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Tasmanian Seafarers' Memorial
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Brahmin (1854)
The plaque reads ...
S.
'Brahmin'
616 ton ship left England 5.2.1854 for
Sydney with 5 passengers, gen. cargo,
35 crew under Capt. Malcolm McEarcharn.
Struck reef off west coast of King Is
in gale force winds on 21.5.1854.
Lost were the Captain, 12 officers and
crew, 4 passengers, with 25 survivors
who were rescued 5 hungry months later.
The ship Brahmin loaded with general cargo, five passengers and a largely Lascar crew of 35 under the command of Captain Malcolm McEacharn left England bound for Sydney. Poor visibility and gale force winds caused the ship to run aground on King Island's west coast during the night. The ship's longboat was launched in the morning but 12 crew and four passengers were lost when it was swamped. The remaining crew reached shore where they stayed until found five months later by survivors of the schooner Waterwitch that was also wrecked on King Island in September 1854.
Captain Forrest from the Waterwitch enlisted volunteers to repair the only available boat, the long boat from the Brahmin. The chief mate of the Waterwitch and the carpenter of the Brahmin finally sailed the hazardous passage to the Van Dieman's Land mainland in the quick time of 14 hours to raise the alarm. Immediately after the Electra was despatched to relieve the survivors from their island "prison".
Remains of the wreck were discovered in 1976 by divers some 700 metres offshore. Little remains of the ship's timbers but various durable artifacts were found which are now in the King Island museum.