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Mira Flores
The Mira Flores was a German-owned, iron-hulled sailing ship known as a barque, a type of cargo vessel with three or more masts commonly used for long-distance trade during the 19th century. The vessel was wrecked on Horseshoe Reef, off the northwestern coast of Rottnest Island, on 30 January 1886.
Possibly the Mira Flores, a German iron-hulled barque wrecked off Rottnest Island in 1886.
Identification unconfirmed. Image: Shipwrecks WA.
Construction and early voyages
The Mira Flores, whose name is Spanish for “Look at the flowers”, was built in Liverpool, England, in 1867 by Bowdler, Chaffer and Company, a shipbuilding firm established just three years earlier, in 1864. The vessel was registered at Rostock, Germany, and was owned by W. Moach of Germany. It measured approximately 49.2 metres long, had a registered tonnage of 500 tons and was commanded by Captain Witt, who also held an ownership interest in the vessel.
The Mira Flores had previously visited Fremantle in early 1885, arriving from London with a cargo of merchandise. An advertisement published in The Morning Herald on 4 February 1885 advised customers to complete their Customs paperwork, pay freight charges and arrange collection of their goods. Sandovers & Mathew, agents for the West Australian Shipping Association, also requested that any claims against the vessel be submitted by 5 February 1885.
Captain Witt was already commanding the Mira Flores at this time. The advertisement stated that he would not accept responsibility for debts incurred by members of his crew and that the vessel was available for further freight or passenger charter.
The final voyage
The Mira Flores had been hired by the West Australian Shipping Association to transport cargo from London to Fremantle. It departed London on 29 October 1885, carrying approximately 1,000 tons of cargo, including general merchandise, furniture, drapery, medicines, alcohol, hardware, building materials, machinery, railway rails, nine tons of gunpowder and rifles intended for the Western Australian Government.
Captain Witt sighted Rottnest Island during the afternoon of 29 January 1886 and remained offshore overnight before approaching Fremantle the following morning.
The weather was fine, with relatively calm seas. The vessel was flying a signal flag requesting a pilot to guide it safely into Fremantle Harbour, while the crew measured the depth of the water under the ship.
This was done using a lead line, a long rope with a heavy lead weight attached to one end. The sailors lowered the weight over the side until it reached the seabed, then used markings along the rope to determine the depth. They repeated the process as the ship continued moving to check whether the water was becoming shallower.
The wreck at Horseshoe Reef
At approximately 5.30 am, the Mira Flores was sighted from the Rottnest lookout. However, the absence of telephone communication between the lookout and pilot station delayed the notification and Pilot Butcher was still preparing to assist when the vessel struck Horseshoe Reef.
The impact tore a large hole in the hull, allowing water to quickly enter. Captain Witt attempted to steer the damaged vessel towards shore, but after travelling approximately 400 metres, it struck another submerged rock and became firmly wedged in shallow water. The vessel came to rest upright, with its bow (front) raised above the water and its stern (rear) partly submerged.
Water flooded the main cargo hold to the level of the hatches, while waves washed across the rear section of the ship's upper deck.
Captain Witt later suggested that the ship's compasses may have become inaccurate during the voyage. However, the cause of the grounding was disputed.
A later account published in 1946 stated that Horseshoe Reef had been marked on the captain's chart, together with instructions for vessels to remain at least three miles (4.8 kilometres) clear of Rottnest Island.
Samuel George Butcher, the maritime pilot stationed on Rottnest Island, was preparing to board the Mira Flores and guide it safely towards Fremantle. However, the absence of telephone communication between the island’s lookout and pilot station delayed his response and the vessel struck Horseshoe Reef before he could reach it. Butcher subsequently boarded the damaged ship to provide assistance.
Rescue and salvage operations
At approximately 7.10 am, a message reporting the accident was sent to Fremantle using a heliograph, a device that transmitted information through flashes of reflected sunlight. However, further delays occurred in passing the information to the harbour authorities, with the Acting Harbour Master receiving notification at approximately 9.30 am.
The Acting Harbour Master received notification later that morning, prompting several vessels to leave Fremantle to assist with the wreck.
Among the vessels dispatched were the Myth, Zebra, Ione, Will Watch, the water police boat Mabel, the Harbour Master’s boat, the steam launch Cleopatra, the Nellie and the Evelyn Mary.
The Mabel, commanded by Coxswain Woods and carrying Customs officers, reached the wreck ahead of the steam-powered launch Cleopatra, despite travelling under sail.
Salvage operations began that afternoon, with lightermen and labourers attempting to remove merchandise from the flooded holds.
The work was particularly difficult because large quantities of coke, a solid fuel made from processed coal, were floating inside the flooded cargo hold, obstructing access to the cargo.
Workers entered water up to their necks to attach lifting hooks to packages, some of which broke apart as they were raised.
Sections of the raised deck at the rear of the ship, known as the poop deck, were also opened to gain access to the captain's cabin and recover whatever belongings remained.
The German crew had stopped working following the accident. One contemporary report stated that they had gone more than twelve hours without food, while another claimed they had opened a case of liquor and refused to continue working.
Customs officials subsequently provided food and the sailors were sent to Fremantle under the supervision of the mate, one of the ship’s officers who ranked below the captain. The crew reportedly saved their clothing, although Captain Witt lost most of his personal possessions. Newspaper accounts differed on whether he managed to save a chronometer, a highly accurate clock used by sailors to help determine their position at sea.
A later account published on 16 November 1946 claimed that members of the crew had attempted to break into the cargo holds to obtain brandy and that Captain Witt had held them back with a revolver. According to this account, Governor Sir Frederick Broome, who was holidaying on Rottnest Island and Pilot Butcher, boarded the vessel to help restore order.
The loss of the Mira Flores
Lloyd's marine surveyor Captain Owston inspected the Mira Flores on 31 January, accompanied by Lloyd's agent Mr Broomhall and shipping agent Mr Bateman.
The vessel remained wedged on the rocks in approximately 4.6 metres of water. Although the exact location of the hull damage could not be determined without a diver, Owston considered the vessel beyond recovery.
Salvage continued while weather conditions permitted. Several lighters transported recovered merchandise to Fremantle, including the Myth, commanded by John Baldwin and the Ione, commanded by W. Back.
Customs officers and water police remained aboard to supervise operations and protect the remaining cargo. However, the vessel had already begun breaking apart within days of the grounding, and rough weather threatened to destroy what remained.
The loss of the Mira Flores also raised concerns about maritime communications around Rottnest Island. The absence of telephone communication between the lookout and pilot station had reportedly been raised with authorities on several occasions before the accident. Further criticism followed delays in relaying the heliograph message to Fremantle, with calls for an investigation into the handling of the emergency.
Auctioning the cargo
Within days of the wreck, arrangements were made to auction the vessel and its cargo. On 3 February 1886, E. Solomon & Co. advertised a public auction at the Port Mill in Fremantle for merchandise already recovered from the Mira Flores. The goods included clothing, hats, gloves, books, bedding, medicines and other general merchandise.
Advertisements for the auction of the Mira Flores and its salvaged cargo.
The Daily News, 2 February 1886
A second auction was advertised for 4 February 1886, when John M'Cleery was instructed by Captain Witt to offer the wrecked vessel and its remaining cargo for sale at the South Jetty in Fremantle. The advertisement confirmed that the Mira Flores was still lying on Horseshoe Reef and that the remaining cargo would be sold after the vessel. Both were offered without reserve, with payment required immediately upon purchase.
By 22 March 1886, salvage operations had been permanently suspended. Auctioneer John M'Cleery was scheduled to sell the remaining hull and cargo on 23 March.
Auction of the Mira Flores wreck and remaining cargo at Fremantle.
The Herald, 27 March 1886.
Calls for improved navigation safety
On 20 October 1890, a newspaper correspondent referred to the losses of the Lady Elizabeth, Mira Flores, Macedon and Denton Holme when calling for bell buoys to be installed around the island. The proposed buoys would provide audible warnings to vessels approaching dangerous reefs and shoals, particularly during poor visibility.
Rediscovery of the wreck
The remains of the Mira Flores were located by Roland Clausen Smith (1893–1972), a Perth businessman, experienced yachtsman and former naval officer who had spent many years exploring the reefs around Rottnest Island. Smith had served as Commodore of the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and was appointed commanding officer of HMAS Leeuwin II, a Naval Auxiliary Patrol unit based at the club during the Second World War.
Roland Smith, 13 February 1952. State Library of Western Australia, 016058PD
Using a waterglass, a glass-bottomed viewing device that allowed him to examine the seabed from his boat without interference from waves and reflections, Smith located the wreck north of the Narrow Neck anchorage. He described seeing what appeared to be the vessel's starboard bow (front right-hand side), along with sections of deck housing or bulkheads (internal walls separating compartments) under the surface.
Smith reportedly returned to the site several times but experienced difficulty relocating the wreck because of weather and sea conditions. Smith was subsequently credited with discovering three historic shipwrecks around Rottnest Island, including the Gem, west of Dyer Island, and the City of York, which had been wrecked in July 1899.
The Mira Flores was later investigated by members of the Underwater Explorers Club and maritime archaeologists. The Western Australian Museum records the wreck as consisting of two principal areas, with the stern remaining relatively intact in a sandy depression at a depth of approximately 12 to 13 metres.
Other sections of the iron hull and structural debris are scattered across the surrounding reef, with wreckage extending over approximately 60 metres.
The salvaged anchor from the Mira Flores displayed in front of the Visitor Centre on Rottnest Island.
Artefacts associated with the wreck have included ammunition, glass bottles, timber handles, an anchor and a lead ingot bearing the marking Babbitt's Patent. The anchor has been identified among the historic shipwreck exhibits associated with Rottnest Island.
The Mira Flores was included in the Rottnest Wrecks Heritage Trail, established in 1980-1981 and became protected under Commonwealth historic shipwreck legislation. Its remains are still located off Narrow Neck, where the vessel was lost while approaching Fremantle in January 1886.
