List of shipwrecks in 1885

The list of shipwrecks in 1885 includes some of the ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during 1885.

table of contents

1885
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
May	Jun	Jul	Aug
Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

January

3 January

List of shipwrecks: 3 January 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Mary Celeste	United States	The brigantine was deliberately wrecked on the Rochelois Bank, off Gonâve Island, Haiti.

8 January

List of shipwrecks: 8 January 1885

Ship	Country	Description
René	France	The barque struck the Helwick Bank, in the Bristol Channel and subsequently drove ashore at Overton, Glamorgan, United Kingdom with the loss of four of her nine crew. She was on a voyage from Cardiff, Glamorgan to Arcachon, Gironde.[1]

15 January

List of shipwrecks: 15 January 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Admiral Moorsom	United Kingdom	Collided with the Santa Clara and sank off the Arklow coast.

25 January

List of shipwrecks: 25 January 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Elise	Belgium	Ran aground at Killard Point, Ballyhornan, Ireland and wrecked.[2]

February

1 February

List of shipwrecks: 1 February 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Petrellen	Norway	The Porsgrunn barquentine, in ballast, beached near Chyandour, Mount's Bay, Cornwall. The previous day the new Penzance lifeboat Dora on her first "shout" took the crew off and she was left riding her anchor at Long Rock.[3][4][5]

March

5 March

List of shipwrecks: 5 March 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Tonquin	France	The Tonquin, formerly the Inman liner City of Paris of 1865 and chartered to the French Government as a troop transport, sank off Malaga, Spain after colliding with another French steamer. The master and 23 of the crew were drowned.[6][7]

13 March

List of shipwrecks: 13 March 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Kate	Isle of Man	The fishing lugger Kate, registered in Peel, and owned by John Tear and others, left Peel on the evening of 12 March heading to Kinsale to fish there, but sometime during the night was run down by the steamer Caledonian ( United Kingdom some miles west of the Calf of Man. The crew of the Kate were Scotchmen, the majority of them being from Skye and unable to speak English. It appears that the Caledonian was bound for Silloth in Cumbria. The force of the collision was so great that the lugger sank in a few minutes, carrying down with her four of the crew. The remainder were picked up by the Caledonian and landed at Silloth. [8]

April

17 April

List of shipwrecks: 17 April 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Ransome	United Kingdom	The 85 ton steamer hit the Low Lee rocks off Mousehole, Cornwall. With pumps working on full she sank just a few metres short of Penzance harbour, her captain's home town. Within six days bad weather had destroyed the wreck.[4]

23 April

List of shipwrecks: 23 April 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Charles George	United Kingdom	The 193 ton brigantine was hit by the 2,983 ton P&O liner Cathay ( United Kingdom) at 2:50 am Thursday morning off Beachy Head, ]East Sussex. She sank within four minutes with the loss of her captain William Thomas Odell and his son William Penn Odell all of Newport, Isle of Wight. In addition, Henry Woodford of Newport, Ernest Adams of Newport and a passenger, John Kearley also of Newport were drowned. Three men were rescued; Fred Churchill of Sandown swam to Cathay and was picked up, James Wallace of Cowes and Henry Jennings of Landport were rescued by boats from Cathay. The Charles George was owned by the Captain's brother, Charles Odell.[9]

May

8 May

List of shipwrecks: 8 May 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Helvetia	Belgium	Sank near Scatarie Island, Canada.[2]

June

8 June

List of shipwrecks: 8 June 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Earl of Lonsdale	United Kingdom	The Newcastle ship was carrying cotton seed from Alexandria to Portishead and was wrecked in Smith Sound, off the Troy Town maze, St Agnes in thick fog.[10][11] The master had thought his ship was to the west of, and ten miles south of the Bishop Rock.[12]

July

22 July

List of shipwrecks: 22 July 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Unidentified		The yawl Zephyr launched to the aid of a stranded schooner on the Lower Barber Sand by the crew of the Caister Lifeboat resulting in the loss of eight out of the fifteen crew.

23 July

List of shipwrecks: 23 July 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Corisco	United Kingdom	The Elder Dempster 1,856 grt cargo/passenger ship was wrecked at the River Cess entrance, Liberia.[13]

September

29 September

List of shipwrecks: 29 September 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Elizabeth Graham	United Kingdom	The London barque grounded on the Seven Stones Reef, between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and later refloated.[12]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Sweepstakes	Canada	Sank at Big Tub Harbour, Tobermory, Ontario following damage sustained at Cove Island in August 1885.[14]

November

7 November

List of shipwrecks: 7 November 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Algoma	Canada	The wreck of Algoma Wrecked off Isle Royale, United States with the loss of forty-six lives.[15]

December

17 December

List of shipwrecks: 17 December 1885

Ship	Country	Description
Sussex	United Kingdom	The cargo ship struck Seal Rock in the Isles of Scilly, near the Maiden Bower after being caught in heavy fog, while travelling at normal cruising speed. The crew escaped and she broke up during the night of 4–5 January in heavy seas.[12]

30 December

List of shipwrecks: 30 December 1885

Ship	Country	Description
		a local cutter capsized off Yellow Ledges in the Isles of Scilly with the loss of one life, while on its way to the steamer Sussex ( United Kingdom), which struck Seal Rock on 17 December.

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1885

Ship	Country	Description
J.W.J.	United Kingdom	The pilot vessel was run down and sunk in the Bristol Channel by Sea Fisher ( United Kingdom). Her four crew were rescued by Sea Fisher.[1]
Red Jacket	Portugal	Driven ashore at the Madeira Islands in a gale.[16]

References

1. Tovey, Ron. "A Chronology of Bristol Channel Shipwrecks" (PDF). Swansea Docks. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
2. "Belgian Merchant A-G" (PDF). Belgische Koopvaardij. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
3. Leonard, Alan (2008). "Profiting from Shipwrecks". Picture Postcard Annual: 14–16.
4. Larn, R. and Larn, B. (1991) Shipwrecks around Mounts Bay. Penryn: Tor Mark Press.
5. Corin, J and Farr, G (1983) Penlee Lifeboat. Penzance: The Penlee and Penzance Branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
6. Gibbs, C. R. Vernon (1957). Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean: A Record of Atlantic Steam and Motor Passenger Vessels from 1838 to the Present Day. John De Graff.
7. "Fatal Collision at Sea". Manchester Times (1443) (Manchester). 7 March 1885. p. 5.
8. Isle of Man Examiner, Saturday March 21 1885, page 5
9. "Charles George". Clyde Built Ships database.
10. Noall, Cyril (1968). Cornish Lights and Ship-Wrecks. Truro: D Bradford Barton.
11. Ratcliffe, J (1989). The Archaeology of Scilly. Truro: Cornwall Archaeological Unit.
12. Larn, Richard (1992). The Shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly. Nairn: Thomas & Lochar. ISBN 0-946537-84-4.
13. "Loss of SS Corisco". Retrieved 4 September 2013.
14. Reilly, Jill (28 March 2014). "World's most beautiful shipwreck: Haunting hull of Sweepstakes lies just TWENTY FEET below clear blue water of Ontario lake where it sank in 1885". Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
15. "Algoma Shipwreck". Superior Shipwrecks. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
16. Bruzelius, Lars (2001-02-23). "Sailing Ships: Red Jacket (1853)". Red Jacket. The Maritime History Virtual Archives. Retrieved April 19, 2010.

Ship events in 1885
Ship launches:	1880	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890
Ship commissionings:	1880	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890
Ship decommissionings:	1880	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890
Shipwrecks:	1880	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890