The Japanese air raids on Darwin left the harbour's war graves; Sydney Harbour has the remains of the 1942 midget submarine attack; flying boats lie in Roebuck Bay; and merchant ships torpedoed along the east coast rest in deep water. This list covers every wreck in the directory recorded as lost between 1939 and 1945.
Updated daily from the directory. 39 sites listed.
1. Sydney South & Botany Bay · NSW
South Maroubra
Lost 1939 · Belbowrie wreckage and old bottles among a boulder maze with more than fifty fish species, including Sydney's biggest dusky flathead.
2. Sydney South & Botany Bay · NSW
TSS Belbowrie wreck (South Maroubra)
Lost 1939 · Scattered iron and brass from a 1911 timber steamer wrecked in a southerly gale in 1939, on the same point as the Tekapo.
3. Rottnest Island · WA
Shark Hopper Barge (Henrietta Rocks)
Lost 1939 · A 1939 hopper barge sitting partly out of the water a few strokes from the beach - an easy and photogenic wreck snorkel.
4. Surf Coast & Great Ocean Road · VIC
City of Rayville
Lost 1940 · The first American merchant ship lost in WWII, intact and upright in 82 m off Cape Otway – Victoria's premier deep technical wreck.
Our takeThe first American merchant ship lost in the war, sunk by a German mine off Cape Otway on 8 November 1940, more than a year before Pearl Harbor. Intact and upright in 82 m; Victoria's premier technical wreck.
5. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
HMAS Goorangai
Lost 1940 · Scattered remains of the auxiliary minesweeper cut in two by MV Duntroon in November 1940 with the loss of all 24 crew – the RAN's first WWII loss, a war grave in 12–15 m in the South Channel, thick with cuttlefish and seahorses.
Our takeThe Royal Australian Navy's first loss of the war: an auxiliary minesweeper cut in half by the troopship Duntroon in Port Phillip in November 1940, all 24 crew lost. The remains are scattered in 15 m inside the Heads.
6. Surf Coast & Great Ocean Road · VIC
SS Orungal
Lost 1940 · A 119 m interstate liner wrecked on Formby Reef in 1940 and picked over by Whelan the Wrecker – two Scotch boilers awash at low tide and a wide field of plating, winches and shaft in 3–10 m; a fine flat-day dive and snorkel.
7. Christmas Island · External Territory
Eidsvold Wreck
Lost 1942 · WWII history in 5–18 m: the broken-up Norwegian freighter Eidsvold, torpedoed in Flying Fish Cove in 1942, now overgrown with hard coral.
Our takeA Norwegian phosphate freighter torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in Flying Fish Cove in January 1942, now a broken, coral-encrusted wreck in 5 to 18 m a short swim from Christmas Island's main dive site.
8. Darwin Harbour · NT
British Motorist
Lost 1942 · Engine-room remains of the tanker that was refuelling USS Peary when the 1942 raid began.
Our takeThe tanker that was refuelling USS Peary when the first Japanese raid on Darwin began on 19 February 1942. Salvaged after the war; the engine room remains in 20 m and is dived on neap tides.
9. Tiwi Islands · NT
Don Isidro
Lost 1942 · A 97.8 m Krupp-built Philippine blockade runner bombed and beached burning off the Tiwi Islands on 19 February 1942.
10. Tiwi Islands · NT
Florence D
Lost 1942 · A 1942 blockade-runner sunk in the first Darwin raid, found in 2008 – intact stern on its side in 16 m and a shattered ammunition-laden bow, in a closed protected zone.
Our takeSunk by aircraft from the Darwin raid force on 19 February 1942 and found only in 2008 off the Tiwi Islands, with an intact stern on its side and a shattered, ammunition-laden bow. Expedition access.
11. Darwin Harbour · NT
Kelat
Lost 1942 · A relaxed 12 m dive on the remains of an 1881 iron sailing ship turned naval coal hulk, sunk after the 1942 raid.
12. Darwin Harbour · NT
MV Neptuna remnants
Lost 1942 · Fragments of the munitions ship whose explosion at Stokes Hill Wharf killed 45 people on 19 February 1942.
13. Darwin Harbour · NT
SS Mauna Loa
Lost 1942 · An American freighter sunk in the same raid, upright in 20 m with cargo still in the holds.
Our takeA US freighter whose holds are still stacked with the war cargo she was carrying in February 1942: trucks, Bren carriers, a Harley-Davidson and ammunition. Twenty metres, dived on the neap-tide slack.
14. Darwin Harbour · NT
SS Zealandia
Lost 1942 · The former Huddart Parker liner and troopship, now the most coral-covered of the 1942 raid wrecks.
15. Darwin Harbour · NT
US Navy Catalina 6 (heritage zone)
Lost 1942 · The most intact US Navy Catalina in Darwin Harbour - protected in a no-entry heritage zone.
16. Darwin Harbour · NT
US Navy Catalina No.4/8 (Catalina 5)
Lost 1942 · A US Navy PBY burned and sunk in the 1942 raids; wings collapsed by the fuel fire.
17. Darwin Harbour · NT
US Navy Catalina No.41 (Catalina 4)
Lost 1942 · Remains of a US Navy Patrol Wing 10 flying boat burned and sunk in the Japanese attacks on Darwin.
18. Darwin Harbour · NT
USAT Meigs
Lost 1942 · A 130 m US Army transport sunk in the 1942 air raid, the largest and most-dived wreck in Darwin Harbour.
Our takeThe largest ship sunk in the Darwin raid, a US Army transport of 12,500 tons, lying in 18 m with a Bren carrier in her bow and holds of trucks, railway iron and ammunition. The signature Darwin Harbour wreck.
19. Darwin Harbour · NT
USS Peary
Lost 1942 · The US destroyer sunk with 88 of her crew in the first raid on Darwin; the harbour's deepest and most solemn WWII dive.
Our takeThe destroyer sunk with 88 of her crew in the first raid on Darwin, in 30 m. A war grave, dived with respect and by permit; the harbour's deepest and most sombre wreck.
20. Far Northern Reef & Torres Strait · QLD
Japanese Zero wreck (Hammond Island)
Lost 1942 · A 1942 Japanese Zero fighter in 4 m off Hammond Island – rare WWII aviation history in the shallows.
21. North Stradbroke Island · QLD
Rufus King Wreck
Lost 1942 · The broken stern of a 1942 Liberty ship that grounded carrying bombers and aviation fuel for the Pacific war.
22. Broome & Kimberley · WA
Roebuck Bay Flying Boat Wrecks (deep-water Catalinas)
Lost 1942 · WWII Catalina flying boats sunk in the 1942 Broome raid, with engines and turret still recognisable.
23. Broome & Kimberley · WA
Town Beach Flying Boat Wrecks (low-tide walk)
Lost 1942 · Walk among WWII flying-boat wrecks on the mudflats at extreme low tide.
24. Rottnest Island · WA
Uribes Wreck
Lost 1942 · A 1942 schooner filled with sand in 2.5-4 m just metres from the beach - Rottnest's easiest wreck snorkel.
25. Wollongong & Kiama · NSW
SS Cities Service Boston
Lost 1943 · Boilers and engine remains of a 146 m US tanker wrecked in 1943, with a dramatic rescue story commemorated on the headland.
26. Newcastle & Lake Macquarie · NSW
SS Davenport wreck (Stockton)
Lost 1943 · A WWII munitions ship towed out of Newcastle Harbour while ablaze in 1943, with fire-fused machinery in only 12 m.
27. Bundaberg & Agnes Water · QLD
Beaufort Bomber A9-322 Wreck
Lost 1943 · A Second World War RAAF Beaufort crash site lost on Christmas Eve 1943 – scattered remains for aviation-history enthusiasts.
28. Townsville & Magnetic Island · QLD
Curtiss Falcon Aircraft Wreck (Nelly Bay)
Lost 1943 · Engine and propeller of a USAAF CW-22B Falcon that ditched in 1943 – a rare wartime aircraft relic off Magnetic Island.
Aircraft WreckDepth not publishedIntermediateOpen WaterShore accessMore in Townsville & Magnetic Island →
29. Heron Island & Capricorn Group · QLD
HMCS Protector Wreck (Heron Island)
Lost 1943 · An 1884 colonial gunboat with Boxer Rebellion and WWI service, now a harbour breakwater and fish haven snorkelled at high tide.
30. Mackay · QLD
MV Cremer Wreck (St Bees Island)
Lost 1943 · Two 8 m engines and a propeller shaft from a 1943 wartime grounding, in shallow water off Grimston Point.
31. Perth · WA
ALC40 & Gay Dragon Wrecks (Bicton)
Lost 1943 · A WWII landing craft and a sunken junk-style pleasure boat that together are the Swan River's most reliable seahorse site.
32. Darwin Harbour · NT
Beaufort A9-497
Lost 1944 · An intact RAAF Beaufort bomber with guns and cockpit instruments in place, found by sonar and kept undisturbed.
33. Cocos (Keeling) Islands · External Territory
Catalina JX435 Wreck
Lost 1945 · Engines, propellers and a 600 m debris trail from a RAF Catalina that crashed landing in June 1945 – a shallow dive and a war grave.
34. Coral Sea · External Territory
SS Francis Preston Blair wreck (Saumarez Reef)
Lost 1945 · The collapsed remains of a Second World War Liberty ship on a remote Coral Sea reef edge.
35. Coral Sea · External Territory
Wreck of the Atlas (Bougainville Reef)
Lost 1945 · A shallow wreck on a remote Coral Sea reef, dived by a handful of liveaboards a year.
Our takeA freighter that ran onto Bougainville Reef in 1945 and now lies scattered across the reef top and slope in 15 m, thick with coral. A regular stop for the Coral Sea liveaboards.
36. Darwin Harbour · NT
Catalina A24-1 (Catalina 1)
Lost 1945 · The RAAF's first Catalina, crashed on take-off in 1945 and left on a mangrove mud bank where its engines show at low tide.
37. Darwin Harbour · NT
Catalina A24-206 (Catalina 3)
Lost 1945 · An RAAF Catalina sunk by an accidental depth-charge explosion in 1945 that killed two airmen; nose section intact.
38. Darwin Harbour · NT
Catalina A24-69 (Catalina 2)
Lost 1945 · The most intact RAAF Catalina in the harbour, with its bow and cockpit section still recognisable in 10-12 m.
39. Port Phillip Heads · VIC
Wareatea
Lost 1945 · A 1883 Bass Strait passenger-cargo steamer with twin hatches and central superstructure under heavy sponge growth in 48 m; rarely dived.
The guide
Australia's war at sea, underwater
The Second World War reached Australian waters in three ways: German raiders and mines off the south-east coast in 1940 and 1941, the Japanese air raids on Darwin from February 1942, and Japanese submarines along the east coast in 1942 and 1943. Each left wrecks. The mines took the City of Rayville and the Cambridge off Victoria; the Darwin raids sank eight ships in the harbour in a morning; the submarines torpedoed freighters from Cairns to Gabo Island and put a midget submarine into Sydney Harbour.
This list is ordered by the year the wreck was lost among wrecks from 1939 to 1945, which is why the pre-war-loss Belbowrie at Maroubra opens it; from there it runs through the 1940 minings, the 1942 raids and the late-war reef strandings.
Darwin Harbour is the centre
Nowhere else in Australia has a cluster of Second World War wrecks that a recreational diver can visit in a weekend. The Meigs, Mauna Loa, Zealandia, British Motorist and Peary all lie in 18 to 30 m within the harbour, dived on the neap-tide slack when the current stops and the visibility rises to 5 to 10 m. Darwin's operators run them from April to October; the Peary is a US war grave and is dived under permit conditions. The wrecks are protected under the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act, as is everything else on this list older than 75 years.
The ones you cannot dive
Some of the most important wartime wrecks are closed. The M24 midget submarine off Sydney's northern beaches and the Japanese submarine I-124 off Darwin are protected war graves inside no-entry zones. HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran lie in 2,500 m off Shark Bay. AHS Centaur is in 2,000 m off Moreton Island. They appear in the directory for their history, marked as no-dive sites, and the I-124 has a virtual-reality tour produced by the Northern Territory government.
Editorial last reviewed September 2026. The list itself is regenerated from the directory daily.
Frequently asked questions
Can I dive the Darwin Harbour war wrecks?
Yes, with a charter on neap tides in the dry season. The Meigs, Mauna Loa, British Motorist, Zealandia and Kelat are war graves: no entry where remains may be present, no touching.
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