Sir Charles Hardy Islands



Sir Charles Hardy Islands are associated with the reef of the same name adjacent to Pollard and Blackwood Channels about forty kilometres east of Cape Grenville and Shelburne Bay.

The group comprises two continental islands and one pinnacle rock about twenty-five kilometres off the coast in Wuthathi country (Wuthathi National Park). A 300-hectare reef surrounds the three islands, none of which have a gazetted name and are referred to as:
  • Northern Island, 1,020 metres long and 690 metres wide with a wind-swept summit, large areas of exposed rock, shallow soils, and pandanus and mangrove wetlands.
  • Middle Island: 1,120 metres long and 1,010 metres wide with steep rolling hills and a freshwater soak, which forms an ephemeral creek.
  • Little (South) Island: an exposed stone pinnacle 200 metres long and 80 metres wide.
Eastern Torres Strait Islanders visited the islands for several reasons, including obtaining stone for weapons. The Middle Island's freshwater soak has historical stonework used to pool the water, which was used when building the Raine Island tower in 1844 and later by pearling luggers. The islands were known to have been used by survivors from numerous shipwrecks in the area, including:
  • Charles Eaton. Struck the Great Detached Reef east of the Sir Charles Hardy Islands on 15 August 1834.
  • Island Queen. Lost on the Great Detached Reef, 24 July 1854.
  • Sapphire. Wrecked on a reef near Raine Island 22 September 1859.
The group are approximately seventy-five kilometres southwest of the Pandora Entrance, where the frigate HMS Pandora, sent in pursuit of the Bounty mutineers, ran aground on 29 August 1791.

Missing links:
Sir Charles Hardy Reef
Pollard Channel
Blackwood Channel
Cape Grenville
Shelburne Bay
Raine Island
  • Charles Eaton
  • Island Queen
  • Sapphire
  • Pandora Entrance
  • Bounty mutineers
  • HMS Pandora


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