Disappearance of Harold Holt

Disappearance of Harold Holt

A search party combing Cheviot Beach after Holt's disappearance
Date	17 December 1967; 56 years ago (1967-12-17)
Time	approx. 12:20 p.m.
Location	Cheviot Beach, Point Nepean, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	38°18′42″S 144°39′50″E / 38.3117°S 144.6640°E / -38.3117; 144.6640
Participants	Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia
Outcome	Body never recovered; Holt presumed to have drowned

On 17 December 1967, Harold Holt, the 17th prime minister of Australia, disappeared while swimming in the sea near Portsea, Victoria. An enormous search operation was mounted in and around Cheviot Beach, but his body was never recovered. Holt was presumed to have died, and his memorial service five days later was attended by many world leaders.

It is generally agreed that Holt's disappearance was a simple case of an accidental drowning, but a number of conspiracy theories surfaced, most famously the suggestion that he was a spy from the People's Republic of China and had been collected by a Chinese submarine. Holt was the third Australian prime minister to die in office, after Joseph Lyons in 1939 and John Curtin in 1945.

Holt was initially replaced in a caretaker capacity by John McEwen, and then by John Gorton following the 1968 Liberal Party leadership election. Holt's death has entered Australian folklore, and was commemorated by, among other things, the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre.