Hurricane was one of the first generation of iron clippers, a three-masted, 1,198-ton ship of 65.5 m (214.9 ft) launched by Alexander Stephen and Sons at Glasgow on 26 April 1853 for the Australian emigrant and wool trade. On 21 April 1869, inbound from Liverpool, she touched bottom twice near Point Lonsdale while entering Port Phillip. She carried on up the bay, but by the time she anchored off Arthur's Seat in Capel Sound there was six feet of water in the forehold, and on Thursday 22 April 1869 she sank by the head.

Everyone aboard got away in the boats or was taken off the rigging by the tug Titan. The wreck sat as a hazard for a century until Ports and Harbours blasted it with explosives in the 1960s to reduce its height, and it now lies spread over a large area of sand, silt and shell in 8–12 m with the bow to the north-north-west. The most prominent feature is the stern, which rises about 3 m from the seabed and carries a concrete cairn describing the ship's history; the rest is a long field of steel plates, girders and surprisingly well-preserved wooden beams, with a large capstan among twisted metal near the bow.

Star pickets left by the Victorian Archaeological Survey's 1980s survey still protrude from the bottom. It is an easy, atmospheric dive rather than a spectacular one. The iron is coated in sponges, bryozoans, sea stars and urchins, and it concentrates the fish of the otherwise featureless sound: dusky and banded morwong, magpie perch, senator and Maori wrasse, snapper, yellowtail scad and longfin pike, with scallops in the sand for those licensed to take them.

Visibility is generally 5–15 m and the bottom silts if finned carelessly. At Open Water depth and inside the bay, the Hurricane is the historic wreck most Melbourne divers do first, and it is a useful boat-dive option when Bass Strait is unworkable. It suits new divers, wreck-orientation courses and anyone interested in the clipper era.

Boat only. The closest launch is Rye boat ramp (Point Nepean Road, Rye – large car park, trailer parking, toilets), about 4 km from the wreck and 10–15 minutes in a small boat; Queenscliff ramp is 20 km across the bay. Drive Melbourne–Rye via the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Point Nepean Road, about 1 h 30 min.

Dive charters from Portsea (Dive Victoria Group, Bayplay) and Queenscliff sometimes schedule the Hurricane, usually as a second dive or when The Heads are blown out. The wreck sits on open sand with nothing visible on the surface; use the published GPS and a sounder, and anchor on the sand beside the wreck rather than into it – the stern rises about 3 m.

Sheltered from ocean swell by the peninsula, so it is a fallback when The Heads and Bass Strait are unworkable. Strong northerlies and north-westerlies build a short chop across the bay's long fetch and stir the silty bottom; south-westerlies are the offshore, calm direction here. Despite being 15 km inside The Heads the tidal stream is noticeable and the Scuba Doctor advises diving at slack water (use Rosebud tide times, slack roughly 2–3 hours after Port Phillip Heads).

Visibility drops after rain and in northerly blows; the best days are calm, cool mornings in autumn and winter with 10–15 m. In snapper season (October–January) the site is ringed with fishing boats – fly the flag and keep the boat on station.

Descend the anchor line to the stern, the highest part at about 9 m, and read the concrete heritage cairn. Follow the line of the hull north-north-west (338° true) along the port side past girders, plates and timber beams to the bow, where the large capstan sits among twisted iron, then return along the starboard side checking the sand for scallops and rays. A full circuit is about 130 m; 45 minutes at 10–12 m needs no stops beyond a safety stop on the anchor.

Dive Victoria Group (Portsea/Queenscliff) and Bayplay (Portsea) schedule the Hurricane occasionally, typically as a bay alternative when Bass Strait is rough or as a training wreck; Scuba Culture (Frankston) and Aquability club boats also visit. Most dives are from private boats out of Rye ramp.