List of shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly

The list of shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly is a list of ships sank on or near the Isles of Scilly. The list includes ships that sustained a damaged hull, later being refloated and repaired.

Wrecks

1600-1699

* 23 September 1641 — "Merchant Royal", English merchant ship
* 18 January 1665 — "Royal Oak", cargo ship

1700-1799

* 22 October 1707 — HMS "Association" with the loss of 800 souls, HMS "Eagle", HMS "Romney" and HMS "Firebrand"
* 13 June 1743 — VOC "Hollandia", cargo ship wrecked on Annet with the loss of 276 souls
* February 1784 — the "Nancy", carrying actress Ann Cargill, wrecked on Rosevear or possibly the Western Rocks. 36 crew, 12 passengers, and 1 prisoner drowned. [cite news
last = de Bruxelles
first = Simon
coauthors =
title = Divers close in on lost fortune of Ann Cargill, a scandalous star
work = The Times
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = 2008-09-18
url = http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article4775914.ece
accessdate = 2008-09-19]
* 10 December 1798 — HMS "Colossus", British naval vessel wrecked in St Mary's Roads. One sailor drowned.

1800-1850

* 27 January 1813 – The West Indian merchant ship "Queen Charlotte" was lost with four sailors. During the rescue operation, two Scilly pilots also drowned.
* 4 January 1841 — SS "Thames", British steamship sunk with 61 lives.
* 21 November 1843 — British schooner "Challenger" from Surinam was wrecked on the Nundeeps.

1851-1899

* 24 March 1853 — German cargo ship "Sultana" was lost on the Nundeeps and her whole crew drowned in the wreck.
* 14 July 1860 — Austrian SV "Osvetitel" was wrecked in fog on the Maiden Bower Rock, but her crew and most of her cargo was recovered.
* 16 July 1872 — SS "Earl of Arran" passenger steamer, which travelled between the islands and Penzance was wrecked on Nornour in St Martin's Neck and sank soon afterwards after a passenger offered to steer the ship. No one was hurt.
* 23 November 1872 – Italian barque "Rosa Tacchini" was wrecked on the Paper Ledges, near Tresco after her anchors dragged. No one was hurt, but the wreck remained in is position for some years.
* 10 June 1873 – Local sailing lugger "Cornish Girl" sank after striking the Round Rock in the Spanish Ledges. The crew escaped.
* 18 January 1874 — "Minnehaha", cargo ship wrecked on St Mary's with the loss of ten lives.
* 16 April 1874 — SS "Zelda" was sunk on the Maiden Bower Rock in fog. Her crew and passengers were saved, and some cargo was salved by divers. When the wreck was inspected in 1966, it was found that not only had the SS "Brinkburn" sunk on top of the "Zelda" in 1898, but that evidence of an unknown wooden warship was found beneath it.
* 7 May 1875 — SS "Schiller", German liner wrecked on Retarrier Ledge with the loss of 335 people.
* 27 July 1879, cargo sailing ship "River Lune" was lost on the coast of Annet after a faulty chronometer put her off course. She sank in ten minutes, but the crew escaped. A few hours later, the sailing barque "Maipu" was wrecked in Hell Bay Bryher in heavy fog. Again, the crew were saved.
* 24 April 1882 – London barge "St Vincent" sinks near Pelistry after striking the Spanish Ledges. The crew escape, but there is much embarrassment as she was carrying an island pilot.
* 17 December 1885 — Cargo ship SS "Sussex" struck the Maiden Bower Rock after being caught in heavy fog, although the captain was travelling at an unsafe speed. The ship drifted off the rock, and the crew escaped. The wreck broke up a week later in heavy seas.
* 8 June 1887 – Steamer SS "Castleford" ran aground amongst the Western Rocks, spilling 450 cattle into the sea, many of which were later rescued.
* 4 April 1893, "Horsa" cargo full-rigger from New Zealand grounded in a cove on St Martins, and capsized some hours later whilst being towed off. Thankfully, no one was killed.
* 24 November 1893, The SS "Serica" nearly foundered and took shelter in St Mary's Roads on the 19th. As she left she struck an uncharted rock (later named Serica Rock) and sank.
* 15 December 1898, Steamship SS "Brinkburn" was sunk in fog on the Maiden Bower Rock. Her crew were saved. Inspection of the wreck showed that beneath her were two other ships, one unknown.

1900-1914

* 14 December 1907 — "Thomas W. Lawson", the world's only seven-masted schooner going as bulk oil carrier in charter for the Anglo-American Oil Co. Bound for London from Philadelphia the huge schooner was caught in a northwest gale off the Isles of Scilly on the 13 December 1907 . The ship foundered, broke apart, capsized, and sunk with a loss of 16 men including the Scilloninan pilot on board. Only two men, captain and engineer survived.
* 10 April 1910 — SS "Minnehaha", first-class liner, later refloated
* 14 August 1913 The Susanna, on Zantman's Rock

World War I

* 1 May 1915 — "Gulflight", American tanker, later refloated
* 11 May 1917 — Two ships are wrecked on the same day during heavy fog, the SS "Italia", a steam collier was wrecked on the Wingletang Rock off St Agnes, and the SS "Lady Charlotte", another collier, was lost on Porth Hellick on St Mary's.
* 5 October 1917 — American schooner "Annie F. Conlon" was badly damaged by gunfire from a German submarine, and was towed to Tean Sound, where she rapidly broke up.
* 6 December 1917 — USS "Jacob Jones", American destroyer

1918-1939

* 20 January 1921 — HMS "K5", British submarine
* 22 December 1939 — SS "Longships", a British cargo ship, was wrecked on the Seven Stones rocks near where the "Torrey Canyon" would later be lost. The crew were rescued.

World War II

* 1 September 1944 — "U-247", German U-boat
* 18 December 1944 — "U-1209", German U-boat
* 21 January 1945 — "U-1199", German U-boat
* 24 February 1945 — "Oriskany", fruit cargo ship, "U-1208" and "U-480", German U-boats
* 10 March 1945 — "U-681", German U-boat

1945-1999

* 10 September 1951 — The Scilly Isles packet steamer "SS Scillonian" ran ashore on the Wingletang Rock in fog. She was later refloated and continued in service.
* 22 July 1955 — Panamanian registered steamer SS "Punta" drove onto the Seven Stones reef and was abandoned by her crew. She filled and sank soon afterwards.
* 18 March 1967 — "Torrey Canyon", supertanker wrecked on the Seven Stones.
* 25 February 1970 — French channel trawler "Jean Gougy" was lost on the Western Rocks. The exact location is unknown, but wreckage and a body were washed up on Tresco. The other 13 crew were never found.
* 15 April 1970 — The Cypriot MV "Poleire" transporting zinc ore to Poland was wrecked on the Little Kettle Rock north of Tresco, and rapidly sank.
* 29 September 1976 – The Romanian fish factory ship "Rarau" was wrecked on the Seven Stones, where she later sank, although the crew were all rescued.
* 13 February 1977 — French trawler "Enfant du Bretagne" was lost on the Western Rocks at night. Coastguards were able to reach the crew, but all drowned in the heavy seas before they could be brought aboard.
* August 1979 — Fastnet race, many racing yachts sank in extreme weather
* 26 March 1997 — MV "Cita", German cargo ship wrecked on St Mary's.
* 16 May 1997 — passenger ship , sustained 200-foot gash, later repaired
* 1 October 1999 — "Rachel Harvey", fishing boat, later refloated

2000-Present

* 29 March 2000 — sailing race vessel "Team Philips", front section of hull broke off, later repaired

ee also

* List of shipwrecks
* List of U-boats
* List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll
* Sikorsky S-61 disaster 1983 - helicopter crash off the Isles of Scilly

References

* Larn, Richard & Carter, Clive (1993). "Shipwrecks of the Scilly Isles". Shipwreck & Marine. ISBN 0-946537-84-4. See further literature and details: [http://www.scillymaritime.co.uk ScillyMaritime.co.uk] [http://www.shipwrecks.uk.com Shipwrecks UK]
* Fowles, John "Shipwreck". Jonathan Cape, London, 1974, ISBN 0-224-01053-0.