Maritime record MWX2376 - Bee 1799

`The BEE, Naishen, from London to the West Indies, is on shore near Poole; the cargo is expected to be saved. (1) 31 January, BEE, cutter. Early this morning a small cutter called the BEE, John Nation master, from London for the West Indies, went on shore on the sands near Poole, Dorset, in a heavy gale blowing from the east. There was a tremendous sea running and a heavy snow falling, which rendered it difficult and hazardous to render any assistance to the unfortunate crew. Boats from the gun-vessel TICKLER, as well as several other boats, attempted it without success, and the poor fellows, after cutting away the masts and otherwise doing all in their power to relieve the vessel, were left without hope, expecting at any minute to be overwhelmed by the sea. But always in these moments of great distress men appeared who would risk their lives in the cause of humanity, and one such man was Charles Sturt, Member of Parliament for Bridport, of Brownsea Castle and of Crichel House, Dorset, who was then 35 years old. About the middle of the day, Mr Sturt, with a makeshift crew, boarded his sea-going yacht, and although the shoal on which the BEE was stranded was very dangerous to approach with the seas then running, yet the gallant Mr Sturt and his crew managed to take off everyone on board the BEE and carry them to his hospitable mansion, where they received every attention that their state required. (3) Source (2) expresses the date of loss as the LL. reporting date of 05-FEB-1799. Master: Naishen (1); Naisher (2); John Nation (3) Date of Loss Qualifier: A Additional sources cited in Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Eras: Annual Register, 1799, Chr, p5-6; Mariners Chronicle, Vol.2, p75.

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 taken from (2)

<1> 1745 onwards, Lloyds list, 05-FEB-1799, No.3054 (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> Grocott, T, 1997, Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Eras, p69 (Monograph). SWX4795.

<4> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 477 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<5> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 13 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1230167 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 15 2023 4:11PM