Tryal Rocks

Tryal Rocks are located at . They are northwest of the Montebello Islands, off the Australian mainland and part of the state of Western Australia. The rocks and the immediate locale are described as: "two coral reefs, close together, about in length NE-SW; the S reef dries . The rocks are located about NW of Montebello Islands. Depths of less than lie within SW and NW of Tryal Rocks; the sea breaks on these shallower depths in bad weather. A patch lies W of North West Island Light. The channel between Tryal Rocks and Montebello Islands is wide, with depths of , and may be used by vessels proceeding to the E side of Barrow Island." ==History==

Wreck of the Tryall The Tryall was only the second English ship to attempt to sail from the Cape of Good Hope to Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) along the Brouwer Route, a route pioneered by the Dutch and used routinely by them since 1616. The Brouwer Route drastically shortened voyage times by keeping ships sailing eastwards in the Roaring Forties for as long as possible before turning north. The captain of the Tryall, John Brookes, grossly underestimated the longitude of the ship, and ended up around farther east than the route specified. On turning north, the Tryall found itself skirting the west coast of Australia. Around 11pm on 25 May 1622, it struck the Tryal Rocks and sank. 46 of 139 lives were saved, including Brookes. Brookes' subsequent report was extremely vague; it did not even give a position for the wreck. James Henderson characterises this as deliberate obfuscation, an attempt to avoid the blame for being so far off course. Consequently, the Tryal Rocks were originally thought to be well to the west of their actual location. This represents an error of around ten degrees of longitude. Searches 's 1627 map ''Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht ("Chart of the Land of Eendracht"), showing a feature labelled Hier ist Engels Schip de Trial vergaen in Iunius, A° 1622'' ("Here the English ship Trial was wrecked in June 1622"). This is the first known appearance of the Tryal Rocks on a map The first known appearance of the Tryal Rocks on a map was in 1627, when Hessel Gerritsz published his ''Caert van't Landt van d'Eendracht ("Chart of the Land of Eendracht"). In the extreme bottom left corner of this map is a feature labelled Hier ist Engels Schip de Trial vergaen in Iunius, A° 1622'' ("Here the English ship Trial was wrecked in June 1622"). Numerous Dutch and English sailors searched for the rocks over the centuries. The first attempt was in 1636, when two Dutch ships were sent to search for the Tryal Rocks at their purported location. The Tryal Rocks continued to be marked on charts, but gradually sailors began to doubt their existence. In 1705, the captain of the Jane wrote in his journal: "Hove to, according to custom, on account of the Tryal Rocks (if they exist), for although they are reported to extend 20 league in length I was informed by the Commodore of the Dutch Ships... that he had never heard of these rocks being seen." He went on to correctly surmise that "If they exist they must lie much farther east than in the route toward Java Head." Consequently, the British Admiralty declared them non-existent. This error was repeated in 1846, when John Lort Stokes placed the Tryal Rocks between the Montebello Islands and Barrow Island. Admiralty Sailing Directions of 1917 further claimed that "Tryal Rocks awash at high water are near the outer edge of the S.W. part of Monte Bello Islands reef and off the North extreme of Barrow Island". In 1928, Commander Rupert Gould made a survey of the area and declared that Ritchie Reef was definitely the Tryal Rocks. Final confirmation of this came in 1969, when an exploration team found the wreck of the Tryall there. ==References==