1622: Australia's First recorded Shipwreck

Australia's first recorded shipwreck occurred in 1622 when the English ship Tryall, under the command of John Brooke, ran into a reef off the north-west coast of Western Australia, now called Tryal Rocks.

The ship had departed Plymouth on its maiden voyage for Batavia (now Jakarta) when tragedy struck.

45 people escaped. Brook, his son, and 9 others escaped in a skiff. While Thomas Bright and 35 others set off for Batavia in a longboat.

Left to perish on the wreck were 93 people, who were never seen again.

Thomas Bright blamed Brooke's poor navigation and failure to post a lookout for the loss of the ship and her crew. Bright also accused Brook of stealing the ship's cargo of silver.

On returning to England, Brooke was given command of the Moone. As this ship left Batavia in February 1625, it was wrecked off the coast of Dover, with the loss of 50,000 pounds in treasure.

The wreck site was located by the Fremantle-based Underwater Explorer's Club in 1969.

In 1971, another examination of the wreck site found the ship divided into two main sections.

At the site, six cannons and up to eight anchors consistent with the period were recorded, but no definitive means to identify it as the Tryall. 

The Western Australian Shipwreck Galleries at Fremantle has displayed recovered items from the wreck, including a large iron cannon

The Western Australian Shipwreck Galleries at Fremantle has displayed recovered items from the Tryall wreck, including a large iron cannon.

WA Shipwrecks Museum: Cliff Street, Fremantle, WA, 6160