Shipwrecks

Shipping has always been significant in the Wash subject to the limitations of the ports. Prior to the railways being developed it was the primary mover of produce such as grain or coal. The industrial age saw greater and greater volumes of coal transported by shipping. There was a major issue throughout the nineteenth century with overloading of ships with much loss of life. Many of these ships with much loss of life. Many of these ships were owned by Members of Parliament, so in 1873 the M.P. Samuel Plimsol was highly unpopular with some of his colleagues when he published a book entitled “Our Seamen”. As a result1 of this book it drew attention to the dangers of ‘coffin ships’, many of them colliers from the north east of England. These ships were highly insured in case of sinking, but minimum consideration was being given to the safety of the sailors crewing these ships. In 1875 the government issued a shipping bill to establish load lines on ships to prevent overloading. There was much opposition to this from industry, not least M.P.’s with ‘skin in the game’. It came to a head when the Prime Minister in July 1875 announced the bill would be dropped. Plimsol lost his temper, called his fellow Parliamentarians “villans”  and shook his fist in the Speaker’s face. Popular feeling encouraged by the press eventually forced the government to pass the Merchant Shipping Act in 1876 and this gave the Board of Trade powers to establish a load mark on the side of ships that became known as the Plimsol line.

As a result the end of the nineteenth century saw a reduction of mercantile shipwrecks along the east coast of Britain. Overloading did still happen, but insurers now had a reason not to pay out if overloads were proven and there was an increased financial risk to ship owners.

In storms the Wash could provide shelter, but equally the sand banks and great tidal changes could increase such danger. Added to this were the dangers experienced by fishing boats both within and outside the Wash.

October 12^th 1824 saw a tremendous storm which saw loss of ships and boats from North Shields all the way down to Dover. Eleven ships docked in and around Kings Lynn received damage. In the Humber the fishing boat Iris from Freiston Shore was forced from her mooring and driven against the side of a Royal Naval gun-brig called the Protector. The risk of sinking was so great that the crew jumped from their boat onto the Protectorfor shelter where the naval crew took care of them until they could recover their fishing boat once the storm had passed.

September 4^th 1833 a storm hit the Wash causing great damage to shipping over three days. Two Dutch coal-laden galliots were driven ashore on Marsh Chapel. The pilot boat Wellington belonging to the port of Boston was driven off her moorings and lost on Holbeach Marsh without hope of recovery. Also driven onto Holbeach Marsh having left Boston for London laden with wheat The Mary Ann Bee, but she was subsequently saved. Because of the time of year, after harvest, several ships from Boston laden with corn for both Newcastle and London were driven ashore along the east coast.

In this storm it is clear that some of the shipping was in poor condition. One such ship was the Swift from the port of London that was in a leaky state made worse by the storm. She struck shore near Wainfleet, but sadly the crew could not make use of a line thrown to them in the heavy seas before the ship disintegrated and all eight sailors were drowned. At Skegness eight sailors were saved from the collier The Harmony before it sank in the storm. So many boats were caught in the storm that “the shore was completely strewed with bodies, and shoes, boats and other articles of dress.” Thus we have a grim picture of the mortality in shipping in the Wash and along the east coast.