Euro was a steel screw tug of 257 tons gross built in Dundee in 1897, one of the ocean-going tugs that towed sailing ships and hulks in and out of Port Phillip and worked salvage jobs along the Victorian coast for more than fifty years. When the age of sail finally ended and diesel tugs arrived she was surplus, and on Thursday 10 June 1948 she was towed out to the Graveyard and sunk with explosive charges. She is, by common consent, the most intact and most charming wreck in the western Graveyard.

The hull sits upright in 44–50 m and almost everything is still there: the triple-expansion steam engine stands complete in the engine room, the boilers are in place, the steering quadrant and rudder are at the stern, the big tow anchor is on the bow, and inside the accommodation the crew toilets survive – the standard 'I dived the Euro' photograph. Because the tug was small and heavily built, the scuttling charges did far less damage than on the big steamers and the ship still looks like a ship. Penetration into the engine room and cabins is possible for trained divers and is the main reason people come back.

Growth is rich: sponges and zoanthids on the deckhouse and rails, ling and bullseyes inside, crayfish in every gap. Visibility at this end of the Graveyard is usually 10–20 m once away from the Barwon plume. At 50 m to the sand it is a normoxic-trimix dive with real decompression, but the compact size means a 20-minute bottom time feels unhurried.

It suits technical divers with wreck-penetration training, and it is the wreck most often named as the best dive in the Graveyard by those who have done the full set.

Boat only. The western end of the Ships' Graveyard sits 8–12 km south of Barwon Heads and is normally reached from Queenscliff Harbour (Red Boats, Dive Victoria Group technical charters) – a 40–60 minute run out through The Rip and west along the Bellarine coast – or occasionally from the Barwon Heads river ramp in a small boat when the bar is flat. Drive Melbourne–Queenscliff via the Geelong Ring Road and Bellarine Highway (about 1 h 40 min).

Technical charters usually load at the harbour before dawn to get the wreck dived before the afternoon sea breeze. Private boats need a reliable sounder and the published GPS marks, as nothing shows on the surface.

Fully exposed Bass Strait. South-westerly swell is the killer: most charters will not run on a forecast over about 1.5 m, and anything from the south or west over 2 m makes the site undiveable and the passage through The Rip dangerous. Northerly and north-easterly winds flatten the sea; a calm morning after several settled days gives the best visibility (often 15–25 m in autumn and winter).

Surge is felt on the wreck in any swell over 1 m. Tidal streams outside The Heads are weaker than inside but still run; charters aim for slack water at Port Phillip Heads or a favourable tide for the transit. Winter westerlies close the site for weeks at a time.

The wreck sits in or near the shipping approach and pilot boarding ground, so a shot line, surface cover and a delayed SMB are mandatory.

Shot onto the wheelhouse/engine area. Work the deck: steering quadrant at the stern, then forward past the intact triple-expansion engine and boilers to the bow and tow anchor (50 m on the sand). Trained divers can enter the engine room and crew spaces, where the toilets are the famous photo.

Twenty minutes covers the 35 m hull twice over; ascend the shot with staged deco.

Technical (decompression) dive. Normoxic trimix (e.g. 21/35 or 18/45) recommended; 20 min bottom time gives roughly 25–40 min of decompression on EAN50 and oxygen. Air dives to this depth are strongly discouraged.

Drop a weighted shot on the wreck, use a delayed SMB from the wreck or a decompression trapeze under the boat; the site is in a shipping approach so free-drifting deco is discouraged. Penetration of the engine room and cabins is tight; run a line from the entry point.

A favourite of Melbourne technical divers – Red Boats (Queenscliff) and Dive Victoria Group technical charters visit several times a season; private technical boats regularly. Not a recreational site.