The Riddle of the Rifleman

The Riddle of the Rifleman

Report into the Salvage and Identification of the Rifleman wrecked int he Auckland Islands 1833

John McCrystal, Bill Day and Jack Fry, 2012. Maritime Archaeological Association of New Zealand ISBN 978-0-473-20126-5

The report is available from MAANZ - see here http://www.maanz.wellington.net.nz/projects/repart.html.

Blurb

Unidentified Wreck on the Auckland Islands

In January 1986 a group of divers from New Zealand looking for the wreck of the General Grant found the wreck of an unknown sailing ship on the West Coast of the Auckland Islands. In a subsequent expedition over 1995-1996, they found and retrieved an intriguing number of artefacts. These included three anchors, two cannon with numerous cannonballs, 60 half crowns and two copper coins dated between 1810 and 1833. A number of gold coins were also retrieved. Names on the ships fittings indicated that it was a wreck of a British built vessel.

But what was she? Known until recently known as the “Half Crown Wreck”, extensive research has now revealed the identity of the ship.