Until the advent of commercial flying in the 1930s, Jersey relied exclusively on the sea for its links with the outside world, and the volume of maritime traffic over the years, coupled with the difficulty of navigating the rock-strewn waters around the Channel Islands, inevitably resulted in a large number of shipwrecks, including disastrous events in which many lives were lost.
Statistics
An index to reference material contained in the Lord Coutanche Library of La Société Jersiaise includes 44 headings, but this represents just a fraction of the number on record. A website being developed by Jersey historian Doug Ford indicates that almanacs published by Jersey newspapers from 1836 to 1882 show that there were 533 Jersey registered vessels lost at sea during just these 46 years.
Three-masted
- 23 ships
- 36 barques
- 1 schooner
- A total of 60
Two-masted
- 71 brigs
- 72 schooner brigs
- 8 brigantines
- 161 schooners
- 8 dandys
- 5 ketches
- A total of 325
Single masted
- 145 cutters
Miscellaneous
- 2 steamers
- 1 unclassified
Major shipwrecks
Stella
On 30 March 1899 the London and South-West Region passenger steamer Stella hit the Casquets rocks off Alderney and sank with loss of 105 lives. A further 112 were saved, including 23 crew. The disaster has become known as the Channel Islands' 'Titanic', but it could have been much worse, because the ship had a capacity of over 700 passengers.
Hilda
The Hilda, which had operated Channel Island routes before the Stella, sailed from Southampton for St Malo late on 17 November 1905 under the command of Captain William Gregory. She had 103 passengers and 28 crew on board. After negotiating Channel Island waters successfully she struck rocks outside St Malo the following night while attempting to enter the harbour in a snowstorm and heavy seas. There were only six survivors.
Roebuck
The Roebuck struck rocks in St Brelade's Bay in thick fog on 19 July 1911. The sea was so calm that there were no casualties, and the vessel was eventually refloated and brought to St Helier Harbour.
Express
The wreck of the Express off Corbiere on 20 September 1859 was captured in a painting by Jersey's foremost artist of the day, Philip Ouless
Fanny Breslauer
The Fanny Breslauer was a brigantine owned by the Jersey cod business Robin, Collas and Company in Canada. She was abandoned in the Atlantic when trying to make it back to Jersey after the death of her master and other crew members in a storm off Halifax. What remained of her crew were rescued by another vessel, which later found the Fanny Breslauer and took her in tow back to Milford Haven. She eventually returned to Jersey and sailed again on the North Atlantic route to Gaspé.
Polka and Superb
While standing in for the Superb on the Jersey to St Malo service on 15 September 1850 the tug Polka became swamped and sank off the Minquiers, with all passengers and crew safely landed and then rescued. Two days later the Superb was back in service under the same captain and when the captain was persuaded to show the passengers the place where the Polka came to grief, the Superb hit rocks, and this time 20 passengers lost their lives and those who survived spent 24 hours on the Minquiers rocks.
Cuckoo
The Cuckoo struck rocks outside St Helier Harbour on 15 May 1850 while ferrying new garrison troops from a larger vessel.
Caesarea I
The first of three vessels to bear the name Caesarea sank off Cap de la Hague in 1884 after colliding with the Stratesk. One passenger died.
Gallery
Click on any image to see a larger version
The Amelia, wrecked in 1856
The Arnold Maersk sank after going aground on the Grune aux Dardes on 22 May 1943. Built in 1914, the ship was owned by the Maersk Line and, from 1940-41 by the Vichy Government of France
Today's Arnold Maersk - contrast this ship with the previous vessel of the same name
ss Atala on rocks in 1925
Islanders flock to see Atala stranded on the beach
Shipwreck of an earlier Caesarea in 1923
Caesarea aground off Elizabeth Castle in 1923
The Caesarea wrecked in 1923
The Express wreck at La Corbiere
The wreck of the Express by Ouless - 1859
ss Fairway hit the pierhead in 1897
Fanny Breslauer
Wreck of the GDT
The Wreck of the GDT in 1885
Hanna, 1949
The wreck of the Resolute
St Malo beached after hitting rocks at La Corbière in 1995
St Malo beached after hitting rocks at La Corbière in 1995
St Malo back in St Helier Harbour
St Malo beached after hitting rocks at La Corbière in 1995
St Malo beached in St Aubin's bay on 18 April 1995
Tugs manoeuvre the stricken St Malo off the rocks
The wreck of the Superb on the Minquiers
Superb
The wreck of the St Patrick in 1932
Minesweeper M343, sunk off Jersey in 1944
Atala
Atala
USS Summer, 1917
HMS Cuckoo
Crew of the Havre rescued
Constantia on the Casquets in 1967
HMS Charybdis, wrecked in World War Two
Artist's impression of the loss of HMS Victory in 1744
1915 newspaper report of the sinking of Welsh Girl
1810 report on the wreck of the Success
An 1863 newspaper report of the loss of Prince of the Seas. The vessel, a 380-ton barque, was built in Sunderland eight years earlier and was owned by John de Caen, of Jersey. Skippered by Capt Le Gresley, the vessel was en route from London to Algoa on 17 April when it sank 12 miles west of Cap Recife. The captain and three crew members were saved but the mate and six other crewmen drowned. It is unclear which Capt Le Gresley was involved. Eleven are listed as Jersey sea captains in John Jean's definitive work Jersey Sailing Ships, but none of them are associated with the loss of Prince of the Seas
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Further reading
Shipwrecks of the Channel Islands, John Ovenden and David Sayer
