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 not live long. The size of the vessel in comparison with the King Arthur, the condition she was in, and the heavy weather precluded any idea of towing her to the nearest port. As to the crew, he thinks they must have abandoned her in their own boats, as had they been taken off by a passing vessel, all boats would not have been employed in transferring the crew on account of the difficulty of getting the boats into the water.”Ship Name: Londonian

Year Built: 1896 

Tonnage: 5531

Ship Type: Steel-Hulled Cargo Steamship 

Nationality: United Kingdom 

Year Wrecked: 1898

Location Wrecked: North Atlantic

Reason for Wreck: Steering Failure in a Storm 

Lives Lost: 17

Sources: 

https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/SOTON_Documents/Plimsoll/17537.pdf

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3741716/3741721/94/londonian?from=search

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3371337/3371345/224/londonian?from=search

https://newspaperarchive.com/nelson-daily-miner-dec-09-1898-p-1/

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3803173/3803179/81/londonian?from=search

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4232990/4232993/49/londonian?from=search

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4607389/4607392/28/londonian?from=search

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3741633/3741637/45/londonian?from=search

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3742113/3742118/64/londonian?from=search

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 Captain Vavendy, to run an opposition line between San Francisco and the Nicaragua route, but was never used for the purpose. After lying up in ordinary for a long time, she seems to have floated across the Pacific to Japan.” Ship Name: Hermann 

Year Built: 1848

Tonnage: 1734

Ship Type: Side-Wheel Steamship 

Nationality: United States of America 

Year Wrecked: 1869

Location Wrecked: Reef off Kawazu Point 

Reason for Wreck: Ran Aground on Uncharted Reef 

Lives Lost: Estimated Between 250 and 300

Sources: 

https://archive.org/details/sanfranciscosoce01wrig/page/49/mode/1up?q=hermann

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Historical_Dictionary_of_the_U_S_Merch/unvDEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=pacific+mail+steamship+company+hermann&pg=PA248&printsec=frontcover

https://newspaperarchive.com/gold-hill-daily-news-apr-02-1869-p-2/

https://newspaperarchive.com/bloomington-weekly-leader-apr-01-1869-p-2/

https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-daily-evening-bulletin-apr-22-1869-p-5/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/77146662

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/straitstimes18690320-1.1.3

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/123617641?searchTerm=hermann%20shipwreck

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 out starkly in the inferno.” Ship Name: Alsia 

Tonnage: 5812

Ship Type: Steel-Hulled Diesel Twin Screw Cargo and Passenger Vessel 

Year Built: 1929

Nationality: Denmark 

Year Wrecked: 1939

Location Wrecked: Coast of Galle, Sri Lanka

Reason for Wreck: Engine Fire 

Lives Lost: None

Sources: 

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/straitsbudget19390525-1.1.12

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19390511-1.2.84?qt=alsia&q=alsia

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/pinangazette19390606-1.1.5

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/straitstimes19390517-1.1.14

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/maltribune19390518-1.2.110?qt=alsia&q=alsia

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19330128-1.2.53

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19330130-1.2.84?qt=alsia&q=alsia

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lloyd_s_Register_of_British_and_Foreign/glcgAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=alsia

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Casualty_Returns_1939/ibpgEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=alsia+ship+fire+1939&pg=PA9-IA7&printsec=frontcover

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 now comes to light, that during the present season, though the Competent, the Lord William Bentinck, and the Lord Castlereagh, were the only ships dashed to pieces on our shores, the escape of some half-dozen others was brought about by a miracle.”  Ship Name: The Lord William Bentinck

Tonnage:  564

Year Built: 1828

Nationality: United Kingdom 

Ship Type: Wooden Sailing Transport

Year Wrecked 1840

Location Wrecked: The Prong, Bombay 

Reason for Wreck: Ran Aground During Storm 

Lives Lost: 130-150

Ship Name: Lord Castlereagh 

Tonnage: 750

Year Built: 1803

Nationality: United Kingdom 

Ship Type: Wooden Sailing Transport 

Year Wrecked: 1840

Location Wrecked: The Prong, Bombay 

Reason for Wreck: Ran Aground During Storm 

Lives Lost: Estimated 70

Sources: 

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015065537923&seq=393&q1=lord

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015065538004&seq=292

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Bombay_Country_Ships_1790_1833/HFVdAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=lord+castlereagh+ship+1803+tonnage&pg=PA36&printsec=frontcover

https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-morning-herald-sep-10-1840-p-2/

https://newspaperarchive.com/london-morning-post-aug-05-1840-p-4/

https://newspaperarchive.com/london-standard-sep-10-1840-p-3/

https://newspaperarchive.com/london-morning-post-aug-21-1840-p-1/

https://newspaperarchive.com/courier-aug-07-1840-p-4/

https://newspaperarchive.com/london-morning-post-aug-06-1840-p-3/

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Court_Magazine_and_Monthly_Critic_an/vz8FAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=lord+william+bentinck+Lord+Castlereagh+shipwreck&pg=PA244&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Great_Shipwrecks/L3cBAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=lord+william+bentinck+shipwreck+1840&pg=RA2-PA631&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_Indian_Navy/HrspAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=lord+william+bentinck+shipwreck+1840&pg=PA111&printsec=frontcover

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singfreepressa18400723-1.2.2?qt=shipwreck&q=shipwreck

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12865994

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3393290/3393293/29/castlereagh?from=search

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 the Board had no legal authority of itself to institute the inquiry; but at the earnest request of that gentleman it had been resolved by the Board to undertake the duty, painful and onerous as it was.”

Ship Name: Monumental City

Year Built: 1850

Ship Type: Wooden-Hulled Single-Screw Steamship 

Nationality: United States of America

Tonnage: 1,000

Year Wrecked: 1853

Location Wrecked:  Tullaberga Island, East of Mallacoota

Reason for Wreck: Navigational Error 

Lives Lost: Estimated to be 33

Souces: 

https://www.academia.edu/1762184/SS_Monumental_City_first_steamship_to_cross_the_Pacific

https://newspaperarchive.com/adelaide-times-apr-21-1853-p-3/

https://newspaperarchive.com/sydney-morning-herald-jul-16-1853-p-9/

https://newspaperarchive.com/sydney-morning-herald-jul-30-1853-p-7/

https://newspaperarchive.com/sydney-morning-herald-jun-13-1853-p-6/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4793884?searchTerm=monumental%20city

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12946274

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12946633

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12946546

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 announcing that the vessel had struck the ledge off Briar Island, and her engine room was flooded. Thereafter, there was silence. The Kronz Prinz Essin and Celie were warned of the Cobequid’s plight.”

Ship Name: Cobequid 

Tonnage: 4738

Ship Type: Twin Screw Steamship 

Year Built: 1893

Nationality: United Kingdom 

Year Wrecked: 1914

Location Wrecked: Trinity Ledge, Bay of Fundy 

Reason for Wreck: Ran Aground in a Snowstorm 

Lives Lost: None

Sources: 

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Maritime_Reporter_and_Seaboard/q_zf97lFMmgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=goth+cobequid&pg=RA2-PA4&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Canadian_Railway_and_Marine_World/A4PmAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=captain+howson+cobequid+1914&pg=PA238&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Shipbuilding_and_Shipping_Record/xuw-AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=cobequid

https://bnl.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/BermudaNP02/id/39199

https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/4186851

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/57185741?searchTerm=cobequid

https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/nelsondaily/1.0385715#p0z-2r0f:shipwreck

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Wireless_Age/PkTOAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=cobequid+shipwreck&pg=PA2&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Official_Report_of_the_Debates_of_the_Ho/RBMyAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=cobequid+shipwreck&pg=PA1168&printsec=frontcover

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/01/15/101912821.html?pageNumber=2

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/01/16/101913133.html?pageNumber=3

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/59086464/4869986

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 thick that she was compelled to anchor again at 8 o’clock, the vessel being then seven to eight miles west southwest of the East Goodwin light.”

Ship Name: Scholten 

Ship Nationality: Netherlands 

Tonnage: 2529

Year Built: 1874

Ship Type: Screw Steamship 

Year Wrecked: 1887

Location Wrecked: Ten Miles from Dover 

Reason for Wreck: Collision with Rosa Mary 

Lives Lost: Estimated 130  

Sources: 

https://www.newspapers.com/image/691098987/?match=18&terms=scholten%20rosa%20mary

https://www.newspapers.com/image/33154177/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/296934881/?match=12&terms=scholten%20rosa%20mary

https://www.newspapers.com/image/33158224/?match=3&terms=scholten%20rosa%20mary

https://www.newspapers.com/image/954347997/?match=4&terms=scholten%20rosa%20mary

https://www.newspapers.com/image/466060257/?match=14&terms=scholten%20rosa%20mary

https://www.newspapers.com/image/78268219/?match=1&terms=scholten%20rosa%20mary

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DAC18871121.2.51&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------

https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_Amsterdam_Gazette/c0gQAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=second+mate+scholten+1887&pg=RA12-PA11&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Haydn_s_Dictionary_of_Dates_and_Universa/wQpFAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=scholten

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Saturday_Review_of_Politics_Literatu/5Xc_AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=rosa+mary+scholten+1887+shipwreck&pg=PA723&printsec=frontcover

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 today when a lobster boat hired by newspaper men circled the blazing area which offers a serious menace to coastwise shipping, still hidden, as it is, in fog. Not a single Coast Guard boat was near the flames, which undoubtedly will burn until all of the tanker’s cargo reaches the surface.”

Ship Name: Pinthis 

Ship Type: Steel Hulled Screw Propelled Diesel Engine Tanker 

Nationality: United States of America 

Tonnage: 1,111

Year Built: 1919

Year Wrecked: 1930

Location Wrecked: Massachusetts Bay, Near Scituate 

Reason for Wreck: Collision in Fog with Fairfax, Caught Fire 

Lives Lost: 47 in Total Between Both Vessels

Sources: 

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/06/12/issue.html

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/08/13/102149128.html?pageNumber=38

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/06/13/102136841.html?pageNumber=6

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/08/03/102141903.html?pageNumber=41

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/07/19/96171039.html?pageNumber=28

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/08/28/102154922.html?pageNumber=39

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/06/14/96156474.html?pageNumber=6

https://www.google.com/books/edition/International_Marine_Engineering/tl4fAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=pinthis+tanker+lloyds&pg=PR6&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Nautical_Gazette/Ccw5AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=fairfax+pinthis+shipwreck+1930&pg=RA2-PT5&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Weekly_Underwriter_and_the_Insurance/3scIXErHRasC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=fairfax+pinthis+shipwreck+1930&pg=PA220&printsec=frontcover

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/pinthis

https://time.com/archive/6745812/transportation-fairfax-cleared/

https://time.com/archive/6745163/catastrophe-fairfax-pinthis/

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Port_of_New_York_Harbor_and_Marine_Revie/tvUgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=fairfax+merchants+and+miners&pg=RA8-PA28&printsec=frontcover

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 in good condition for the run. Captain Lean will be her master and W Marshall purser.”   

Ship Name: City of Ainsworth 

Tonnage: 193

Year Built: 1892

Ship Type: Flat Bottomed Stern Wheel Steam Ship 

Nationality: Canadian 

Year Wrecked: 1898

Location Wrecked: Two Miles from Pilot Bay, Kootenay Lake 

Reason for Wreck: Suddenly Sprung Leak in a Storm 

Sources:  

https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=19310

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lloyd_s_Register_of_Shipping_1893_Steame/xAtYEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=city+of+ainsworth+1892+ship+tonnage&pg=PR665&printsec=frontcover

https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/ndaymine/1.0308288#p0z-3r0f:captain%20lean

https://newspaperarchive.com/kaslo-british-columbia-news-mar-25-1898-p-5/

https://newspaperarchive.com/cascade-record-dec-03-1898-p-5/

https://newspaperarchive.com/nelson-economist-dec-07-1898-p-5/

https://newspaperarchive.com/nelson-daily-miner-dec-13-1898-p-1/

https://newspaperarchive.com/nelson-daily-miner-dec-06-1898-p-1/

https://newspaperarchive.com/helena-weekly-independent-dec-08-1898-p-9/

https://newspaperarchive.com/pullman-herald-dec-03-1898-p-6/

https://newspaperarchive.com/harbour-grace-standard-dec-23-1898-p-4/

https://newspaperarchive.com/victoria-daily-colonist-mar-18-1899-p-7/

https://newspaperarchive.com/seattle-post-intelligencer-dec-01-1898-p-1/

https://newspaperarchive.com/helena-weekly-independent-dec-15-1898-p-6/

https://www.uasbc.com/sites/default/files/foghorn-pdf/UASBC_2019_July_Summer.pdf

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 convoy of sharks, grim reminders of the fate that possibly awaited them, the nine men drifted about, subsisting for the greater part of the time on a half a cracker and two swallows of water a day, and when the crackers were about exhausted, on the fins of flying fish.” Ship Name: Dumaru 

Ship Type: Wooden Hulled Steamship 

Nationality: United States of America 

Year Built: 1918

Tonnage: 3500 Tons 

Year Wrecked: 1918

Location Wrecked: Two Hours from Guam 

Reason for Wreck: Explosion Due to Lightning Strike 

Lives Lost: 17

Sources: 

https://time.com/archive/6787180/navy-three-cs-for-the-seven-seas/

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Marine_Review_and_Marine_Record/zFgcAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=dumaru+tonnage&pg=PA111&printsec=frontcover

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Wreck_of_the_Dumaru/QifVAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

https://books.google.com/books?id=_igDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22&dq=dumaru+shipwreck&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ3-XJkcmUAxUKlCsGHd8yF5wQ6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=dumaru%20shipwreck&f=false

https://www.newspapers.com/image/1090690525/?match=1&terms=dumaru

https://www.newspapers.com/image/457433134/?match=1&terms=dumaru

https://newspaperarchive.com/la-crosse-tribune-and-leader-press-feb-09-1919-p-10/

https://newspaperarchive.com/portland-morning-oregonian-feb-03-1919-p-6/

https://newspaperarchive.com/portland-morning-oregonian-apr-18-1918-p-6/