Centaur monument

In December 1874, the iron brig ‘Centaur’ struck the southernmost section of the Little Island Reef and was wrecked – another victim of the jagged reefs on the dangerous Western Australian coastline, and the second vessel within two years to hit that particular reef, approximately 3kms offshore from North Beach.  The Centaur was on a voyage from Champion Bay (Geraldton) to Fremantle), and was loaded with a 200-ton cargo of galena (lead ore).  The remains of the Centaur remain scattered around the submerged outcrop of rock, although the main wreck and her cargo where auctioned off only days after the shipwreck occurred, and sold to a Fremantle businessman and politician, Mr. Marmion MLC