Schooner – DCC: 16/08/1885 – Cargo COAL. Captain T. Stuart (LARN) & (Farr: p42) The whole crew were saved by the Rocket Apparatus. – Chesil Cove See also Times
DCC:16/08/1885 (Transcription by K. V. Saunders). “The SAPPHIRE schooner, of Newcastle, Captain Stewart, was wrecked on Wednesday afternoon in Chesil Cove. She left Newcastle on the 26th of July with coals for Dublin, and experienced heavy weather soon after leaving. On Wednesday afternoon, while the vessel was off Portland, owing to a very heavy gale blowing S.W. by W., she was embayed in the West Bay. The captain used every endeavour for several hours to get away, but finding it would be impossible to do so determined to beach the ship during daylight, and at once ran into the Cove at Chesil. The vessel had been anxiously watched from the shore, and, as it was generally thought she must be wrecked, the Coastguard, with their rocket apparatus, were in waiting to rescue the crew as soon as ever the vessel struck. The first rocket fired landed the line onto the vessel, and within a very short time the whole of the crew, six in all, were safely brought on shore in the cradle. The captain was the last man to leave the ship, and just as he left the masts fell with a terrific crash, the vessel heeled over, and, exposing her deck to the heavy seas, soon became a total wreck. The shipwrecked men only escaped with their lives. They were most kindly cared for at Portland, and later were brought to the Sailor’s Home at Weymouth, where they were relieved and afterwards sent to their respective homes by the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, of which Mr. Damon is the honorary agent at Weymouth.”
Times: Friday, August 10, 1883, Issue 30895 – “a telegram from Weymouth states that the Sapphire, schooner, from Newcastle for Dublin, with coals, was wrecked at 7 p.m. Aug. 8 at Chesil Cove, Portland. Her crew were saved by the Rocket Apparatus. Ship Incident
Day of Loss: 8
Month of Loss: 8
Year of Loss: 1883
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