Dublin Bay shipwrecks, 1844

From The Illustrated London News, 23rd March , 1844.

DUBLIN BAY WRECKS

One of the most violent storms ever known upon the Irish coast blew from the eastward on Friday morning, March 15th and Saturday, March 16th. The injuries sustained by vessels and the damage done to property in Kingstown has been very considerable.

On Saturday the sea was so convulsed, and the weather so tempestuous, that the railway trains could run only upon the rail farthest from the shore, as the waves for a great portion of the line made clear breaches over the wall, and in some places smashed the ballasting away. The down-train at a quarter before eight oclock, consisting of the Kingstown engine and eight carriages got off the line, the rails having been disturbed by the terrific force of the sea. In less than three hours all was again set right, without any injury to either engine or carriage.

A more angry and awful sea has not been witnessed for many years in the Bay of Dublin, and to a certain extent raged within the harbour by which many vessels have been wrecked. Three brigs and two schooners drove on the rocks near Mr. Fagan's shipyard, and have become perfect wrecks; several others ran into the Old Harbour, which is anything but a safe retreat. They had either burst their chain cables, or slipped them when fouled by vessels that had broken adrift. Those unfortunate vessels have likewise suffered terribly. Melancholy to state, the schooner Seymour, of Bray, coal-laden, from Whitehaven, was overwhelmed by a sea when crossing the Burford Bank, and all hands perished. This sad sight was seen by the crew of the brig Endeavour, of Whitehaven, which also struck on the bank, and is expected to have been swallowed up in a similar manner. All the vessels that anchored within that part of the harbour, which is sheltered by the East Pier, held fast. To the exposed anchorage of the unfortunates, where little or no shelter is afforded from easterly gales, with most probably bad ground tackle, which chain cables are, and particularly when manufactured of bad iron, which they most commonly are, is to be attributed the loss of those vessels. One half of this fine harbour affords no security, by reason of the defective construction of its entrance and any person observing the mountainous sea rushing against the west pier-head, and lashing the strong works erected there preparatory to its being faced similar to the east pier-head, must at once perceive that the whole sea enters the harbour, and rushes straight forward to the old harbour, or coal-quay, which was, before the west pier was ever built, comparatively a safe cove to what it is likely ever to be again. The names of the vessels wrecked are as follows:

The brig Hemer, of Maryport, total wreck; the brig Mary, of Whitehaven, sunk; the schooner Betties, of Liverpool, sunk; the schooner Tom, of Whitehaven, sunk; the Thomas Agnes, of Preston, sunk; the schooner Bellevue, of Greystone, perfect wreck; the Jane and Francis, of Wexford, much injured. The brig Pandora, of Whitehaven; the sloop Colonel Smith, of Caernarfon: the sloop Catherine, of Newry; the Maria, of Whitehaven, all more or less damaged.

The Kish lightship either parted, or slipped and ran for Dublin, on Sunday morning, on the gale having ceased, which is rather extraordinary. No calamity is likely to arise from this circumstance, as care has been taken to warn the Liverpool and Holyhead packets of it, which has also been communicated, no doubt, long since, by means of telegraphs all round the coast. Several of the small vessels enumerated were wrecked in view of the two packets which were anchored in the harbour, and dared not attempt to offer the least assistance, as such a step might have proved destructive to themselves. As far as can yet be ascertained, no life has been lost in the harbour, nor was it necessary to use the lifeboat, but every exertion which could be made to rescue the vessels and save the men was made by the sailors and pilots under the control of Captain Hutchinson, the harbour master.

NOTES:

The vessels listed as belonging to the ports of Whitehaven and Maryport were not necessarily built there. However, the following information may be of use in identifying these vessels.

1. The brig Hemer is listed in Source 2, registered at Maryport. She was built at Liverpool in 1814, 105 tons om, 84 tons nm. Owned by Capt. Thomas Robinson, her master, in 1840.
2. There was a schooner named Pandora registered at Whitehaven in 1840 (Source 2). She was 189 tons om, 172 tons nm, built at Aberystwyth in 1814 and owned in 1840 by her master, Capt. J.H.Cowman.
3. A brig named Maria was registered at Whitehaven in 1840 (see Source 2). She was 131 tons om, 127 tons nm, and had been built at Liverpool in 1812. She was owned in 1840 by Capt. Robert Waddell, her master.
4. A brig named Tom was registered at Whitehaven in 1840. She was 165 tons om, built at Chester in 1815 and owned in 1840 by Capt. William Coulthard, her master.
5. There were two Whitehaven brigs named Mary  listed in Source 2. One was built at Kincardine in 1802, 170 tons om, owned by Robert Collier, her master, in 1840. The other was 198 tons om, built at Workington by Michael Falcon in 1824, and owned by R.Wheelwright, her master, in 1840.
6. A 155 ton brig named Endeavour was built at Whitehaven in 1752 (Source 3). A 156 ton brig named Endeavour is listed as being registered at Whitehaven in Source 2, built at Rockliffe in 1762 by John Wood, and owned in 1840 by Anthony Bell & Co., master Capt. Thomas Collins.

SOURCES :

1. Article transcribed by Tony Dalton, maritime writer.
2. A List Of The Cumberland Shipping, Corrected To February 1840, by William Sawyers, Comptroller Of Her Majesty's Customs At The Port Of Whitehaven
3. "Shipbuilding in Whitehaven - A Checklist" by Harry Fancy, Whitehaven Museum (1984)