rottnest before Christmas every year and didn't know about this
Following is an extract from a WA Museum web page regarding a talk on the site at the end of last year.
http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/about/lates ... -graveyard


Hidden beneath the deep waters off the coast of Rottnest Island is a mysterious graveyard of old unwanted vessels and military vehicles.

As part of the Western Australian Museum’s second year of the Harry Butler Lecture Series: In the Wild West, Head of the Department of Maritime Archaeology, Jeremy Green will take us on a journey to the watery grave and see how aerial surveys, technical diving and remotely-operated vehicles have been revealing its buried treasures.

The Rottnest deepwater graveyard has been used for the last 75 years to dispose of old unwanted vessels that are no longer serviceable. The site, approximately 20km west of Rottnest, was selected as the place where these unwanted vessels could be properly disposed.

“The area is not just the repository of old hulks, but also munitions, military vehicles and aircraft, and even a submarine that were disposed of at the end of the Second World War,” Mr Green said.

Over the past 20 years, there has been growing interest about what might be buried at the site.

“It started with reports to the Museum of wrecks in the 1980s by people fishing in the area, and since then the information has been steadily growing,” he said.

However, the depth of the Graveyard (80-100 metres) has precluded any inspection or diving on these sites using traditional SCUBA equipment.

“With the advent of mixed-gas diving equipment and the rapid development of remote sensing equipment and remotely operated submersible vehicles, the area has become more accessible to maritime archaeologists,” he said.

In 2001, as part of a documentary series made by WA film company Prospero Productions, an aerial magnetometer survey over the Graveyard was carried out and a number of sites were located.

Following this, technical divers have dived on the site using mixed breathing gas, a two-person submersible has explored many of the sites and remotely-operated vehicles have also been deployed.

The talk will include some video footage of these explorations.

“A total of 34 sites have now been located, so far four have been identified, many of them are still a mystery and remain unidentified,” Mr Green said.

“Further work is underway to expand our knowledge of this area.”

Jeremy Green is the Head of the Department of Maritime Archaeology at the WA Museum; he joined the Museum in 1971 and set up the Department. He has worked on excavating the Batavia and other sites in WA. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and in 1986 received the Keith Muckelroy Award for his international work in maritime archaeology. Additionally, in 2007 he was awarded the Rhys Jones Medal in recognition of his pioneering work in the development of maritime archaeology in Australia.

The Harry Butler lecture series: In the Wild West is proudly presented by the WA Museum in partnership with Chevron Australia. The series showcases the work of Museum scientists, curators and associates in the areas of natural and social sciences.

LECTURE: The Rottnest deepwater graveyard
WHEN: Friday 8 July, 6.00pm
WHERE: WA Museum – Maritime, Victoria Quay, Fremantle
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL: online at www.museum.wa.gov.au/inthewildwest
COST: By gold coin donation.

[David Legg]

‘Black’ Cats ( named Antaris , Rigal, Altier and Rega Star) were scuttled following the end of the war at the so called Rottnest Graveyard in waters too deep to access –at that time anyway. I believe the RAN conducted searches for them some years ago, but I am unsure if they were ever located and if so, in what condition.....

Any of our Digger mates have a 'recent' update?

TIA
Dave

These are not so-called 'Black Cats'. They are four of the five former RAF Catalinas that were flown by Qantas crews on the 'Double Sunrise' flights between what was then Ceylon and Perth, WA during WWII. They were named after stars but not as shown above. The correct versions were...
Vega Star (G-AGFL/FP221 - tail code 1)
Altair Star (G-AGFM/FP244 - tail code 2)
Rigel Star (G-AGID/JX575/BuAer08215 - tail code 3)
Antares Star (G-AGIE/JX577/BuAer08217 - tail code 4)

The names were painted on the bow with a star symbol, for example Vega Star was painted Vega *

All four aircraft were scuttled off Rottnest Island, Freemantle, WA after the war, the dates being 14/2/46, 24/2/46, 30/1/46 and 17/1/46 respectively.

The fifth Catalina (G-AGKS/JX287 Spica Star - tail code 5) was scuttled at Sydney Heads off Rose Bay, Sydney in March 1946.

As for present day condition? - well the 'graveyard' is salt water so they are probably best left where they are. My personal view is that any money spent searching for them would be better spent on one of the airworthy/potentially airworthy Catalinas currently in Australia (I realise that DaveM2 was not actually suggesting money be spent).

[DaveM2]

Thanks David. I agree there are plenty of above water examples that need help, even if not as historic. Still, keen to know if they were ever found.....

Dave

[Brenden S]

I know there are a few other aircraft that crashed between the mainland and rotto. I would say that the aircraft would be pretty well preserved in 80-100m of water.

[Pat Carry]

Just where is Rottnest located? It sort of sounds like the dump that exists off Pearl Harbor.

[Brenden S]

Rotto as it is known to West Australians is located I think 20km (memory) off the west coast of Perth. It is best known as a weekend get away and great for snorkeling and swimming in the bays. The only transport is by foot, or you can hire or take your own push bike out there.

[Rick65]

Rottnest is an island about 14km west of Fremantle , the port for Perth, the capital of Western Australia.
Rottnest is now a holiday island for Perth residents and a conservation area but in the past was a prison for aboriginal prisoners and a military base, with gun emplacements and associated infrastructure (barracks, football oval, railway line, sighting towers, bunkers etc) built in the mid to late 30's to protect the entrances to Fremantle harbour. I was surprised how early these preparations started given Australia's general lack of preparation for WW2.
I was there last week and it rained most of the week, a serious breach of contract in summer!