How to research a wrecked ship
Examples
I am told that an ancestor was lost on the Otranto
during the First World War. Where and when was it
wrecked? First, check in the references books listed on this website
by Hocking and Larn: both have brief details of
the Otranto being wrecked on Islay, Scotland in 1918.
If it is a small vessel, or outside the time or geographical frame
of these books, you will need to know approximately when it was
lost, ideally to the year or better. To find how to do this, see
the Records and Registers
section of this website. When you know the approximate date, it is
a matter of checking the various casualty reports for the period. Where can I discover how many ships Alfred Holt`s Blue
Funnel Line lost? The bi-annual volumes of Lloyd`s
Confidential Index, published since 1886, list the ships a
company lost in the previous decade. There are also many histories
of shipping companies, published as books or in journals, which
usually give full details of the ships and their fates. Most
well-known companies have been covered in this way, including
Alfred Holt`s Blue Funnel Line. An ancestor of mine was on the Royal
Charter; what happened to him when it was lost? Sadly, the sources listed on this site rarely concerned
themselves with the names of crew or passengers who were lost in a
given shipwreck, although they usually noted how many of the crew
were lost. If your ancestor was a crew member, the Crew Agreement
for the period or voyage may indicate whether or not he survived.
Those for the Royal Charter , wrecked in 1859, will
be in the Public Record Office [address].
Unfortunately, there is no similar source of information on
passengers. The most likely sources are contemporary accounts in
newspapers, local ones for minor wrecks and national ones for major
disasters. How many of the ships which my grandfather served on or
commanded were lost? There`s no short cut to this. You have to find which ships he
served on (from his discharge book [ definition]) and
then check their careers and fates individually. If they are not in
the reference books listed in this section you will have to find
them in Lloyd`s Register
of Ships or the Mercantile Navy List and then go through subsequent
volumes to see when it drops out because the ship was lost.
The Registers and Records
section of this site will explain more about doing this. I`ve been diving on a wreck off Devon. How can I find
the name of the ship? First refer to the appropriate volume of Shipwreck
Index of the British Isles by Richard and Bridget Larn. Whilst
not infallible, this lists all known wrecks around the UK and
Ireland and may help to identify the wreck. Also, a number of books
have been published, often by divers, listing wrecks in a given
area. A local library may well have copies or you could find them
in bookshops How can I find out what happened when the Clan
Keith was wrecked in 1961? Most of the sources listed on this site will tell you little
more than when and where the ship was lost, and the type of
accident - whether it foundered or sank in a collision. Remember
that they were more concerned with reporting what happened than why
it happened. If there is an official Board of Trade inquiry (there
was with the Clan Keith) this will have examined
evidence from the surviving members of the crew, and the report
will give you the information. See the Investigations
section for more details and where copies can be found. What cargo was the Politician carrying
when it was wrecked and who owns the cargo now? Most casualty reports give a general indication of the
cargo, such as coal, stone or general, and usually nothing more.
For details of the general cargo of the Politician
(which included Scotch whisky - the wreck was the basis of Compton
Mackenzie`s book and film `Whisky Galore you will have to contact
the Salvage Association [address]. This
organisation acts for the people who insured the ship and its
cargo, and may have appropriate records. However, they may charge a
fee, and may reserve the right not to give out information. What efforts were made to rescue the crew when a certain
ship was lost? Reports of casualties sometimes specify whether the crew were
rescued but often give few details. Local newspapers may well
describe what would be a major local event but these reports may
well have been secondhand and need to be treated with caution. The
report of an official Inquiry may also help. Try also the records
of the local RNLI lifeboat station; they usually proudly display
details of the rescues in which the local lifeboat has taken
part. What salvage attempts were made on a given
shipwreck? The shipping newspaper Lloyd`s List sometimes
printed details of salvage attempts. However, these usually relied
on the salvor [ definition] passing on
information. Often, he just got on with the job. The Salvage
Association [address] may
also have records.
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