Ethel shipwreck exposed by winter weather and storms.

The Ethel shipwreck has been a landmark of the southern Yorke Peninsula since it was wrecked in 1904. The 711 ton sailing vessel was bound for Port Adelaide from South Africa to take on a cargo of grain, when it was driven ashore. On the night the ship was wrecked, a nineteen-year-old crew man, Leonard Sterneson attempted to swim to shore with a life line, but drowned. The next morning, the stricken vessel was found to be above low water and on the beach.

For many years the Ethel was a tourist attraction, but today the hull has totally collapsed and sand covers it for most of time. Within 200 metres of the Ethel lies the SS Ferret, its boiler can sometimes be seen protruding from the sand. This vessel had a colourful career. Built in Glasgow in 1873, it was stolen in 1880 and renamed SS India, but was recognised in Port Phillip as being the Ferret and seized by the authorities. It passed the Ethel when that vessel was wrecked in 1904, and by coincidence it was wrecked in the same location in 1920 during a bad fog.

The Ethel shipwreck lies within the boundaries of Innes National Park on South Australia's west coast.