Maritime record MWX1973 - Two Sisters

1824 wreck of cargo vessel described variously as a German schooner or Danish brig, which stranded two miles west of Abbotsbury during a gale. Bound from Malaga to Hamburg with citrus fruit, she was a wooden sailing vessel.

`Weymouth, 25th Nov: We have experienced one of the severest hurricanes that ever visited this coast:...The TWO SISTERS, Leuhrs, of and for Hambro from Malaga, was totally lost with her cargo two miles west of Abbotsbury; captain and three men saved, one man drowned...Bridport, 24th Nov:...to the eastward - a schooner, from Malaga to Hambro; cargo and vessel totally lost; crew saved, except one man. (1)

NB: The entry for this vessel in the United Kingdom Shipwreck Index (2) appears as a Danish brig under UNIDENTIFIED; the position of loss and details of the crew are identical, and the cargo of citrus fruit is consistent with the departure from Malaga. Source (3) in the number of crew saved and lost, and the cargo, would appear to be the same vessel.

'Weymouth, Nov. 25. A most painful duty devolves upon us to recount the awful dispensation of Providence in one of the most tempestuous gales of wind, from SSW, accompanied with the highest tide which this town ever experienced. It commenced about four o'clock on Tuesday morning, and continued with unabated fury for several hours . . .The most melancholy reports are hourly arriving from Abbotsbury, Fleet, and all along the coast. At the former place a Danish brig has been wrecked, laden with fruit. Five hands were on board, four of whom were providentially saved, and every attention has been paid to their distressed situacion [sic] by the kindess and humanity of the Countess of Ilchester.' (3)

The name TWO SISTERS would appear to be an English translation of the name: the German version ZWEI SCHWESTERN and the Danish version TO SOSTRE, correctly "To Søstre" with an o-slash, have also been indexed as alternatives for reference. (4)

Master: Leuhrs (1)(2)
Crew: 5 (1)(2)(3)
Crew Lost: 1 (1)(2)(3)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

The building date for this vessel is an estimate based on an average age at wrecking of twenty years. This average is derived from those vessels wrecked on the Dorset coast whose age at wrecking is known.

<1> 1745 onwards, Lloyds list, 26-NOV-1824, No.5963 (Serial). SWX8434.

<2> 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.

<3> Hampshire Telegraph, 29-NOV-1824, No.1312 (Serial). SDO20645.

<4> Cant, S, Oral: Serena Cant, compiler's comments, 25-JAN-2011, with the kind assistance of Charlotte Wiberg (Verbal communication). SDO20515.

<5> Cumming, E, 2014, The Portland Shipwreck and Maritime Incident Directory (Monograph). SDO14012.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1231628 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jun 25 2024 12:35PM