The Shipwreck Archives

The Pall Mall Budget from the 12th of October 1877 contained the following report in its “The Army and Navy” section: “The Admiralty have published the official report, by Captain Chatfield for Her Majesty’s ship Amethyst, of his proceedings in search of any possible survivors from the wreck of the steamer Eten, on the Pacific Coast of South America, on the 15th of July. Captain Chatfield denies t...

The Seward Gateway from August 30th, 1917 ran the following story: “New friends have been made for the United States in Japan through the treatment accorded the officers and crew of the wrecked freighter by officials and residents of Unalaska. The sailors and officers of the Kotohira Maru had about the same feeling of wonder as to how they would be treated, by American residents of western Alaska...

The Western Mail from November 23rd, 1869, discussed the difficult salvage work that had been taking place on the Carnatic. “From the 14th to the 20th there was a continual heavy gale, preventing all operations. On the 20th the English diver was down at the wreck four hours. She lies over at an angle of 45 degrees, and he works in 13 fathoms of water. He found the Carnatic’s spare shaft and crank...

The Plainfield Daily Press from March 12, 1908, ran an interview with Mrs. Winn, wife of Captain Winn: “In speaking of the stories in last night’s papers, Mrs. Winn declared she could not place Kulman as a member of her husband’s crew. He claimed to be second mate, but this position was held by Andrew Keegan, of New York, while the First mate was Philip A McVicer, of Oregon. It may have been that...

The Lloyds Weekly London Newspaper from December 30, 1849, featured an article about the high demand for emigrant ships and the resulting dangers, inspired in a large part by the fate of the Caleb Grimshaw: “In fine calm weather the boats could not have contained one-tenth of the number. Few as they were, they turned out in the hour of trial to be mere hen-coops, and were stove in or sunk. There i...

Captain Edwards told the story of the events that led to him receiving a Medal of Honor from the Navy as well as earning him an officer in the French Legion of Honor, and that story was later published in American History Told by Contemporaries, edited by Albert Bushnell Hart and published in 1929: “My officer of the watch had in the meantime sighted a vessel to starboard. While he strove to make...

In the Nautical Gazette from September 14, 1929 Captain Felix Riesenberg gave his opinion about helm orders, connected to the fate of the San Juan: “Just what happened may never be clearly known, but the point is that something must have happened and that the happening had connected with it a considerable about of confusion, and that one vessel, and perhaps both, put their helms the wrong way. The...

The Straits Echo from October 2nd, 1923 contained a summary of the investigation into the collision between the Ranee and the Boribat: “The plaintiffs alleged that no proper look-out was kept on board the Boribat, there was no certificated or properly qualified officer in charge at the time, and that the Boribat improperly starboarded her helm and attempted to cross ahead of the Ranee. The stateme...

The South Wales Daily News on the 6th of December 1898 published the report of the Captain of the steamship the King Arthur about his discovery of a derelict vessel:  On the mainmast was an ensign reversed, and from its good condition he judged had not been long hoisted. He passed very close to the Londonian and in her then condition, and in view of the bad weather prevailing, considered she would...

The Bloomington Weekly Leader of April 1st, 1869, reviewed the history of the Hermann: “The Hermann, with the Washington, was built about thirty years ago, for the Liverpool trade, but subsequently ran in the Bremen line. She was a staunch and popular steamer in old times, before the advent of the swift Cunarders. Some twelve years ago she was chartered and sent to the Pacific, in command of Capta...

Radio Officer King, of HMS Grasshopper, described what he had witnessed in the Straits Times on the 18th of May, 1939: “As we circled round her,” he said, “flames from the pitch pine and other timber in the fore’ and aft’ holds of the Alsia rose to about 100 feet, and the whole ship was afire. We could see through all the ports and windows as the interior of the ship flared up and the cranes stood...

The Monmouthshire Merlin carried a story from the Gazette on the 17th of October, 1840: “The magnificent harbour of Bombay has hitherto been entered in safety, not in consequence of the adequacy of the lighthouse and landmark provisions, but by a singular concurrence of felicitous accidents, which has now, for the first time, failed us, in defiance, in the absence of, or deficiency of these. It no...

The Sydney Morning Herald on the 9th of June, 1853 wrote that the inquiry into the wreck of the Monumental City had opened with an unusual statement by the man presiding over the hearing: “Previous to the commencement of the inquiry, Captain Browne said that the inquiry had been undertaken by the Board at the instance of Captain Adams himself, for the law officers had expressed their opinion that...

On the 16th of January, the Townsville Daily Bulletin announced the lack of definitive news about the fate of the Cobequid: “A search for the liner Cobequid disclosed nothing definite. A crew of 102 are aboard, together with 15 second-class passengers. The fate of the vessel is unknown, but the hurricane raging makes it extremely improbable she will escape. Cape Sable heard a wireless call announc...

In the Evening Republican on the 21st of November, 1887, Captain Webster of the Rosa Mary described the events that had led to disaster from his perspective:  “The weather was hazy. On Saturday morning there was a heavy fog and the Rosa Mary anchored for three hours off Halfordness. She proceeded at 11 o’clock and passed the East Goodwin lightship at 7 o’clock in the evening. The fog became so thi...

The New York Times on June 12th, 1930, reported the after effects of the Pinthis disaster: “Less than 200 yards east of the buoy the sea this afternoon was a seething flame, fed by the tanker’s 10,000 gallons of oil which continually oozes to the surface. Over an area of two miles the rolling waves are alive with oil which has not yet ignited. Only the whistling buoy stood guard during two hours t...

The British Columbia News of March 25th, 1898, made the announcement that the City of Ainsworth was changing her route temporarily due to railway activity: “The Steamer Ainsworth is scheduled next week to begin trips on the run between Kuskonook and Bonner’s Ferry for a tri-weekly run…The Ainsworth has been undergoing repairs and a thorough overhauling at Kaslo for several weeks past and will be i...

The Oregon Daily Journal from December 30, 1918, announced the return home of third officer Nolan of the Dumaru, long assumed to have been lost: “More like fiction--a tale of Jack London or Stevenson--is the story told by Nolan of the wanderings about the broad expanse of the Pacific, in an open boat, with rations running low, ever on the lookout for land or a friendly sail. Accompanied by a convo...

Captain William Barnes of the Greycliffe made his official statement regarding the collision between his ferry and the Tahiti: “I called at Garden Island and picked up as usual and was proceeding to Neilsen Park. I was hardly half way between Garden Island and Neilsen Park, and was heading slightly north of Shark Island light, when I heard two blasts from a vessel: I looked on starboard side, but...

Salvatore Chiappara, steward of the bark the Giovanni, told his story to the newspaper reporter of The Sun, of New York City, after arriving in that city: “The Giovanni, which had been storm-tossed for many days, neared Cape Cod. She was sailing under her main foresail and topgallant sail, the only canvas which the angry winds had left her. The sea was running high, the wind whistled shrilly throu...

A note: Sorry if this episode sounds like our narrator had a head cold, our narrator had a head cold. The Daily Gazette of Burlington, Iowa, from the 19th of August, 1887, contained the following description of the City of Montreal being abandoned: “There was a heavy sea running, and it was with difficulty the boats were kept from being smashed. The crew worked splendidly, and all the passengers w...

The Straits Times of the 29th of November, 1932, featured the following interview: “We picked up the S.O.S. of the Nevada through St. Paul’s radio Station,” Captain R. K. Healy, commander of the President Madison, told Newspapermen on the arrival of the liner at Victoria, B.C. on Oct. 5. “This was at 11.30 o’clock on the night of Sept. 26, and our course was immediately altered to render what aid...

The captain of the Elder, Dempster, and Co ship the Susu was the focus of the story of the Flachat in the London Daily Telegraph on the 1st of March, 1898: “The Susus, owned by Elder, Dempster, and Co, was ready to sail for Garachico on the night of the 15th, but owing to the bad weather she did not leave until six the next morning, when the sea and wind had gone down. It was about 7:30 a.m. when...

The Evening Express from the 7th of November, 1903, ran a story about the trials and tribulations of the crew of the Eldorado: “An attempt was made to force the passage of the Moose River, but the current was so strong that at the end of three days only fourteen miles had been covered, and the party turned back. Next the Abitibi River was tried. Numerous falls and rapids were encountered, and two...

George Bates, pilot of a Lydd steam tug, told the Cumberland Evening News on the 25th of February, 1928: “We first heard the news of the collision about 8:40 pm, the message stating that a Russian barque was in distress. I got my motor boat ready, and preparations were made to launch the Dungeness lifeboat, but another message came through, which led everybody to believe that no assistance was req...