Maritime record MWX2061 - Virginie

`...small French lugger..came ashore near St.Alban's Head, about 3 miles from this place [Swanage]. The previous night was a very boisterous one, and there was a high sea; and the captain who failed to sight the Portland lights lost his bearing. About 6 o'clock the little crew, three men and a boy, found themselves near land and cast anchor; but the craft parted her cables and ....fearing the ship would go to pieces the crew took to their boat, which was swamped in a few moments and 2 of the men and the boy were drowned. The Captain alone was saved. (2) Left France on 14th November and by 6am on Tuesday 21st found it impossible to weather St Albans Head against the flood tide, a SW gale and thick weather. Her master ordered both anchors dropped, but the cables parted and she drove towards the shore. The crew, against the captains orders, left in the ships boat, compelling him to join them. The vessel became a total wreck and three of her crew drowned. (3) Crew Lost: 3 Date of Loss Qualifier: A

May be the record - 9 000 0913 French Chasse Maree, 19th century

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.

Net tonnage

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

<2> 1897, Southern Times, 25-NOV-1865 (Serial). SWX2003.

<3> 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.

<4> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, Shipwreck 676 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 901087 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 14 2023 4:33PM