SS Cheviot was an iron screw steamer built by Charles Mitchell and Co., of Low Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne, England in 1870.

It had a tonnage of 1,226 gross and 764 net, dimensions of 230.2 × 32.2 × 17.5 feet (70.2 × 9.8 × 5.3 m) in the hold and compound vertical direct acting engines built by T. Clark & Co.[3] In 1876 the ship was registered in Melbourne to Wm.

[4] On the night of 19 October 1887, the Cheviot set out from Melbourne, bound for Sydney, and passed through the heads of Port Phillip Bay.

Rockets were sent up, and help arrived by boat within a few hours, but due to the rough seas the Queenscliff lifeboat was unable to get through the heads.

The site of the tragedy, which became known as Cheviot Beach, was the location of Prime Minister Harold Holt's disappearance and presumed drowning in 1967.