For most people the thick fog that enveloped part of the United Kingdom in early March of 1902 was a matter of inconvenience. It covered the Irish Channel, Holyhead, Southampton, and London. In London people found that traveling by any sort of vehicle was impossible and they could only fumble their way home on foot. For ships in the harbors it meant delays, passengers stuck in ports and mail not getting delivered. The situation was more serious for the ships who had already left port. At least one ship grounded near Holyhead and her passengers were forced to go to shore in boats, but worse news was yet to come. 

Ship name: Waesland (formerly the Russia)

Year Built: 1867

Nationality: United Kingdom 

Tonnage: 4,752

Ship Type: Iron Hulled Steamship 

Year Sank: 1902

Location Sank: Off Anglesey

Reason for Sinking: Collision with another ship 

Lives Lost: 2 

Sources: 

https://www.tradeshouselibrary.org/uploads/4/7/7/2/47723681/trans-atlantic_passenger_ships__past_and_present_~_1947.pdf

https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/files/49790289/9789464261165_Innes_McCartney_Echoes_from_the_Deep_ebook.pdf

https://www.scribd.com/document/34508928/1910-Steamships-Their-Story

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3319319/3319322/19/waesland

http://thegreatoceanliners.com/articles/russia/

https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-43000/NH-43099.html

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3605523/3605528/56/waesland

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3484682/3484685/33/waesland

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/04/11/101946387.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/03/07/101264957.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136656361?searchTerm=waesland%20ship%201902

http://www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/ships.asp?articleid=129&zoneid=5

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/03/08/101940536.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87822504?searchTerm=waesland%20ship%201902

It happens, no doubt, that from Bristol you’ve crossed in a casual way,And have sailed your yacht in the summer in the blue of Swansea Bay.

Well! it isn’t like that in the winter, when the lighthouse stands alone,In the teeth of Atlantic breakers that foam on its face of stone;It wasn’t like that when the hurricane blew, and the storm-bell tolled,or whenThere was news of a wreck, and the lifeboat launched, and a desperate cry for men.

-The Women of Mumbles Head by Clement Scott.

The women that inspired the pen of Clement Scott to such an extent that he would immortalize them in verse were two sisters, Jessie and Margaret, the daughters of the light house keeper of the Mumbles Lighthouse. As suggested by Clement Scott the Mumbles lighthouse was not a stranger to fierce Atlantic winter storms, but something unusually fierce was brewing in late January 1883. 

Ship Name: Admiral Prinz Adalbert 

Tonnage: 885

Nationality: German 

Ship Type: Barque 

Year Wrecked: 1883

Location Wrecked: Mumbles Wales 

Reason For Wreck: Blown into Mixon Sands in Storm 

Lives Lost: 1 from ship, 4 members of the lifeboat crew trying to rescue them. 

Sources: 

https://sites.google.com/site/ahistoryofmumbles/author-collections/articles-by-carol-powell/cricket-tea-and-tragedy-on-the-mixon-sands-by-carol-powell-m-a?authuser=0

https://sites.google.com/site/ahistoryofmumbles/author-collections/articles-by-kate-jones/ready-punch-and-the-1883-mumbles-lifeboat-disaster-by-kate-jones

https://rnliarchive.blob.core.windows.net/media/1136/0129.pdf

http://www.swanseadocks.co.uk/docksnewsite/contribron2.html

https://newspaperarchive.com/london-mid-surrey-times-kingston-express-and-richmond-herald-feb-03-1883-p-3/

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3336640/3336647/53/Tunnah%20-%20Rhos

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3515241/3515245/67/the%20whistle

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/swansea-sisters-set-honoured-more-10588702

https://web.archive.org/web/20180308042114/https://www.swansea.gov.uk/article/25065/The-Ace-Sisters-Blue-Plaque

https://rainydaypoems.com/poems-for-kids/poems-teachers-ask-for/the-women-of-mumbles-head-by-clement-scott/

https://mumbles.nub.news/news/local-features/who-were-the-ace-sisters

Things had been tense between the British and Majeerteen Sultanate before the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, but with the opening of the Canal, things only got worse between the two. Other European nations also began to make themselves known in the region, and Majeerteen Ports suddenly had steamers from all over the world passing by. With this came shipwrecks, and every wreck seemed to sour relations between Europe and the Majeerteen Sultanate even more, but a ship was about to make things even more complex. 

Ship Name: The Meikong 

Nationality: French 

Year Built: 1870

Ship Type: Iron Hulled Steamship 

Tonnage: 3279

Year Sank: 1877

Location Sank: Ras Hafun 

Reason For Sinking: Ran Aground in Fog 

Lives Lost: 4

Sources: 

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes18770818-1.2.10.6.3?ST=1&AT=filter&K=meikong&KA=meikong&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=&CT=&WC=&YR=1877&QT=meikong&oref=article

 https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singdailytimes18770716-1.2.9.3?ST=1&AT=filter&DF=&DT=&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=&CT=&WC=&YR=1877&K=meikong&KA=meikong&P=2&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=meikong&oref=article

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/stoverland18770721-1.2.35?ST=1&AT=filter&K=meikong&KA=meikong&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=&CT=&WC=&YR=1877&QT=meikong&oref=article

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singdailytimes18770820-1.2.9.5?ST=1&AT=filter&K=meikong&KA=meikong&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=&CT=&WC=&YR=1877&QT=meikong&oref=article

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singdailytimes18771124-1.2.9.1?ST=1&AT=filter&K=meikong&KA=meikong&DF=&DT=&Display=0&AO=false&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=&CT=&WC=&YR=1877&QT=meikong&oref=article

https://books.google.com/books?id=LT0oAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA110&dq=messageries+Maritimes+MeiKong&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhh4GFnI7-AhVZg2oFHbnnCu4Q6AF6BAgEEAI#v=onepage&q=messageries%20Maritimes%20MeiKong&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=dhxbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA68&dq=messageries+Maritimes+MeiKong&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhh4GFnI7-AhVZg2oFHbnnCu4Q6AF6BAgOEAI#v=onepage&q=messageries%20Maritimes%20MeiKong&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=YGQvAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA308&dq=messageries+Maritimes+MeiKong&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhh4GFnI7-AhVZg2oFHbnnCu4Q6AF6BAgDEAI#v=onepage&q=messageries%20Maritimes%20MeiKong&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=bAF6DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT321&dq=messageries+Maritimes+MeiKong&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhh4GFnI7-AhVZg2oFHbnnCu4Q6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=messageries%20Maritimes%20MeiKong&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=LwY4EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60&dq=messageries+Maritimes+MeiKong&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhh4GFnI7-AhVZg2oFHbnnCu4Q6AF6BAgLEAI#v=onepage&q=messageries%20Maritimes%20MeiKong&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=kRUUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA186&dq=messageries+Maritimes+MeiKong&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhh4GFnI7-AhVZg2oFHbnnCu4Q6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=messageries%20Maritimes%20MeiKong&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=Um-lCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT21&dq=messageries+Maritimes+MeiKong&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6ybOknY7-AhXQlWoFHT0gB9w4ChDoAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=messageries%20Maritimes%20MeiKong&f=false

https://visithornafrica.com/the-capes-of-guardafui-and-ras-hafun/

http://www.messageries-maritimes.org/meikong.html

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17531055.2014.970602?scroll=top&needAccess=true&role=tab

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13395046?searchTerm=mekong

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13402224?searchTerm=mekong

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/150470575?searchTerm=mekong

The editor of the Albany Mail could not deny that the passenger’s account of the wreck of the Indus, as originally published in the Times of Ceylon, would be of interest to his readers, but the statements made in it were full of frustration and allegations made against Captain Breeze that the editor put in an unusual disclaimer for 1885 ahead of the article. “We are not, of course, responsible for the opinions of our correspondent”. He need not have worried about the impact of the inflammatory words of the account of passenger, the following inquiry would agree that Captain Breeze had indeed been negligent. 

Ship Name: Indus 

Built: 1871

Tonnage: 3462

Nationality: British 

Ship Type: Iron Hulled Steamer 

Year Wrecked: 1885

Reason For Wreck: Went 30 Miles Off Course, Hit Sand Bar 

Lives Lost: None

Sources:

https://newspaperarchive.com/brisbane-courier-nov-13-1885-p-5/

https://newspaperarchive.com/albany-mail-and-king-georges-sound-advertiser-dec-29-1885-p-3/

https://newspaperarchive.com/adelaide-south-australian-weekly-chronicle-jan-23-1886-p-19/

https://newspaperarchive.com/albany-mail-and-king-georges-sound-advertiser-dec-15-1885-p-3/

https://ignca.gov.in/mausam/Cunninghams_Lost_Treasures_Sanjay_Garg.pdf

https://www.dawn.com/news/1117820

http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/S000829IC/P001688/M021975/ET/1504071269P07-M27-ShipwreckArchaeologyofIndiaProgressandProspects-ET.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/27138529?seq=5

https://www.linerwrecks.com/po/wrecks/indus_2.html

http://www.themua.org/collections/files/original/c74cd043c12638725b66b414f8de9e2c.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/27138528?seq=4

https://www.poheritage.com/our-history/timeline

Cannon Rocks South Africa is said to have taken its name from two cannons that have been found along the stretch of beach it lays on. Both cannons are obviously the result of shipwrecks. It is supposed that at least one of these cannons most likely came from the wreck of the Portuguese ship, the Sao Joao Baptista. The ever shifting sands in the area show and then hide hints of the 1600s ship, but it is not likely there is much left.

Ship Name: Sao Joao Baptista

Ship Type: Wooden Nau (carrack) 

Nationality: Portuguese 

Tonnage: Unknown

Year Built: 1621 or 1622

Year Wrecked: 1622

Reason For Wreck: Ran Aground To Prevent Sinking After Battle 

Location Wrecked: Near Cannon Rocks South Africa 

Lives Lost: Uncertain, More Than 250 After Long Walk to Sofala

Sources: 

https://www.jstor.org/stable/27138531?seq=3

https://shiplib.org/index.php/shipwrecks/iberian-shipwrecks/portuguese-india-route/sao-joao-baptista-1622/

https://shiplib.org/index.php/shipwrecks/iberian-shipwrecks/portuguese-india-route/santo-espirito-1608/

https://archive.org/details/englishfactories07fost/page/n13/mode/2up

https://www.cannonrocks.com/?doing_wp_cron=1679711300.9868888854980468750000

https://books.google.com/books?id=qFHGBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT256&dq=sao+joao+baptista+shipwreck+1622&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgx7j2nev9AhXwJjQIHUHgBuUQ6AF6BAgJEAI#v=onepage&q=sao%20joao%20baptista%20shipwreck%201622&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=q43sCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA57&dq=sao+joao+baptista+shipwreck+1622&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgx7j2nev9AhXwJjQIHUHgBuUQ6AF6BAgDEAI#v=onepage&q=sao%20joao%20baptista%20shipwreck%201622&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=21BBDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT178&dq=sao+joao+baptista+shipwreck+1622&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwimqvz0nuv9AhWpmWoFHdwfAHw4FBDoAXoECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=sao%20joao%20baptista%20shipwreck%201622&f=false

The Sausalito and the San Rafael were like old friends. They were both built in New York and then shipped in pieces to San Francisco to serve as ferries between Sausalito and San Francisco for the North Pacific Coast Railroad. Since the San Rafael had departed San Francisco, the Sausalito should have also departed Sausalito headed to San Francisco around the same time. Captain McKenzie of the San Rafael knew that they should meet with the Sausalito at some point, but with the dense fog all he could do was ring the bell and occasionally stop the ship to look for a sign of the other ferry.

Ship Name: San Rafael 

Year Built: 1877

Tonnage: 692

Nationality: United States of America 

Ship Type: Wooden Hulled Steam Ferry 

Year Sank: 1901

Location Sank: Off the Island of Alcatraz, San Francisco Bay 

Reason for Sinking: Collision in the Fog

Lives Lost: Between 3-5 Depending on Source.   

Sources: 

https://books.google.com/books?id=MZQ-AQAAIAAJ&pg=RA7-PA100&dq=san+rafael+ferry+1901&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJp8Tnmtr9AhVqmIkEHZ-kDHQQ6AF6BAgHEAI#v=onepage&q=san%20rafael%20ferry%201901&f=false

https://web.archive.org/web/20130207014515/http://www.marinhistory.org/article_FerryWreck.html

https://books.google.com/books?id=xLcKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA272&dq=san+rafael+ferry+1901&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_gaf-mtr9AhUmjIkEHeXECA44ChDoAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=san%20rafael%20ferry%201901&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=nkZuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1900&dq=san+rafael+ferry+1901&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_gaf-mtr9AhUmjIkEHeXECA44ChDoAXoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=san%20rafael%20ferry%201901&f=false

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/ANTIOCH-A-ferry-with-a-storied-past-Aging-2592474.php

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=73476

https://sananselmohistory.org/articles/a-look-back/sinking-of-ferry-boat/

https://www.sausalitohistoricalsociety.com/2022-columns/2022/2/9/the-notorious-ferry-sausalito

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/12/02/119084836.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://newspaperarchive.com/san-francisco-call-dec-21-1901-p-8/

https://newspaperarchive.com/san-francisco-call-dec-01-1901-p-37/

https://newspaperarchive.com/honolulu-pacific-commercial-advertiser-dec-10-1901-p-2/

https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-times-dec-02-1901-p-2/

he speakers for the General Assembly of New Zealand attempted to open Parliament on schedule in 1862 only to be met with a problem. There were not sufficient members of the Legislative Council or the House of Representatives to achieve quorum. The reason was uncertain but news came soon, the members from the North had been shipwrecked.

Ship Name: White Swan

Ship Type: Wooden Three Masted Steamer

Year Built: 1853

Tonnage: 335

Nationality: New Zealand

Year Wrecked: 1862

Reason For Wreck: Struck Rock or Reef

Location Wrecked: South of Castle Point

Lives Lost: None

Sources:

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196392861?searchTerm=white%20swan%20shipwreck

https://www.parliament.nz/en/document/00NZPHomeNews201210021

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZ18620716.2.16

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5719063?searchTerm=white%20swan%20shipwreck

http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/nz-wrecks.html

https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/23045/the-white-swan

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/wreck-white-swan#:~:text=29%20June%201862&text=The%20White%20Swan%20was%20carrying,for%20the%20ship's%20small%20boats.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13234817

https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/fact-sheets/parliament-s-move/

Charles Dickens wrote in his short story The Long Voyage: “See the Halsewell, East Indiaman outward bound, driving madly on a January night towards the rocks near Seacombe, on the island of Purbeck! …The description of her loss, familiar to me from my early boyhood, seems to be read aloud as she rushes to her destiny.” For Dickens the Halsewell was a vessel to express final regrets and a contemplation of a new year, but at one time it had been the pride of the British East India Company.

Ship Name: Halsewell

Nationality: British

Built: 1778

Tonnage: 758

Ship Type: East Indiaman

Year Wrecked: 1786

Reason For Wreck: Wrecked in a Storm Against a Cliff

Lives Lost: At least 166

Sources:

https://www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=83f7a4bf-d10b-4d7c-8f2f-e10dd7f8142d

https://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2010/12/the-loss-of-the-halsewell/

https://books.google.com/books?id=XjQaAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA615&dq=halsewell+shipwreck&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9_q630rH9AhVRIH0KHQWnCOk4ChDoAXoECAUQAg#v=onepage&q=halsewell%20shipwreck&f=false

https://americanliterature.com/author/charles-dickens/short-story/the-long-voyage

https://books.google.com/books?id=958zAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA195&dq=halsewell+shipwreck&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjv4I_U0rH9AhXdlYkEHZQMCfk4FBDoAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=halsewell%20shipwreck&f=false

https://archive.org/details/ahistoryshipwre01reddgoog/page/n194/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/papersreadbefor00socigoog/page/n178/mode/2up

https://books.google.com/books?id=DTIFAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA53#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=dKEcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA212#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=_H4qAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Boatswain of the SS Austria dipped the hot metal chain into a bucket of tar that had been set aside for the purpose of fumigating the steerage class of the ship. As often happened on immigrant ships of the mid 1800s, the 2,684 ton ship had 450 people in steerage alone, fumigation was often needed. As he dipped his chain in the bucket though, disaster was only minutes away.

Ship Name: SS Austria

Nationality: Germany

Ship Type: Three Masted Metal Hulled Screw Steamer

Built: 1857

Tonnage: 2386

Year Sank: 1858

Reason For Sinking: Fire

Location Sank:  Mid Atlantic

Lives Lost: Estimated between 450 and 550

Sources:

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1858/09/28/78876794.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1858/10/05/78877157.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1858/09/30/78876849.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://newspaperarchive.com/new-york-herald-sep-28-1858-p-1/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2465772?searchTerm=austria%20ship%20burn

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66332749?searchTerm=austria%20ship%20burn

https://books.google.com/books?id=iGBKAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA85&dq=shipwreck+austria+1858+hamburg+line&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3w6GitKD9AhUZg4kEHXOHDGUQ6AF6BAgDEAI#v=onepage&q=shipwreck%20austria%201858%20hamburg%20line&f=false

https://digitalcommons.augustana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1406&context=swensonsag

https://oceanlinersmagazine.com/2020/09/13/inferno-at-sea/

https://digital.libraries.psu.edu/digital/collection/pabooknews/id/761

https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=3729&vessel=AUSTRIA#v

The chief officer of La Seyne, also referred to on ship as the Second Captain, was laying in his bunk but he had not fallen asleep yet in spite of the hour. Suddenly the calm of the night on the ship was broken by a loud blast of the ship’s whistle and the chief officer jumped up and rushed to the deck to find out what had happened.

Ship Name: La Seyne

Nationality: French

Built: 1874

Tonnage: 1140

Ship Type: Single Screw Steam Ship

Year Lost: 1909

Reason for Loss: Collision with the Onda

Location of Wreck: Near Singapore

Lives Lost: Up to 101

Sources:

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepresswk19091118-1.2.11?ST=1&AT=search&k=La%20Seyne%20shipwreck&QT=la,seyne,shipwreck&oref=article

https://newspaperarchive.com/marysville-evening-tribune-nov-15-1909-p-1/

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepresswk19091118-1.2.57?ST=1&AT=search&k=La%20Seyne%20shipwreck&QT=la,seyne,shipwreck&oref=article

https://newspaperarchive.com/sabina-news-record-nov-18-1909-p-2/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/150700786?searchTerm=La%20Seyne%20shipwreck

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/pinangazette19100108-1.2.4?ST=1&AT=search&k=La%20Seyne%20shipwreck&QT=la,seyne,shipwreck&oref=article

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn93055779/1909-11-15/ed-1/seq-2/

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4830&context=abq_mj_news

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/137452916?searchTerm=La%20Seyne%20shipwreck

http://www.messageries-maritimes.org/seyne.htm