Maritime record MWX2327 - Fanny 1793

`The FANNY, Pierronet, from Swanage to London, is lost off Purbeck. The crew saved. (8) Foundered / Total Loss (7) Master: Pierronet (8); Pierromet (7) Date of Loss Qualifier: R

A wreck thought to be the FANNY is lying partly exposed on the seabed less than three-quarters of a mile from Swanage Pier. The wreck was discovered in June 1976 by divers from St Luke's College, Exeter. Eddie Bennett skipper of MFV Goldbeach has agreed to become co-ordinator and local organiser to survey and possibly excavate the wreck, and an organisation called Purbeck Underwater Group formed. Two sample lead ingots were raised in 1976 and reported to the receiver of wreck. In July 1979 an application was made for the wreck to become designated and protected under the 1973 Protection of Wreck Act. In an effort the produce evidence some artefacts were recently raised and sent to various museums for dating and evaluation. Another group has also dived the site raising ingots and dislodging the survey grid. An injunction against this group has been successfully applied for.(1)

This wooden sailing vessel lay completely undisturbed at a depth of 18m until a search was mounted in 1975-1976. Her cargo consisted of 600 lead ingots which were recovered intact. Only the heavy wooden keel and lower part of the flattened hull remain. She lies in an area of muddy gravel between Evans Rock and Peveril Race buoy.(2)(3)

The initial two lead ingots raised marked A25 and G13 each weighed 190lbs and measured 2 10 x 6 quarter x 3 and half, an empty wine bottle, a black glazed earthenware pot and ships timber 19 x 14 x 3 were raised. The site was heavily salvaged by Bennet Marine Services who raised 509 ingots and sold to organisations including British Nuclear Fuels. Position given as 50 36.65N 001 56.00W. (Poole Receiver of Wreck, Droits 30, 304 and 305, 1979/80)

11-JUL-1979 Wreck of coastal sloop. Thought possibly either FANNY (1793), SISTERS (1827), or GLOBE (1823). Unsuccessful application for designation under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. 02-AUG-1979 Position to be marked by white buoy and an area 1 cable radius from it will contain marker buoys and bottom lines. Salvage operatives are estimated to continue until Sept. 1980. 17-DEC-1992 Local divers confirm that wreck (known as sloop FANNY) is almost totally destroyed. A few timbers remain which offer no hazard to navigation or anchoring (5)

A seventeenth/eighteenth century glass wine bottle was recovered from the vessel. (

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.

Position 50 36.58N 1 56.11W taken from (2)

<1> 1979, Diver [incorporating Underwater World] 1979 No. 9 September, p32 (Article in serial). SWX6773.

<2> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1999, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (3rd Edition), Wreck 226, p163 (Monograph). SWX1.

<3> Hinchcliffe, J and V, 1990, Dive Dorset: a diver guide (2nd Edition), Wreck No. 154, p130 (Monograph). SWX5640.

<4> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, Shipwreck 1141 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<5> United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1992, Hydrographic Office wreck index (Index). SWX4837.

<6> Poole Museums, to 2003, Poole Museums MODES Records, PMA:251 (Index). SWX8160.

<7> 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.

<8> 1745 onwards, Lloyds list, 01-FEB-1793, No.2476 (Serial). SWX8434.

<9> National Record of the Historic Environment, 904663 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 8 2024 12:32PM