Maritime record TR 35 SE 246 - Dolphin

Summary

BRITISH MERCHANT PADDLE STEAMER, 1885

Location

Grid reference TR 3807 5011 (point) NLO
Map sheet TR35SE
District DOVER, KENT

Map

Type and Period (2)

Full Description

Built: 1855 (4)
Where Built: London
Propulsion: Paddle driven, 2 cylinder compound engine
Master: J Elwood
Crew: 23
Crew Lost: 4
Passengers: 16 (3); 13/14 (2)
Passengers Lost: 4
Lives Lost: 8 (3); 5 (2)
Owner: General Steam and Navigation Co. (4)

`Carrying a cargo of 2-300 casks of sherry and a general cargo, left the Thames at 5.30pm on Thursday. All went well until she passed the Gull light vessel at 1.15am, when Amos Seldon, the chief mate on watch, with seaman William Hamilton at the wheel, now feared drowned, was proceeding at full speed with all lights burning, the night very dark with drizzle. A masthead light was seen at 1.25am but could not be identified as a steamer, one point on the starboard bow, about one mile distant. The DOLPHIN starboarded her helm to open the distance between them, but the other vessel, the 1,700 ton SS BRENDA, of West Hartlepool, changed course and came straight for them. It struck the DOLPHIN on the starboard quarter, making a large hole, and she settled down quickly by the stern, sinking 0.75 miles offshore. Her bridge, which floated clean away, became a raft for a passenger named Whyman. The Kingsdown lifeboat went to the wreck and recovered the survivors.' (1)(3)

`...the BRENDA turned the same way and struck the DOLPHIN's starboard quarter, tearing a large hole in her hull about 30ft from her stern...The steamer finally sank some three-quarters of a mile offshore, leaving four feet of mast above the surface.' (2)

The DOLPHIN was en route from Dover to Le Havre when she and the BRENDA collided. She was towed into shallow water where she sank. She had been nearly cut in two. Only her hull shows above the seabed. She faces north-west in 7.6 metres of water.

Source 4 states that there were 25 passengers and crew aboard and that 4 passengers and 1 member of crew were lost.

Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index:
BOT.Wk.Rtn.1885 Appx.C Table 1 p143(621); KCT.20.09.1885(R); LR.1883-4 No.299(D)

A porthole recovered from this wreck, position 51 11.49N 001 25.26E. (Droit A/2313)


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

<2> Goodwin Sands Shipwrecks (Monograph). SKE6709.

<3> Larn, Richard and Bridget, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 2 : Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent (Mainland), Kent (Downs), Goodwin Sands, Thames (Bibliographic reference). SKE31910.

<4> McDonald, K., 1994, Dive Kent (Monograph). SWX9309.

Sources/Archives (4)

  • <1> Bibliographic reference: United Kingdom shipwreck index. Page Nos. N/a.
  • <2> Monograph: Goodwin Sands Shipwrecks.
  • <3> Bibliographic reference: Larn, Richard and Bridget. 1995. Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 2 : Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent (Mainland), Kent (Downs), Goodwin Sands, Thames.
  • <4> Monograph: McDonald, K.. 1994. Dive Kent.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (0)

Record last edited

May 16 2024 3:23PM