Coogee was built in 1887 by J. L. Thompson and Sons of Sunderland as the Lancashire Witch for the Liverpool–Isle of Man run.

Huddart Parker bought her in 1888 for the Melbourne–Geelong passenger trade, and for 30 years she was a familiar bay steamer, later running across Bass Strait. On 20 May 1918 she was commissioned as HMAS Coogee, serving as a minesweeper and armed patrol vessel until the Armistice. Worn out and unwanted, she was stripped and scuttled in the Graveyard on 27 February 1928.

The wreck lies on a limestone and sand seabed in 28–35 m with the bow pointing north towards the shore. The scuttling charges flattened the midships, so the layout is a recognisable bow, an open engine and boiler space, and a substantial stern. The bow section rests on its side and still carries its original railings, thick with growth and busy with fish.

Amidships the two large boilers are the landmark: there is room to swim between them, and beyond lie the engine bed and centre-line hatch coamings. The stern is the highlight and one of the most photographed pieces of steel in Victoria – two decks of structure remain, with the rudder gear and steering quadrant clear, and a little penetration is possible for wreck-trained divers. Yellow zoanthids blanket the stern and railings, and the wreck holds giant Australian cuttlefish in season, several species of catshark, ling, bullseyes, sweep, crayfish under the plates and large sponges and sea fans in the shelter of the hull.

At 35 m maximum it sits within Advanced-with-experience limits and is dived weekly in good weather, often as a 22-minute nitrox dive with a short deco. It is the best all-round steamship wreck outside The Heads for divers not yet ready for the 40 m-plus sites, and the pairing of Coogee with J4 or J5 is the standard Graveyard day.

Boat only. Charters leave from Queenscliff Harbour (Red Boats, Dive Victoria Group) or Portsea Pier (Dive Victoria Group, Bayplay); drive Melbourne–Queenscliff via the Geelong Ring Road and Bellarine Highway (about 1 h 40 min) or Melbourne–Portsea down the Mornington Peninsula Freeway (about 1 h 45 min). Private boats launch at Queenscliff (Larkin Parade) or Sorrento ramps; the wreck lies a few kilometres outside The Rip, so time the run through the Heads for slack or a following tide.

Boat time from Queenscliff is roughly 20–30 minutes and from Portsea 30–40 minutes in a fast RIB, longer in a displacement charter boat. Gear is loaded at the harbour; there is parking at Queenscliff Harbour and along Point Nepean Road at Portsea.

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 lands amidships near the boilers. Swim north to the bow (33 m), which lies on its side with railings intact, then return along the flattened midships between the twin boilers and along the engine bed to the stern at 35 m, where the steering quadrant and rudder gear sit under two levels of deck. Trained divers can poke into the stern compartments.

Back to the shot at 22 minutes; deco or extended stop on the line.

Within recreational limits on air or EAN28–32 but an SMB, redundant gas (pony or twinset) and a computed deco plan are expected; many divers run it as a light-deco dive on nitrox with a 50% stage. Shot line descents and ascents only – free ascents in the shipping approach are not acceptable.

Dive Victoria Group (Portsea and Queenscliff) – scheduled double-dive charters most weekends in season, weather permitting; Red Boats (Queenscliff) – regular weekend and weekday charters; Bay City Charters (Portsea/Queenscliff) and Chimney Rock Charters (Queenscliff) – regular weekend charters; Bayplay (Portsea) – occasional advanced charters. All treat the site as a deep/advanced dive and run it on the calmest days of the week. One of the three or four most-visited Graveyard wrecks and a standard second dive after J4.