The Songvaar is the largest and most rewarding wreck on the Wardang Island Maritime Heritage Trail. She was built in 1884 at Stockton-on-Tees, England, as the iron ship Barcore, about 85 m long and just over 2,100 tons, and was sold to Norwegian owners in 1909 and renamed Songvaar. In April 1912 she was lying at anchor off Wardang Island, waiting to load grain at Port Victoria.

With most of the crew ashore, the tide and current turned her so that on the falling tide she settled onto one of her own anchors, which pierced her hull. She sank on 14 April 1912 at the north-western corner of the island. The wreck lies in about 9-10 m and remains substantial: hull sections, frames, plating and machinery rise from the sand, and the SDFSA notes that the offending anchor can still be seen piercing the hull – a unique and very tangible piece of history.

The Dive Shack describes her as sitting upright. Fish life is outstanding. The SDFSA calls it amazing, and the Marine Life Society lists snapper, cuttlefish and other life; schools of old wives, bullseyes, tommy ruff and leatherjackets fill the structure, and blue swimmer crabs and rays work the surrounding sand.

Sponges and algae coat the iron. The Songvaar is within Open Water limits, but visibility varies with tide and current, and it is an open-water boat dive. It is the natural centrepiece of a Wardang Island trip and pairs well with the shallow Moorara, a short run to the east.

From Adelaide drive about 190 km (2 hours 15 minutes) via Port Wakefield and Maitland to Port Victoria. Launch at the Port Victoria boat ramp beside the jetty and run west to Wardang Island – the island's nearest shore is about 8 km away and the southern wreck sites about 11 km (20-30 minutes in a small boat). The Port Victoria Maritime Museum and the Department for Environment and Water trail booklet give site details and coordinates.

Wardang Island is Aboriginal land held by the Point Pearce (Narungga) community: diving the wrecks from a boat is fine, but landing on the island requires permission. The Songvaar lies off the north-west corner of the island, between Point Pearce and Wardang; allow 20-25 minutes from the ramp. Use the DEW coordinates and anchor in sand clear of the hull.

Wardang Island lies 8-11 km off Port Victoria in Spencer Gulf. Its western and southern shores – Aagot, Investigator, Notre Dame d'Arvor, Monarch, Australian and MacIntyre – face the open gulf and are subject to south-westerly swell, surge and wind-driven sand movement, so they need low swell and light winds, ideally easterlies. The eastern and northern sites (Songvaar, Moorara) are more sheltered from the prevailing south-westerlies but exposed to northerly and easterly chop.

The 20-30 minute boat run from Port Victoria becomes uncomfortable above about 15 knots. Summer and autumn mornings are the usual window; winter fronts bring days of south-westerly weather. The Marine Life Society notes visibility on the Songvaar depends on the current.

Descend beside the hull, swim its length to find the anchor still embedded in the plating, then circle the wreck looking into the frames and machinery for snapper and cuttlefish before returning to the anchor line.

No resident operator; Adelaide shops (The Dive Shack, Diving Adelaide) and clubs run periodic Wardang weekends, and private boats from Port Victoria dive it regularly in summer. The DEW trail notes it is easily accessible to divers.