Shipwreck Hunters Australia on Disney+ season 2 finds vanished ships – In two groundbreaking expeditions, Shipwreck Hunters Australia, with support from maritime archaeologists at the Western Australian Museum, have uncovered the wrecks of two long-lost vessels, the passenger steamship Rodondo and the Norwegian-owned iron sailing barque Langston.
The discoveries, each with a dramatic tale of disaster, survival, and forgotten history, are featured in the new series of Shipwreck Hunters Australia, streaming exclusively on Disney+ tomorrow.
The wrecks were discovered and identified during the filming of Shipwreck Hunters Australia Season 2 in two dramatically different remote locations off the Western Australian coast. The 73-metre Rodondo was found in extremely remote waters off the south coast of Western Australia, near Salisbury Island, where it was known to have struck Pollock Reef. It now rests in deep water on a sandy bottom, surrounded by thriving marine life. The 56-metre Langston was located off Naturaliste Reef, near Cape Naturaliste in the state’s south west, a notoriously hazardous stretch of coast known for rough seas and submerged reef systems. Like Rodondo, Langston was also found amazingly sitting upright on a sandy seabed and is now a flourishing ocean ecosystem.
After leaving Adelaide on 2 October 1894, Rodondo, a 16-year old inter-colonial screw steamship, was on its first voyage to Western Australia, carrying passengers and cargo from Adelaide during the peak of the Western Australian gold rush.
It struck Pollock Reef near Salisbury Island after a navigational error shortly before 2 am on Sunday, 7 October. As water poured in, panic took hold. Lifeboats capsized in the chaos, leading to the death of at least four passengers. Survivors made it ashore to nearby Salisbury Island and were eventually rescued days later. Now, after 130 years, the wreck site tells the story of one of Australia’s most harrowing maritime disasters.
Even more intriguing are the stories of the only two children on board Rodondo who survived the wreck, a young girl named Jesse and her brother Alex. That fateful night marked the beginning of extraordinary lives for both. Jesse went on to train in the military as a nurse, later serving during the Spanish flu pandemic, while Alex fought at Gallipoli in World War I and was awarded for bravery by the King. Through dedicated research, the Shipwreck Hunters Australia team was able to track down Jesse’s grandson, Michael, now a grandfather himself from South Australia, who had no idea about Rodondo or the dramatic events that shaped his family’s past.
“To think about her being in a shipwreck as a little girl, and going through what Jesse went through, is very difficult,”
– he said.
On Saturday, 8 February 1902, Langston, a Norwegian timber-laden cargo vessel, departed Bunbury bound for London. After delaying its departure to avoid the bad luck of sailing on a Friday, it met a tragic fate, striking Naturaliste Reef in a fierce gale just hours after setting sail. From the time it struck to the time lifeboats were lowered was ten minutes, and it sank only twenty minutes after that as the vessel flooded rapidly.
The ship and its valuable cargo of karri and jarrah timber were lost to the sea. Over a century later, the wreck has now been located, remarkably preserved, lying intact some 4 kilometres from the reef where it met its end.
Though all 13 crew initially survived, tragedy struck that night when 22-year-old seaman Andreas Larsen, himself a recent survivor of another shipwreck, collapsed from exhaustion during the lifeboat escape. A crewmate was tasked with keeping Larsen’s head above water, as he was lying in the bottom of the lifeboat. The men reached shore, but Larsen died later that night and was left wrapped in a sail on the beach.
Ryan Chatfield from Shipwreck Hunters Australia said:
“We chased amazing adventures through our love of the ocean and its spectacular wildlife – all driven by a passion for shipwrecks and bringing their stories to life. Together, along with an incredible team, we have achieved something beyond our wildest dreams. To discover not one but two magnificent shipwrecks that were lost to history is as good as it gets.”
Dr Deb Shefi, Maritime Archaeologist at the WA Museum, added:
“It was a privilege to be involved in the discovery of these two shipwrecks off the Western Australian coast and be able to identify them in my role as a Maritime Archeologist with the Western Australian Museum. By finding these sites, we are able to give new life to stories long forgotten and share them with the world!”
These extraordinary finds are documented in Season 2 of Shipwreck Hunters Australia, available to stream on Disney+ from tomorrow. Watch the whole series for even more incredible discoveries at amazing locations along the West Australian coast.
Shipwreck Hunters Australia season two is a co-production between VAM Media, Terra Australis Productions and Barking Mad Productions for Disney+, and has received major production investment from Screen Australia. Financed in association with Screenwest, Lotterywest, the Western Australian Regional Screen Fund and Tourism Western Australia, with expert assistance from the Western Australian Museum. The series was also developed with the assistance of Screen Australia, Screenwest and Lotterywest.
Shipwreck Hunters Australia on Disney+ – 27 August, 2025
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Shipwreck Hunters Australia on Disney+ season 2 finds vanished ships
