Name Wave Class and type Brig Launched 1838 | Struck Sank 1848 Tons burthen 103 tons | |
The Wave was a brig that was wrecked in 1848 at Cheynes Beach near Cape Riche, Western Australia.
Built in 1838 in Victoria, Bermuda the vessel was constructed from wood and copper sheathed. It had a square stern, single deck, no galleries and a billet head. The vessel was acquired by R. Brown in 1847 and was registered in London. It was then acquired in 1848 by William Younghusband and Company of Adelaide and registered there.
The vessel was in command of James C. Coke and was transporting cargo from Adelaide to Shanghai via Albany and Singapore. The brig left Adelaide 5 June 1848 loaded mostly with flour and was en route to Albany to load a shipment of sandalwood.
The vessel was anchored at Cheyne Bay near Cape Riche when it was blown ashore by a heavy gale. The Champion and Arpenteur were dispatched from King George Sound to assist. The Champion managed to pull the Wave offshore but Wave was leaking badly and foundered then sunk.
Champion then salvaged some of the cargo and then transported the crew, minus the Captain, back to Albany. Captain Coke sailed to Adelaide aboard the HMS Acheron, commanded by Captain John Lort Stokes.
The owners of the Arpenteur acquired the wreck of the Wave and that cargo not already salvaged for £330. The Arpenteur sailed for Fremantle with 27 tons of flour, 1,000 bushels of wheat, the rigging and sails that the crew had salvaged from the Wave.