Maritime record MWX2036 - Johannes Christiana

`Weymouth, 25th Nov: We have experienced one of the severest hurricanes that ever visited this coast...The JOHANNES CHRISTIANA, Wells, from Rotterdam to Bordeaux, is totally lost in the Bay; crew saved; 2 bales of linen and a few cheese are the only articles saved. (1)

Source (1) gives the name of the vessel as JOHANNES CHRISTIANA, but no specific date of loss; source (4) gives the name of the vessel as JOHANNA, and attributes a specific date of loss of 23-NOV-1824 (this gale is known to have blown over 22/23-NOV) as well as a nationality and vessel type. `Many large pieces of silver have been found in the beach where she was wrecked, thought to have come from her. (4) `Weymouth: ...Dutch galliott JOHANNA, from Rotterdam to Bordeaux, broke from her moorings near Saundersfoot Castle and ran ashore. Crew and cargo saved. (5) Master: Wells Date of Loss Qualifier: A

'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 . . . A Dutch galliot has also been wrecked opposite the Old Weymouth Castle, laden with butter and cheese; the whole of the cargo was lost, except for a few trifling articles.' (6)

Source (1) gives the name of the vessel as JOHANNES CHRISTIANA, but no specific date of loss; source (4) gives the name of the vessel as JOHANNA, and attributes a specific date of loss of 23-NOV-1824 (this gale is known to have blown over 22/23-NOV) as well as a nationality and vessel type; source (5) also expresses the name of the vessel as JOHANNA, and the vessel is anonymous in source (6).

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> 1975, Dorset magazine : the county magazine vol. 49, p24 (Article in serial). SWX4562.

<3> 1976, Dorset magazine : the county magazine vol. 50, p18 (Article in serial). SWX4560.

<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> Sherbourne Mercury, p3, 29-NOV-1824 (Serial). SWX4820.

<6> Hampshire Telegraph, 29-NOV-1824, No.1312 (Serial). SDO20645.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1175792 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 2 2024 1:37PM