Maritime record MWX5017 - Bassurelle

A French fishing vessel lost off Chesil Beach, Langton Herring in 1963. Driven on to Chesil Beach during a severe gale, the crew were able to jump to safety, 15 July 1963.

Fishing vessel lost off Chesil Beach, Langton Herring in 1963. [1}

On the 15th July 1963 the French fishing boat Bassurelle was driven onto Chesil Beach, opposite Langton Herring, in a severe gale, her engines having broken down she was swept ashore as so many vessels had been in the past. The bow on the vessel jammed onto the beach long enough for the crew to scramble ashore. Local boatmen then ferried them to safety across the Fleet, though there was some confusion as none of the rescuers spoke French and none of the crew knew any English.

The crew were very lucky as the Bassurelle broke up shortly afterwards leaving nothing that could be salvaged. {2}

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> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 1016 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<2> Le Pard, G F, 2005, Shipwrecks of the Dorset Coast (Monograph). SDO9637.

<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> Cumming, E, 2014, The Portland Shipwreck and Maritime Incident Directory (Monograph). SDO14012.

<5> Cumming, E, The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory, 12 (Monograph). SDO16406.

<6> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1521241 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 19 2023 3:42PM