Wave (brig)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Wave
Launched	1838
Fate	Wrecked 5 July 1848
General characteristics
Class and type	Brig
Tons burthen	103 tons

Wave was a brig that was wrecked in 1848 at Cheynes Beach near Cape Riche, Western Australia.

Built in 1838^[1] 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.^[2]

The vessel was in command of James C. Coke^[3] and was transporting cargo from Adelaide to Shanghai via Albany and Singapore.^[1] The brig left Adelaide on 5 June 1848 loaded mostly with flour and was en route to Albany to load a shipment of sandalwood.^[2]

On 5 July 1848,^[4] the vessel was anchored at Cheyne Bay near Cape Riche when it was blown ashore by a heavy gale. Champion and Arpenteur were dispatched from King George Sound^[5] to assist. Champion managed to pull Wave offshore but Wave was leaking badly and foundered then sunk.^[2]

Champion then salvaged some of the cargo and then transported the crew, minus the captain, back to Albany. Captain Coke sailed to Adelaide aboard HMS Acheron, commanded by Captain John Lort Stokes.

The owners of Arpenteur acquired the wreck of Wave and that cargo not already salvaged for £330. Arpenteur sailed for Fremantle with 27 tons of flour, 1,000 bushels of wheat, the rigging and sails that the crew had salvaged from Wave.^[2]

• List of shipwrecks of Australia § Western Australia

34°35′40″S 118°45′06″E / 34.5945°S 118.7516°E / -34.5945; 118.7516