Shipwrecks off the Essex Coast
The Essex Coast is situated on busy shipping routes to the ports of Harwich, Felixstowe, Tilbury and the Port of London.
The southern half of the coast with the estuaries of the Blackwater, Crouch and Thames is dominated by sandbanks with comparatively narrow channels that need to be navigated by shipping.
Whist modern navigational aids mean that nowadays commercial shipping is rarely involved in wrecks, during the 1700's and 1800's wrecks were common on the Ray, Buxey, Barrow, Sunk, Gunfleet and Foulness Sands.
1935 OS map showing the sandbanks that caused so many wrecks
There are many stories of heroism with local seamen taking small craft out in dangerous weather to effect rescues and even more stories of wreckers who braved similar conditions to strip a wreck as it was breaking up or to keep it afloat and then claim salvage fees
The Coastguard concentrated its efforts more on catching smugglers than preserving life at sea and RNLI stations at Clacton on Sea and Southend on Sea were not opened in 1878 and 1879 respectively.
Approximate figures for officially records wrecks are listed below
|
River Blackwater
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1
|
|
River Crouch
|
2
|
|
Barrow Sands
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12
|
|
Buxey Sands
|
15
|
|
Dengie Flats
|
1
|
|
Foulness Sands
|
13
|
|
Gunfleet Sands
|
133
|
|
Maplin Sands
|
26
|
|
Ray Sands
|
1
|
|
Sunk Sands
|
7
|
Many more vessels ran aground but were floated off on the high tide.
Wartime Losses
Four vessels were lost to mines in World War One although many more were lost off Harwich.
8 vessels were lost during World War Two to a mix of mine and aircraft action.
Royal Involvement
Albert, Duke of Edinburgh was involved in two wrecks on the Essex Coast on the same day , 15 November 1822, in one case he was judged a hero but in the other a villain.
for the full story
Five vessels lost in one night
One of the worst nights was 12 the December 1849 when 6 vessels foundered.
The wind was blowing strongly from the east and there was a strong rip tide. The night was described as exceedingly thick, dark and rainy.
Five of the vessels were laden with coal from Newcastle for London and the sixth was a foreign vessel that was following the line of ships.
The first vessel misjudged the location of the Whitaker Channel and ran into the Gunfleet Sands each of the following ships made the same mistake and were all stranded within a few yards of each other.
A cutter called HMS Scout commanded by Captain Saxby heard of their grounding and sailed to the scene rescuing all of the men.
One of the coasters was towed off and was able to resume it's journey. Anther was freed but filled with water and sunk shortly afterwards.
The survivors were taken to Harwich and put into the care of the Harwich Shipwreck society although this aid was quickly refused due to a dispute over payment for care of survivors from a previous wreck from Newcastle.
A local subscription raised money for the subscribers from local people and they were transferred to London Docks for more care.
Records exist of the crew for four of the wrecked vessels
Schooner William
Henry Clother ( Master) ,William Roberts (Mate) , George Dane, William, Culter and William Chapman
Brig Rapid
William Steinkop (Master) , John Thaw ( Mate) , William Hindson, James Wilson , Alex Wright, Alex Wishart
Brig Endeavour
John Cook ( Master) , Thomas Bank ( mate) , Stephen Coates, Thomas Noakes, Charles Chibberton, George Mutton, John Sanderson
Brig Beta
John Johnson ( Master) , John Dodds ( mate) , George Nesbitt , George Martin, William Wallis, John Codling , Jethro Hughes
All Crew Lost
A typical wreck was Sailing Vessel 'Thomas Willis' who was en route from Hamburg to London.
The Master misjudged the Whitaker Channel, running into the Sunk Sand which is one of the outermost sandbanks.
Although local seaman were able to salvage part of the cargo there were unable to save any of the crew who were all presumed drowned.
Like so many wrecks where all perished, we will never know the reason for the wreck.
Weather conditions were satisfactory so the cause is probably a simple error in navigation's that was a frequent cause of shipwrecks.
Further Research
There are quite a few books on Shipwrecks on the Eastern Coast.
The shipwreck index of the British Isles vol 3 by Richard and Bridget Larn records over 600 shipwrecks off the Essex Coast is the best.
