Cornish Shipwrecks

There are two popular misconceptions about shipwrecks in Cornwall.

The first is that most wrecks were caused by wreckers' shining misleading lights from the cliffs, in the hope of bringing vessels laden with bounty onto the rocks. This was never required, as nature, with it's strong winds, heavy seas and sharp rocks, was a deadly combination ensuring a constant stream of wrecked vessels.

The second misconception is that the wreckers' deliberately killed survivors of shipwrecks to ensure they could carry off the hapless ships' cargoes.

Though there were inevitable occasions when violence was used, far more wreckers' were have likely to have drowned than the possibility of sailors being murdered. The combination of poor wages and valuable cargoes was too much to resist, with wreckers' often taken to the same treacherous seas that had caused the original occupants to abandon ship.

Shipwrecks were, however, thought to be fair game across all sections of society with sometimes hundereds of people following a troubled ship along the coast in anticipation of a rich harvest.

This is perhaps best summed up by the localised version of the saying "it's an ill wind that blows no good to Cornwall". Hundreds, perhaps thousands of wrecks, have occurred around the Cornish coast, with the following but a small sample:

"Bay of Panama" (1891)

1526: West of Lizard:
Portuguese ship carrying silver, pearls, jewels and guns.
1619: Lizard Point:
Spanish treasure ship carrying silver bullion in the Polpear Cove area.
1639: Godrevy:
Charles 1 vessel carrying Kings garments and possessions wrecked with only a boy and a dog surviving from 60 people aboard.
1659: Whitesand Bay:
Dutch West Indian with a cargo of silver ingots wrecked off Sennen.
1748: Porthleven:
Customs officials looked on as a large mob of villagers "redistributed" the 170 tons of Bordeaux wine aboard the "Jonge Alicada" shipwrecked whilst enroute to Amsterdam.
1780: Gunwalloe:
Unnamed treasure ship carrying several tons of gold coins. Hence, Gunwalloe's alternatine name of Dollar Cove.
1807: loe Bar near Helston:
Frigate "Anson" lost in sight of shore with over 100 men drowned. Witnessing this incident was one Henry Trengrouse, who was inspired to invent the rocket firing apparatus allowing lines to be shot to ships in distress. This invention went on to save over 20,000 lives.
1843: Boscastle:
The "Jessie Logan's" cargo of cotton and wool carried off by locals from ship wrecked enroute from Calcutta to Liverpool.
1856: near Lizard Point:
Two american ships, the "Ocean Home" and "Cherubim" collided, with 77 drowned.
1889: Cape Cornwall:
Cunard Liner "Malta" wrecked, though all passengers saved by a small flotilla of ships, who went on to harvest flotsam of spirits, carpets, wine and beer.
1891: Nare Point:
"Bay of Panama" carrying jute from Calcutta, blown headlong onto rocks.
1898: Manacles:
The "Mohegan" a luxury liner, hit these infamous rocks in good weather - at full speed, sinking in just 10 minutes with the loss of 106 lives.
1911: Lizard:
"Hansy", wrecked with a cargo of timber while on passage to Melbourne from Sweden. All crew were rescued and when a salvage party landed two days later, they found two goats asleep in a seaman's bunk!
1936: St. Ives:
U.S. steamer "Bessemer City" lost with cargo of tinned salmon and fruit, said to have fed the locals for months ...

Cornish Culture