Built in Glasgow in the 1860s, the City of Adelaide began life as an iron-hulled passenger and mail steamer before undergoing several transformations that eventually left it stranded off Magnetic Island in Queensland. After becoming a coal-storage hulk, the vessel was badly damaged by fire in 1912 and later bought with plans to give it another purpose as a breakwater or tourist accommodation. Instead, it ran aground at Cockle Bay in 1916 and remained there. More than a century later, the rusting remains have become intertwined with mangroves growing around and through the wreck. The ship's transformation from working passenger vessel to vegetation-covered wreck has made it a distinctive part of Magnetic Island's maritime and natural landscape.
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