Zebrina (ship)

"Zebrina" was a schooner-rigged, 3-masted sailing barge, of 189 tons, built in 1873 at Whitstable, originally intended to trade in the River Plate. She was discovered aground on the coast of France in October 1917 with her crew missing.

The "Zebrina" sailed from Falmouth in October 1917, commanded by Captain Martin, with a cargo of Swansea coal for Saint-Brieuc, France. Two days later she was found ashore on Rozel Point, south of Cherbourg, without damage except for some disarrangement of her rigging, but without her crew. [cite book | last = Leather | first = John | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Barges | publisher = Adlard Coles | date = 1984 | location = | pages = p. 52 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0229115942]

At the time it was assumed that her crew had been taken off by a U-boat preparatory to the submarine sinking the vessel by gunfire. The U-boat presumably sighted, or was sighted by, an Allied vessel and departed the scene before she could sink the "Zebrina", and was later sunk herself with the crew of the "Zebrina" aboard. [cite book | last = George Griffith Carr | first = George | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Sailing Barges | publisher = Conway Maritime Press | date = 1971 | location = | pages = p. 127 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

The case is often referenced in popular books about mysterious disappearances, when her destination is commonly misprinted as "Saint Brieux", and it is claimed that she was found adrift. [cite book | title = Into Thin Air: People Who Disappear | first = Paul | last = Begg | location [England] | publisher = Newton Abbot | year = 1979 | isbn = 9780715377246 | oclc = 6160803 | page = p. 60 ] [cite book | title = Mysteries of the unexplained | first = Richard | last = Marshall | location = Pleasantville, New York | publisher = Reader's Digest Association | year = 1982 | isbn = 9780895771469 | oclc = 10605367 ]

References

References

*