Maritime record MWX1958 - Nor

Construction: 1 x deck. Machinery: T Richardson, Hartlepool. Built: 1872. Builder: Backhouse and Dixon. Where Built: Middlesborough. Propulsion: Screw driven, 2 cylinder compound engine. HP: 135. Owner: T Svanoe, Bergen. Master: H Svance (1)(4) Svanoe. Crew: 20. Date of Loss Qualifier: A
`...ran on Chesil Beach in fog just as she was making for Portland for bunker coal. The whole of the crew, including the ships dog and cat, was safely brought ashore, leaving the vessel holed and half full of water. The next day brought strong winds and heavy seas which caused some of her midship plates to crack so that she parted in the middle, her masts falling by the board and in a matter of minutes there was nothing left of her. The beach was left strewn with wreckage but nothing of any value has come ashore. Amongst some of the livestock saved were several black geese and a pig. Mr C F Arden and the Lloyds agent are taking charge of gear as it is landed. (1)(4) N.B: She stranded very close to the spot where the ROYAL ADELAIDE was wrecked. (1)(4)
On 18th January 1887 the Norwegian steamship Nor, carrying salt from Cadiz to Bergen ran onto Chesil beach, opposite Ferrybridge, in dense fog. The Captain sounded the steam whistle continuously until the coastguard were alerted, they managed to get a line on board using the rocket apparatus and rescued all the crew. The following day the wind got up, and began to bump the Nor on the bank on which she had grounded. By the end of the day she had begun to break up and slipped off the beach into deeper water. The remains still lie just off shore and are a popular dive site. (7)

2 wheel bosses recovered from this wreck, 1.5 miles north of Chesil Cove. (Droit A/2388).(5)
Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: Weymouth Library photo L.910.4.M01(neg.No.38/12)

position taken from (8)

gross tonnage

<1> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<2> Board of Trade, 1888, Parliamentary papers 1888, Board of Trade Casualty Returns, p135 (Monograph). SWX5834.

<3> Farr, Grahame, 1971, Wreck and rescue on the Dorset coast, 42 (Monograph). SWX1056.

<4> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<5> 2001, Maritime and Coastguard Agency: Receiver of Wreck Amnesty (Index). SWX4542.

<6> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, Shipwreck 180 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<7> Le Pard, G F, 2005, Shipwrecks of the Dorset Coast (Monograph). SDO9637.

<8> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1999, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (3rd Edition) (Monograph). SWX1.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 901190 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 20 2024 3:52PM