Marine archaeologists have discovered the long-lost Dutch merchant vessel Koning Willem de Tweede, which sank nearly 170 years ago off the coast of South Australia. The wreck offers a powerful glimpse into a tragic chapter of maritime history during the height of the nineteenth-century Australian gold rushes.
The 800-ton sailing ship, launched in the Netherlands in 1840, had just completed a voyage transporting around 400 Chinese miners from Hong Kong to the goldfields of Victoria. The passengers disembarked near the town of Robe and began a 400-kilometre journey on foot to reach the mines.
Shortly afterwards, the vessel was caught in a violent storm as it prepared to return to the Netherlands in June 1857. The bay