Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.
- Yongala lost
- Thistlegorm sunk
- Coron fleet
- Cousteau at Thistlegorm
- Artificial reef programmes
- Specialty cards
- Technical wreck boom
- Permit and grave rules
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
Which local rescue or training agency should I check first?
Use the local lens: coastguard/federation norms and the shop briefing for that bay — not a blog visibility claim.
Why is risk scored so high here?
Silt, entanglement, lost exits and the urge to “just look inside” show up in fatality reports. Night-plus-wreck is worse.
What is the Yongala?
A 1911 passenger steamer off Queensland, now a protected historic wreck and a famous GBR dive — typically exterior.
What is the Thistlegorm?
A 1941 British cargo ship bombed in the Red Sea, rediscovered by Cousteau’s team in the 1950s, now a mass recreational wreck.
Are wrecks war graves?
Many are. Touching remains or souvenirs is illegal and indecent.
Do people need trimix?
Not for typical recreational wreck exteriors. Deep technical wrecks are another sport.
People have always entered wrecks for salvage. Sport wreck diving is a late-twentieth-century mix of Cousteau films, military-dump fleets and park protection.
The history is a salvage law wearing a GoPro.
Timeline
- Yongala lost
A cyclone takes the steamer off Cape Bowling Green; she becomes a later GBR icon.
- Thistlegorm sunk
Luftwaffe bombs a cargo ship at Sha’ab Ali.
- Coron fleet
US aircraft sink a Japanese supply fleet in the Philippines.
- Cousteau at Thistlegorm
Film makes a war wreck a destination.
- Artificial reef programmes
Ships deliberately sunk (e.g. later USS Spiegel Grove, 2002).
- Specialty cards
PADI Wreck and equivalents productise the exterior circuit.
- Technical wreck boom
Truk, Scapa and the Great Lakes go deeper and longer.
- Permit and grave rules
Parks tighten souvenirs and penetration.
Eras
- To 1950 — Salvage — Work, not sport.
- 1950–1980 — Film wrecks — Cousteau and the first holiday boats.
- 1980–2000 — Specialty era — Cards and artificial reefs.
- 2000–now — Tech and protection — Reels, helium, and no-take statutes.
Milestones
- Thistlegorm as mass wreck — The template of a cargo-hold photograph.
- Yongala protection — Historic-shipwreck law on the GBR.
- Coron as a fleet — A whole bay of wrecks as a destination.
- Artificial reef scuttlings — Purpose-sunk ships with planned penetration lines — still not a toy.
Wreck history is war and weather. The holiday is a late layer.