Cape Schanck

Cape Schanck is a locality in the Australian state of Victoria.

Cape Schanck is a locality in the Australian state of Victoria. It is the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula and separates the wild ocean waters of Bass Strait from the slightly calmer waters of Western Port. At the 2016 Census, Cape Schanck had a population of 446.The most recognisable symbol of Cape Schanck is the Cape Schanck Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1859 and was the second lighthouse built in Victoria. A prominent rock outcrop is Pulpit Rock and stands out at the very tip of the cape.

Cape Schanck is also home to the RACV Resort Cape Schanck on Boneo Road which includes an eighteen-hole golf course and The National Golf Club on Cups Drive.British-Australian artist Georgiana McCrae produced many of her paintings at Cape Schanck.

A keen artist–traveller in the Romantic tradition, Nicholas Chevalier concentrated on effects of atmosphere, mood and dramatic lighting in his depictions of the iconic natural wonders he found at Cape Schanck.

The location was named in 1800 after Captain John Schank, R.N. (note spelling with only one 'c') by Lieutenant James Grant sailing on the Lady Nelson.

Schank had designed the raised keel (or centreboard) on the Lady Nelson.The spelling of the locality as 'Schanck' (two c's) is a misspelling of Schank.

Nicolas Baudin called it Cap Richelieu when he sailed past on the Géographe on 30 March 1802.Cape Schanck Post Office opened around March 1879 and closed in 1962.In 1893 a steamship, the SS Alert, sank off the coast at Cape Schanck during a storm. It was rediscovered after 113 years on the ocean floor in June 2007.