The General Grant was a 1,005-ton three-masted barque carrying 58 passengers and 25 crew, and bound from Melbourne to London in May 1866. She was named after Ulysses S. Grant, who later became 18th President of the United States.
It is remembered not only for her cargo (2,576 ounces of gold) but also for the peculiar circumstances of her wreckage. Lost in the fog, the ship drifted off her scheduled route and was lost into a large cave on Auckland...
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The General Grant was a 1,005-ton three-masted barque carrying 58 passengers and 25 crew, and bound from Melbourne to London in May 1866. She was named after Ulysses S. Grant, who later became 18th President of the United States.
It is remembered not only for her cargo (2,576 ounces of gold) but also for the peculiar circumstances of her wreckage. Lost in the fog, the ship drifted off her scheduled route and was lost into a large cave on Auckland Island's western shore, where the rising tide caused the main mast to pierce a hole through the hull as it collided with the cave's roof.
Fifteen survived the wreck at Port Ross. Four perished in an open boat attempt to reach New Zealand. Another survivor died of illness.
The ten remaining survivors were rescued in November 1867 by the Amherst. As a result of this incident, the New Zealand government established a network of castaway depots on the subantarctic islands for the relief of further shipwreck victims.
To date, the wreck's exact...
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