The ship sailed from Melbourne on January 2, 1862, for Bluff
Harbour, with 4000 sheep, arriving on the evening of January 13.
With a pilot in charge, the vessel entered port against an
adverse wind and ebb tide, and was driven ashore close to Tiwai
Point, the wind blowing very hard from the westward at the time.
At 11 a.m, the next day the Ocean Chief was refloated, having
sustained considerable damage. At about midnight on January 22,
the ship was set on fire by some members of the crew, and burned
to the waters edge. Her moorings were slipped and she was
scuttled in order to save the wharf. To make her destruction
certain, it was alleged, the recalcitrant members of her crew
had bored holes in the pumps. and cut the hoses to render them
useless, it is said that they wanted to desert and head off to
the goldfields. A Two Hundred Pound, Sterling reward was offered
by Captain Brown, for evidence leading to a prosecution but no-
one came forward. The Ocean Chief, No. 25,971, was a Black Ball
clipper ship of 1,02