You know it’s not your day when…..
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325653)
Rockingham, Australia
June 13, 2018 6:10am CST
You survive a shipwreck only to be mistaken for felons and shot by a search party. This happened in 1853 to three shipwreck survivors at Four-Mile Beach on Tasmania’s east coast.
The Swan River Packet was carrying timber and potatoes but ran aground on Rabbit Island between Victoria and Tasmania. The crew boarded a boat and landed just south of Four-Mile Beach. As luck would have it, a part of policemen hunting escaped convicts in the area shot three of the survivors after mistaking them for the outlaws.
It was the second shipwreck in the area. In 1843 the 29 tonne Charlotte was wrecked and two drowned trying to make it to shore. The other survivors were found the next day by a passer-by and lead to safety at his employer’s property.
17 people like this
17 responses
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
13 Jun 18
That sounds like a good movie!
4 people like this
@snowy22315 (169889)
• United States
13 Jun 18
Oh man!!!! That would probably be my luck! There used to be a lot of shipwrecks in the Outer Banks area of North Carolina. Shallow shoals ran many a ship aground.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325653)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jun 18
After all the trauma of the wreck, it would be horrible to suddenly be shot at.
@allknowing (130066)
• India
14 Jun 18
This mistaken identity thing happens ever so happen here in India and it is disgusting. 
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130066)
• India
14 Jun 18
@JudyEv Such irreversible damage needs to be punished and I wonder whether the police got punished. Here it depends who has committed the crime. If it is from someone who supports the government they never get punished.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325653)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jun 18
@allknowing That really is bad and sad but how on earth can India ever combat the problem?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325653)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jun 18
@Shavkat People putting to sea in this area, including fishing boats, are governed by a range of conditions. One of the items they must have on board is called an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) which pinpoints your position when you set it off enabling rescuers to, hopefully, find you quickly.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23393)
• United Kingdom
13 Jun 18
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What a sad end after first surviving the ship wreck!
2 people like this
I'm pleased you found it interesting.
@xFiacre (12594)
• Ireland
13 Jun 18
@judyev I know an elderly gent (recently deceased) whose ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic during the war. He was rescued from the freezing waters by another ship that was then promptly torpedoed and he was then rescued from freezing water for the second time that day. Later another boat he served on also was sunk and he survived again.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325653)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jun 18
One of those days when they should have stayed in bed! 
@porwest (78761)
• United States
13 Jun 18
Holy smokes. How awful. But I agree with @JohnRoberts. This would make for an excellent movie if the story has not already made its way to the big screen.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325653)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jun 18
@JohnRoberts @porwestI very much doubt it's been made into a movie. Not sure how you'd end it though. It didn't say how many didn't get shot and killed.
1 person likes this
@mlgen1037 (29886)
• Manila, Philippines
13 Jun 18
That would be the worst day of my life for sure. 
1 person likes this
@mlgen1037 (29886)
• Manila, Philippines
14 Jun 18
@JudyEv I agree. You do not have the idea that it will be your last day on earth. Such tragic.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325653)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jun 18
They were indeed. Their number was up as they say.
@Tampa_girl7 (48907)
• United States
13 Jun 18
Were they just shot or did it kill them ?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325653)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jun 18
The three were shot and killed. It doesn't say how many were in the party.
