A cross channel paddle steamer, drove ashore on the eastern part of the South Goodwin Sands in a gale. She would have carried more passengers but they all left except one before she sailed due to the bad weather. The mail was thrown overboard and later recovered and the following day, a passing ship described the wreck as almost buried in the sands, only her paddle boxes showing at low water. The steam tug AID with the Ramsgate lifeboat in tow went out at 3am but after searching up and down found nothing of the wreck owing to the dark and driving snow. They returned at daybreak to discover part of a mast sticking out of the sand but found nothing of the crew and were about to leave when they found a single life-buoy with three dead bodies lashed to it. These were buried at Ramsgate. The VIOLET had left Ostend at 11pm the previous night, going ashore at 2am. Year Built: 1843 Engine HP: 128 Propulsion: 2 cylinder compound engine Owner: Royal Dover Steam Packet Co. Master: Lynes Crew: 18 Crew Lost: 18 Passengers: 1 Passengers Lost: 1 Date of Loss Qualifier: A Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index. MGM. p178-9; GSS. Larn.R. 1976 p102; DOD.1969 p742-3; BOT.Wk.Rtn. 1851-62 Summary

<1> United Kingdom shipwreck index, Page Nos. N/a (Bibliographic reference). SKE6340.