HMAS Goorangai was the first Royal Australian Navy vessel lost in the Second World War and the first RAN surface ship lost with all hands. She was built at Newcastle, NSW, in 1919 as a 223-ton 'Castle'-class steam trawler, worked the fishing grounds for twenty years and was requisitioned in 1939 as an auxiliary minesweeper for the Port Phillip approaches. On the night of 20 November 1940, crossing the South Channel from Queenscliff toward the Heads, she was struck by the 10,000-ton troopship MV Duntroon, cut in two and sunk within a minute. All 24 men aboard died; only six bodies were recovered. Because the wreck lay in the shipping channel it was demolished with explosives in January 1941.

What remains, as the Scuba Doctor listing describes it, is 'heavily scattered across approximately 200 square metres': sections of steel plating with a length of hull standing about two metres above the sand, a small cylindrical boiler, and fittings and frames spread over the channel floor at 12–15 m. It is not a wreck to be read as a ship but a debris field to be explored, and the growth on it is the compensation – the listing notes prolific fish life with cuttlefish, seahorses, nudibranchs, starfish, bryozoans, sponges and soft corals colonising the steel.

The Goorangai was declared a historic shipwreck in 1995 and is a designated war grave; the listing asks that it 'be treated with respect', which in practice means no artefact removal and no disturbance of the debris. Because it lies within the South Channel it is dived only at slack water, with a shipping check and a live boat, and it is not a routine charter site; Queenscliff operators and clubs dive it on request and around the anniversary, when a memorial service is held on the Queenscliff foreshore where a monument to the crew stands. For divers with an interest in the RAN's history it is a moving and unusual site in an otherwise ordinary stretch of sand.

Boat access only, about 10 minutes from Queenscliff Harbour or 15 from Portsea. The wreck lies in the South Channel shipping lane itself: anchoring is prohibited, a shipping check with Lonsdale VTS is required before every dive, and the boat must remain live with a flag while divers are down. A shot is dropped on the debris at slack.

GPS verified from the 'Shipwrecks Around Port Phillip Heads' book. Private boats from Queenscliff or Sorrento ramps may dive it under the same conditions.

It is dived only on slack water, either at the end of the flood (SWF) or the end of the ebb (SWE); most operators prefer the flood slack so that any residual current sets into the bay rather than out to sea. Slack water at Port Phillip Heads does not coincide with high or low water: it falls roughly three hours after high or low water at Point Lonsdale, and the usable window is typically 20–40 minutes. Use the Ports Victoria / Port of Melbourne slack-water predictions for The Heads (also republished by charter operators and WillyWeather 'Rip Bank') rather than a standard tide table.

Inside the Heads it is sheltered from most swell, but a south-west swell over about 2 m still surges across the top of the wall and a westerly or south-westerly wind over 15–20 knots makes the boat work unpleasant; big seas outside drop visibility to a few metres for a day or two. Visibility is best in late summer and autumn (Feb–May) when the water is clear and the westerlies have eased; winter brings 11–13 °C water and bigger swells but often the clearest days after a run of settled weather. Heavy rain has little effect this close to the ocean.

'Diving on slack water is a must' (Scuba Doctor). Inside the bay and sheltered; visibility 5–15 m.

Descend the shot onto the main plating at 13–14 m, orient along the hull section standing 2 m off the sand, and work outward in a spiral over the roughly 200 m² debris field to find the small boiler and scattered fittings; keep the shot in sight and return to it for the ascent, as the channel is no place for a free ascent.

Red Boats and Dive Victoria Group (Queenscliff) – occasional, usually on request or around the November anniversary; club boats (VSAG, MAAV). Not a routine schedule site because of the shipping-lane position.