Just outside Tamar Heads lies Hebe Reef.
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At high tide on a calm day it is submerged and invisible.
There are no breaking waves to warn approaching ships.
Ironically, the fact that the reef is invisible in broad daylight and calm weather has usually meant that foundering ships did so without loss of life.
They often had time to salvage their cargoes.
Wikipedia lists five large vessels wrecked on the reef over the past two centuries, but there were at least nine, as well as other smaller vessels.
The first we know of was the brig Hebe, a three-masted square-rigged ship weighing 250 tons, en route from India to Sydney in 1808.
She was unlucky, with the death of a crewman, though her cargo was salvaged.
At the request of Captain Leigh, Hebe's master, the reef was named after her and placed on charts.
This enables us to more easily identify which other vessels were later claimed.
After Hebe, eight other ships came to grief including the barque Phillip Oakden in 1851, the cutter Mariner in 1861, the schooner Jane and Elizabeth in 1867 and the barque Asterope in 1883.
Then there was the SS Esk in 1886, the ketch Windward in 1890, the barque Eden Holme in 1907 and ore carrier Iron Baron in 1995.
While passengers and crew usually survived, there were consequences beyond the loss of the vessels.
In the case of the Launceston Shipbuilding Company at Gravelly Beach, Philip Oakden was their first ship, launched on November 20, 1849.
When it hit the reef returning from its maiden voyage to London, it took the company down with it.
In the case of Iron Baron in 1995, the greatest impact of the wreck was on the environment.
When the reef punctured her fuel tanks, oil poured out and thousands of fairy penguins were killed.
In 1848, towers were erected at Lagoon Bay to guide ships in, but they failed to save the Philip Oakden, Mariner or Jane and Elizabeth.
Large leading light towers were then built and opened in 1882, only to see Asterope wrecked the following year.
It seemed nothing could prevent captains occasionally becoming confused when faced with an invisible hazard.
In the case of the SS Esk in 1886, Captain John Evans was using an old chart that didn't show the buoy on the reef.
He assumed it was on the eastern edge to warn ships departing from George Town.
In fact it was at the northwest corner to warn ships coming in.
Not being certain of the buoy's meaning he should have relied on the leading lights.
Evans was stripped of his captain's certificate and job.
Though his certificate was returned on appeal and he later became Sir John and Premier of Tasmania, he never got over losing his ship.
To his dying day he could not accept it was his fault.