The following newspaper clipping caught our eye: “The law of chance, which is not susceptible to legislative modification is the only law that rules the seas, and never in the records of American shipping has there been an instance of such consistent perversely and persistent adversity following the fortunes of a sailing vessel as pursued the Harvey Mills from the hour of launching to the hour of foundering in mid-ocean.” Republican Journal of Belfast Maine, 1887. 

Ship Name: Harvey Mills 

Year Built:  1876

Tonnage: 2077

Ship Type: Wood Sailing Vessel Full Rigged 

Nationality: United States of America 

Year Wrecked: 1886

Reason For Wreck: Sprung Leak in Storm 

Location Wrecked: Off Cape Flattery 

Lives Lost: 17

Sources:   

https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-daily-globe-jan-10-1887-p-4/

https://newspaperarchive.com/maysville-daily-evening-bulletin-jan-08-1887-p-1/

https://newspaperarchive.com/morning-oregonian-feb-27-1887-p-1/

https://books.google.com/books?id=seRDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA341&dq=harvey+mills+ship+1886&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2oor6nsKCAxX0v4kEHRF1Aa8Q6AF6BAgKEAI#v=onepage&q=harvey%20mills%20ship%201886&f=false

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/01/07/104001773.html?pageNumber=2

https://newspaperarchive.com/sacramento-daily-record-union-jan-07-1887-p-1/

https://books.google.com/books?id=nXnVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3404&dq=harvey+mills+ship+1886&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwif5sHfn8KCAxVkvokEHZjJCEM4HhDoAXoECAsQAg#v=onepage&q=harvey%20mills%20ship%201886&f=false

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1882/06/13/102780784.html?pageNumber=2

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/01/08/104002478.html?pageNumber=3

https://books.google.com/books?id=PMcsAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA46-PA6&dq=harvey+mills+ship+1886&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjm4526n8KCAxXxrokEHYMzApQ4FBDoAXoECAwQAg#v=onepage&q=harvey%20mills%20ship%201886&f=false

https://newspaperarchive.com/sumter-watchman-and-southron-feb-03-1887-p-4/

https://newspaperarchive.com/the-republican-journal-feb-03-1887-p-1/

Letter from Captain Cook to His Agents, March 4, 1825: “You are aware of my leaving this port on the 24th ult with passengers and goods for Mexico, and I beg to acquaint you with my return here this morning, at 1 AM under the following circumstances”. Captain Cook of the 200-ton brigantine the Cambria certainly had not had the voyage he had expected when he had departed Falmouth a week earlier. Not only was he back far too quickly, but he also had approximately five hundred and fifty more people on board than he had departed with.

Ship Name: Kent 

Ship Type: Wooden East Indiaman 

Tonnage: 1350 

Nationality: United Kingdom 

Year Lost: 1825

Location Lost: Bay of Biscay 

Reason for Loss: Caught Fire in a Storm 

Lives Lost: Estimated between 85 and 100

Sources:

https://archive.org/details/recordprovidenc00youngoog/page/n260/mode/2up

https://books.google.com/books?id=txifhAVMAhMC&pg=PA1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=VoYUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA75#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/1661to1966/kent/kent.shtml

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-13748

https://books.google.com/books?id=ptEsAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA296&dq=kent+ship+fire+1825&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAqpjRwLKCAxVvg4kEHYWVC3k4ChDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=kent%20ship%20fire%201825&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=JkhOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA396&dq=kent+ship+fire+1825&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAqpjRwLKCAxVvg4kEHYWVC3k4ChDoAXoECAcQAg#v=onepage&q=kent%20ship%20fire%201825&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=gEew86eLfCQC&pg=PA250&dq=kent+ship+fire+1825&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAqpjRwLKCAxVvg4kEHYWVC3k4ChDoAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=kent%20ship%20fire%201825&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=I0YSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA248&dq=kent+ship+fire+1825&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAqpjRwLKCAxVvg4kEHYWVC3k4ChDoAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=kent%20ship%20fire%201825&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=Mz8IAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA3-PA232&dq=kent+ship+fire+1825&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjF2dy1wbKCAxWDtokEHZytD8k4FBDoAXoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=kent%20ship%20fire%201825&f=false

“The first news of the disaster was picked up by the admiralty wireless station at Mount Pearl, in a radio from the stranded ship: ‘S.O.S. Florizel ashore near Cape Race. Fast going to pieces.’” The Evening Telegraph, St John’s, February 25, 1918. The news was quickly communicated to the owners of the ship, who received the information around five a.m., and by 4 p.m. a relief train full of doctors, nurses, and medical supplies was on its way to the scene, as was a ship full of life-saving tools and Royal Naval Reservists with lifeboats. This had all taken time though, in part because of conflicting messages that had been sent, and no one could get ahold of the Florizel by wireless any longer. 

Ship Name: Florizel 

Ship Nationality: Canadian 

Year Built: 1909

Tonnage: 3081

Ship Type: Steel Screw Steamship 

Year Wrecked: 1918

Reason For Wreck: Struck Rocks After Going Off Course

Location Wrecked: Cappahayden, Newfoundland

Lives Lost: 94

Sources: 

https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/telegram19/id/13441

http://www.newfoundlandshipwrecks.com/Florizel/Documents/florizel_documents.htm

https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/cns_enl/id/3300

https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/archives/id/4131

https://archive.org/stream/nfldquart190911uoft/nfldquart190911uoft_djvu.txt

https://newspaperarchive.com/renwick-times-mar-07-1918-p-6/

https://newspaperarchive.com/boston-post-feb-25-1918-p-10/

https://newspaperarchive.com/corner-brook-western-star-oct-05-1951-p-26/

https://newspaperarchive.com/xenia-daily-gazette-feb-25-1918-p-1/

https://newspaperarchive.com/joplin-news-herald-feb-26-1918-p-1/

“On the 19th of January the steamer Earl Canning, one of four new steamships destined to increase the number of the NISN Company’s fleet, arrived at Batavia and is said to be the finest and largest of that company’s vessels. During the voyage out from Liverpool, she had, owing to violent storms, to run into Gibraltar to repair, which delayed her arrival at her destination. Her name is to be changed to that of Lieutenant General Kroesen.” The Brisbane Telegraph April 28th, 1873.   

Ship Name: Lieutenant-General Kroesen 

Ship Built: Unknown, Went Into Service 1873

Tonnage: 967

Nationality: Netherlands 

Ship Type: Iron Hull Screw Steamer 

Year Wrecked: 1876

Reason for Wreck: Uncharted Rock 

Location Wrecked: Strait of Sunda 

Lives Lost: 145

Sources:

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes18760708-1.2.7?qt=general,%20kroesen,%20ship&q=general%20kroesen%20ship

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singdailytimes18780206-1.2.16.3?qt=general,%20kroesen,%20ship&q=general%20kroesen%20ship

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singdailytimes18771026-1.2.6.3?qt=verloop,%20kroesen&q=verloop%20kroesen

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singdailytimes18771101-1.2.9.2?qt=verloop,%20kroesen&q=verloop%20kroesen

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/stoverland18760722-1.2.10

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/92253947?searchTerm=kroesen

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/stoverland18760708-1.2.14?qt=general,%20kroesen,%20ship&q=general%20kroesen%20ship

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5901391?searchTerm=kroesen%20dutch%20ship

https://newspaperarchive.com/london-and-china-telegraph-aug-28-1876-p-5/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/169488846?searchTerm=GENERAL%20KROESEN

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3333026/3333029/20/sunda%20general%20kroesen%20shipwreck%20dutch

“I could not see how or where we struck until we were clear of the Lucinda. I asked the Captain how it happened and he said ‘The wheel would not come over’, and added ‘She had not enough steam.’ He then said ‘I won’t risk it again.’...After this conversation I waited to see what he really would do on his next trip, expecting that the steamer would be taken down the river some distance before she would clear the line of the Lucinda.” The Week, Brisbane, 21st of February, 1896.

Ship Name: Pearl 

Year Built: 1883

Tonnage: 41

Ship Type: Wooden Steam Riverboat

Nationality: Australian 

Year Wrecked: 1896

Reason For Wreck: Capsized

Location Wrecked: Near Victoria Bridge Brisbane, Australia 

Lives lost: Up to 57 

Sources: 

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/172421636?searchTerm=pearl%20ferry

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/172422734?searchTerm=pearl%20ferry

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/172422431?searchTerm=pearl%20ferry

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/40275702?searchTerm=pearl%20ferry

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/183089693?searchTerm=pearl%20ferry

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/126296406?searchTerm=Captain%20Chard%20pearl%20ferry

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/183089579?searchTerm=pearl%20ferry

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/153489728?searchTerm=pearl%20ferry

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/70637016?searchTerm=pearl%20ferry

https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/pearl-ferry-disaster-brisbane-river-13-february-1896

https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2023/02/07/australias-worst-river-disaster-the-pearl-ferry-incident/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3619137

James Buchanan, Representative of the State of New Jersey in the House of Representatives, stood on the house floor in 1886 to make a passionate argument for the creation of more Life-Saving Stations along the coast. To show the sacrifice that some of the people who were already employed by the service had made he brought with him a table showing the casualties of the service. The first names on this list were from March 1, 1876, the first casualties of the service had been seven men who had attempted the rescue of the crew of the Nuova Ottavia off the coast of North Carolina. 

Nationality: Italian

Ship Type: Wooden Sailing Vessel, Bark or Brigantine 

Tonnage: 486

Year Built: 1862

Year Wrecked: 1876

Location Wrecked: Outer Banks North Carolina

Reason For Wreck: Run Aground on Sand Bank 

Lives Lost: 19 Including Life-Saving Service 

Sources:

https://islandfreepress.org/hatteras-island-features/island-history-the-1876-fatal-disaster-mystery-of-the-nuova-ottavia/

https://books.google.com/books?id=gYEDAAAAYAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNTVCgAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Nuova+Ottavia&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://books.google.com/books?id=wPMd_ew-Jo4C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Nuova+Ottavia&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://www.history.uscg.mil/research/chronology/

https://books.google.com/books?id=aCdIAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Nuova+Ottavia&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1876/03/07/81686879.html?pageNumber=5

https://obcinc.org/a-delayed-letter-of-gratitude-opens-new-doors-in-lighthouse-research/

https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-mar-17-1876-p-3/

https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-sep-05-1876-p-4/

https://newspaperarchive.com/baltimore-sun-mar-06-1876-p-4/

https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-tribune-mar-26-1877-p-8/

https://newspaperarchive.com/newburyport-daily-herald-mar-09-1876-p-2/

https://newspaperarchive.com/savannah-morning-news-mar-06-1876-p-8/

“Three Russians, two airplane pilots and a professor, are in Juneau this afternoon enroute to the Arctic to attempt rescue of 89 marooned men on an ice floe.” The Daily Alaska Empire, March 20, 1934. It was definitely noteworthy news, the Chelyuskin rescue, if successful, would be the largest-scale arctic rescue in history. The shipwrecked men had already been forced to endure two dangerous months on the ice, it seemed likely that time was starting to run out. 

Ship Name: Chelyuskin 

Ship Type: Iron Hulled Steam Ship 

Tonnage: 7500

Year Built: 1933

Nationality: Soviet Union 

Year Sank: 1934

Location Sank: Chukchi Sea 

Reason for Wreck: Crushed by Ice in Storm 

Lives Lost: 1

Sources: 

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55934360?searchTerm=chelyuskin%20ship

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/237479994?searchTerm=chelyuskin%20ship

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/41247207?searchTerm=chelyuskin%20ship

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/74872628?searchTerm=chelyuskin%20ship

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47898622?searchTerm=chelyuskin%20ship

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/pinangazette19351111-1.2.53?qt=chelyuskin,%20ship,%201934&q=chelyuskin%20ship%201934

https://newspaperarchive.com/the-daily-alaska-empire-mar-20-1934-p-8/

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/02/15/94493073.html?pageNumber=7

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/06/18/93432867.html?pageNumber=9

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/03/28/94506555.html?pageNumber=4

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/12/02/105824684.html?pageNumber=15

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/11/28/105823763.html?pageNumber=23

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/05/24/93629014.html?pageNumber=25

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/03/08/93754189.html?pageNumber=4

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/10/13/issue.html

https://books.google.com/books?id=rWLxxygR3FUC&pg=RA80-PA3&dq=chelyuskin+shipwreck+1935&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjArIqekdmBAxVtkYkEHZt-AqA4ChDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=qCBt9Apb8lsC&pg=RA4-PA25&dq=chelyuskin+shipwreck+1935&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMo5X2kNmBAxWwkYkEHQWhDDMQ6AF6BAgNEAI#v=onepage&q=chelyuskin%20shipwreck%201935&f=false

https://web.archive.org/web/20090608160110/http://www.beer7.net/modules.php?name=Pages&go=page&pid=681

“The boats, the last resort of the terror-stricken passengers, were unshipped from the davits, but four or five all except two were swamped. The Captain and his crew and about thirty passengers got into these, the remainder (numbering little less than two hundred souls) being left, from terrible necessity to their fate.” The Hobart Courier, September 22nd, 1853. The captain of the William and Mary told everyone that tragically these 170 or so passengers must have gone down with his ship. News of the tragedy traveled all around the world. It took longer for the news of these lost passengers landing in the Bahamas to arrive, though they had a very interesting story to tell.

Ship Name: William and Mary

Nationality: United States

Year Built: 1851

Tonnage: 500 tons

Ship Type: Barque 

Year Wrecked: 1853

Location Wrecked: Bahamas 

Reason for Wreck: Ran into a Reef 

Lives Lost: 14 During the Voyage, 2 Due to the Wreck

Sources: 

https://books.google.com/books?id=rdcZAAAAYAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=captain+sands+the+william+and+mary+1853&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4631884?read-now=1&seq=10

https://books.google.com/books?id=bGQFAAAAQAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=captain+sands+the+william+and+mary+1853&source=gbs_navlinks_s

https://newspaperarchive.com/nassau-guardian-sep-17-1853-p-1/

https://newspaperarchive.com/bath-eastern-times-jun-02-1853-p-3/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2247552

Wrecked Emigrant Ships in The Bahamas: The Wreck of the Barque William and Mary by Jim Lawlor

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/06/20/87860393.html?pageNumber=1

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18530619.2.12&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1853/05/18/87853839.html?pageNumber=4

“No government vessel should have a convict crew, men in their situation cannot fail to desire escape, and when such opportunities are afforded them they would be a set of cowards who neglected them.” The Colonist, February 11, 1834. Hobart, where The Colonist was published had particular reason to have complaints, this was the third time that an incident like this had happened in the past five years. First came the Cyprus in 1829, then came the Badger in 1833. Now the just finished Frederick had been taken, and no one was certain where it had gone. 

Ship Name: The Frederick 

Nationality: British Flag, Belonging to the Government of Van Diemen’s Land

Ship Type: Small Wooden Brig.

Tonnage: 100 tons 

Year Built: 1834

Year Wrecked: 1834

Location Wrecked: Off the Coast of Chile, 40 Miles From Valdivia

Reason for Wreck: Badly Leaking

Lives Lost: None

Sources:

https://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2013/D15087/a5629.htm

https://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110329702

https://newspaperarchive.com/hobart-town-courier-apr-28-1837-p-3/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/169027198?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Ftitle%2FC%2Ftitle%2F859%2F1917%2F03%2F02%2Fpage%2F20005618%2Farticle%2F169027198

https://newspaperarchive.com/hobart-colonist-and-van-diemens-land-commercial-and-agricultural-advertiser-feb-11-1834-p-3/

https://www.utas.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1341438/The-Wonder-Weekly-June-22.pdf

https://www.pressreader.com/australia/australian-geographic/20210601/282965338161220

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/39548671?searchTerm=frederick%20escape%20macquarie

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hindsight/james-porter-and-the-capture-of-the-frederick/3159086#transcript

https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/porter/james/109760

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00115.html#SECTION_XII

https://web.archive.org/web/20170315231216/http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/file.aspx?id=6506

“The Ortigia, on her previous voyage, had a collision in the same spot with a French steamer, and this fact adds strength to the belief that she was responsible for this morning’s disaster” - The New York Times, July 22nd, 1895. Though the two accidents were fifteen years apart the two disasters had some striking similarities. On both occasions, the Ortigia had struck an emigrant ship full of sleeping passengers at night, and on both occasions, the Ortigia was found to not be at fault. Not only that but on both occasions the accident had happened off of La Spezia, Italy. It was enough to catch anyone’s attention. 

Ship Name: Oncle Joseph 

Tonnage: 823

Year Built: Unknown

Ship Type: Iron Screw Propelled Steamship 

Nationality: French

Location Wrecked: Of La Spezia 

Reason For Wreck: Collision with the Ortigia 

Year Wrecked: 1880

Lives Lost: 238

Ship Name: Maria P 

Tonnage: 772

Year Built: 1886

Nationality: Italian 

Ship Type: Iron Hulled Screw Propelled Steamer

Location Wrecked: Off La Spezia 

Reason For Wreck: Collision with the Ortigia 

Year Wrecked: 1895

Lives Lost: 148

Sources: 

https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/florio.shtml

https://books.google.com/books?id=k9VCAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA573&dq=oncle+joseph+ortiga+1880&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqvbOIqZKBAxW_lIkEHZYgDQ84ChDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=oncle%20joseph%20ortiga%201880&f=false

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196567066?searchTerm=oncle%20joseph

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3750501/3750504/14/uncle%20joseph%20italian%20ship

https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053704/1880-11-30/ed-1/seq-2/

/https://www.franceandcolonies.org/docs/FIRST_MARITIME_CONNECTIONS_WITH_MADAGASCAR_by_Luc_Monteret.pdf

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267146579?searchTerm=oncle%20joseph

https://books.google.com/books?id=x1As_Nss03MC&pg=PA242&dq=oncle+joseph+ortiga+1880&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwih2OnSqJKBAxVkjIkEHWuXBe4Q6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=oncle%20joseph%20ortiga%201880&f=false

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/209047136?searchTerm=maria%20p%20ortigia

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/62119201?searchTerm=oncle%20joseph

https://books.google.com/books?id=8e5VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1348&dq=oncle+joseph+ortiga+1880&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijlNOgqZKBAxVOrokEHeUsDkw4FBDoAXoECA0QAg#v=onepage&q=oncle%20joseph%20ortiga%201880&f=false

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238524952?searchTerm=maria%20p%20ortigia

https://law.justia.com/cases/foreign/international/1927-pcij-series-a-no-10.html

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1895/07/22/103368769.html?pageNumber=1

https://newspaperarchive.com/decatur-bulletin-sentinel-jul-27-1895-p-6/

https://books.google.com/books?id=_mbUAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA184&dq=maria+P+1895+ship+ortigia&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj36rDSvLKBAxXnjokEHZHtCOMQ6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=maria%20P%201895%20ship%20ortigia&f=false