Rothsay Castle (ship)

The "Rothsay Castle" (also spelt "Rothesay Castle") was a paddle steamer which was shipwrecked on the Traeth Lafan (Welsh language: Lavan Sands) at the eastern end of the Menai Straits, North Wales, in 1831, with the loss of 130 lives.

Background

The Rothsay Castle was built in 1816 for service on the River Clyde, Scotland, and was later transferred to Liverpool, England, where she was used for day trips along the coast of North Wales.

Disaster unfolds

At around midday on August 17 1831, she left Liverpool carrying 150 passengers. She had been intended to leave at 10 a.m. but was delayed by the weather and the late arrival of a passenger.

On leaving the Mersey estuary, she encountered a strong NNW wind and a rough sea. One of the passengers went to see the captain, a Captain Atkinson, to ask him to return to port, but he found Atkinson drunk and unwilling to consider turning back. By 10 p.m. the ship had still only reached the Great Orme and the ship was found to have two feet of water in the stokehold. The pumps were found not to work, there was not even a bucket available for bailing, and the single lifeboat (shipboard) had a hole in the bottom and had no oars. At around 1 a.m. on August 18 the Rothsay Castle ran aground on Dutchman's Bank and after a while broke up, the captain and the two mates being swept to their death when the funnel collapsed. A total of 23 passengers were rescued in the morning.

Bodies were washed up over a wide area of Anglesey and the Welsh mainland. An inquest was held at Beaumaris and the jury concluded:

"had the Rothsay Castle been a seaworthy vessel and properly manned, this awful calamity might have been averted. They therefore cannot disguise their indignation at the conduct of those who could place such a vessel on this station ...".

As a result of this manmade disaster, a lifeboat was established at Penmon on the SE tip of Anglesey in 1832 and a lighthouse built there in 1837.

ee also

*Rothesay

References

* Ivor Wynne Jones (1973) "Shipwrecks of North Wales" (David & Charles)