World war one German-built watercraft on the Wingecarribee River

Abstract

In the aftermath of the First World War, a fleet of German and Austro-Hungarian vessels was intentionally scuttled on the Wingecarribee River in the southern highlands of New South Wales. These were not warships or merchant vessels, but a collection of timber canoes and kayaks, handcrafted from local materials by mariners interned at the Berrima Detention Camp from 1915 to 1919. These watercraft were used for daily leisure but soon became the focal point of carnivals held by internees, during which vessels were elaborately embellished to appear as gondolas, submarines, biplanes, models of famous German yachts and clippers, dragons and even a shark. Such fantasy craft were paraded in competition and pitted against each other in mock battles; festivities that increasingly attracted spectators from as far away as Sydney. In 1978, one of these watercraft was found washed up on river bank. It was retrieved, conserved and now holds pride of place in the Berrima District Museum. Since then, several efforts have been made to locate the submerged fleet. This chapter recounts what is known about these watercraft from historical sources, the unusual circumstances and motivations behind their abandonment, their significance from both a research and social perspective, and the ongoing search to find them.