Maritime record MWX2201 - Emma 1854

The EMMA of Ipswich, rigged as a billyboy capsized off Durlestone Head in St Albans race, seen afterwards floating about by the coastguard. (3) 03-JAN-1854 EMMA with a crew of three capsized off Durleston Head with the loss of the crew (4)(5)

Crew: 3
Crew Lost: 3
A Stranded / Total Loss (2)

'The arrivals yesterday furnish a sad catalogue of losses and wrecks on different points of the coast during the recent heavy snow storm . . .

'Lower down Channel, some few miles to the eastward of St. Alban's Head, a vessel called the EMMA, belonging to Ipswich, was caught in the snow storm and gale of wind of Tuesday, and went over, the whole of the crew perishing. The wreck has since been observed by the Coast Guard men, floating with her stern upwards. She was beyond recovery, however.' (7)

'Poole, Jan. 6. The EMMA, of Ipswich, was the billy boy which was reported to have gone down between Sutton Rock and St. Alban's Head on the 3rd; she has righted, and may be towed in here.' (8)

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

<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> Admiralty, 1854, Parliamentary papers 1854-1855, Admiralty Wreck Register, 1854., pgs 4/5 (364/365) (Monograph). SWX6593.

<4> Board of Trade, 1861, Parliamentary papers 1861, Board of Trade Casualty Returns 1851-1860, p22(365) (Monograph). SWX4605.

<5> 1864, Parliamentary papers 1864, Harbour of Refuge, p116(558) (Monograph). SWX4606.

<6> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, Shipwreck 642 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<7> Morning Chronicle, 07-JAN-1854, No.27,158 (Serial). SWX8830.

<8> Morning Post, 07-JAN-1854, No.24,976 (Serial). SDO20132.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 901009 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 21 2024 1:17PM