Bristol Channel Shipping Memories

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On 10th February HMS Weazle, a sloop of war, (Commander the Hon. Henry Grey) was at Appledore, Devon, waiting to go out anti-privateering along the Cornish coast. Leaving port that evening she cleared Bideford Bar only to hit severe weather conditions in the Bristol Channel. The commander decided to shelter under Baggy Point near Braunton, Devon. The weather worsened and the sloop was driven aground just short of the Point with the loss of all 106 officers and crew. A memorial service was held at Northam Church, Devon. Long stretches of both sides of the coastline are designated as Heritage Coast. These include Exmoor, Bideford Bay, the Hartland Point peninsula, Lundy Island, Glamorgan, Gower Peninsula, Carmarthenshire, South Pembrokeshire and Caldey Island.

March 10th. The barque “Henrietta!, bound for Swansea from Cuba with a cargo of copper ore, became stranded on the Mixon. The crew successfully abandoned ship and the following day the vessel was refloated and towed into port. Safely. March 6th. With a large swell running over the Mixon Shoal, the brigantine “Earl Gowrie”, bound for her home port of Waterford with a cargo of coal, was lost with all hands. October- Dutch motor cruiser “Atlas”, stranded near Lundy. Only the mate survived out of a crew of nine. January 13th. A vessel was observed stranded on the north ridge off Whitford Point. The vessel was the Cardiff brig “Albion” with a cargo of copper ore and esparto grass from Almeria. When the vessel was boarded, the galley fire was still alight and the ships cat was running around. There were no signs of the crew. Later that day the bodies of two crew members were washed up on Whitford beach and the following day a local farmer found five more bodies on Llanrhidian marsh. It appears that the crew all drowned while trying to get ashore.

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The “Richard and John” & her prize the “Bandera” from Virginia were both lost with all hands at the entrance to the river Avon. On 15th October the Swansea barque “ Ocean Beauty”, bound for Valparaiso, took shelter in Mumbles Roads in the severe storms of that day. Her cables parted, however, and she drifted across Swansea Bay onto Aberavon Sands. The Mumbles lifeboat (Wolverhampton II) was launched, but could not get close enough. The crew took to the rigging and fortunately, when the tide receded without the ship breaking up, one of the crew threw an empty oil drum overboard with a line attached. This floated toward the shore sufficiently for some pilots on the beach to haul it in, and 13 crew members were able to pull themselves to safety hand over hand. Unfortunately the master and the pilot aboard the barque were drowned when they were washed overboard.

June 28th. The destroyer “Cleveland” was being towed by the “Brynforth”, a tug belonging to the Britannia Steam Towing Co., from Cardiff to the breakers yard at Llanelli. The tow parted and the destroyer ended up at Diles Lake, a stream running onto Llangennith , near Rhossili. Numerous efforts to refloat the vessel on spring tides failed and the vessel was eventually scrapped where she lay. In May the schooner “Amelia” of Dartmouth foundered in a gale in the Channel. The crew of four were saved by the Coastguards.Hover your mouse over the webcam image and a set of controls appears in the bottom right-hand corner,a pause button bottom left.

October 31st. The Swansea trawler “Carew Castle” was returning from the fishing grounds when she entered a fog bank and ran ashore near Culver Hole, west of Porteynon Point. The vessel was badly holed and the engine room flooded. A sister vessel, the “Radnor Castle”, also returning to Swansea, stood by and with a falling tided the crew of eleven were able to walk ashore. The trawler was a total loss. the “Leverpool”, a Bristol bound vessel was run down off Worms Head by a vessel bound for Swansea. Five of her crew were drowned. The steamship “Cranstone”, Liverpool from Hamburg with lignite, had discovered the cargo to be on fire while abeam of the Isle of Wight and after many hours of fighting the fire, it was decided to run for Swansea. The vessel arrived off the Mumbles with her sides glowing from the heat and huge flames rising from the fore-hold. The tugs “Herculaneum”, “Mumbles” and “Trusty” beached the vessel and got to work extinguishing the fire. The remains of the cargo were later discharged and the vessel refloated.November 5th , the brig “Recovery” sank in a heavy gale at the Mumbles. Her cargo of coal was later recovered and the vessel refloated with the assistance of the armed brig “Endeavour”. On 14th April the brig “Wellington”, of Aberystwyth, was driven ashore in a severe gale. Mumbles lifeboat (Wolverhampton) stood by, but she the brig refloated on the rising tide and a tug took her to Swansea On either side of the Bristol Channel coastline are several significant British Heritage Coasts, namely Carmarthenshire, South Pembrokeshire, Glamorgan, Gower Peninsula, Hartland Point peninsula, Bideford Bay, and Exmoor. Situated in the Exmoor National Park are the Hangman cliffs, some of Britain’s highest cliffs. The Great Hangman is England’s highest sea cliff which rises to 318 m. The beaches on the Bristol Channel are known for their high waves. During low tides, major portions of the Bristol Channel turn into mudflats. Wildlife And Human Settlement Tenby, Wales, on Bristol Channel. October 30th, the Whitehaven brig “Hero” was driven from her anchors in a northeasterly gale. The vessel sank near Mumbles lighthouse. The vessel was successfully raised a few days later.