.jpg)
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Royal Charter (ship)
Royal Charter was a steam clipper which was wrecked off the beach of Porth Helaeth in Dulas Bay on the northeast coast of Anglesey, Wales on 26 October 1859. About 450 people died, the highest death toll of any shipwreck on the Welsh coast. The precise number of dead is uncertain as the complete passenger list was lost in the wreck, although an incomplete list (not including those who boarded just before departure) is retained in the Victorian Archives Centre in Victoria, Australia. The Royal Charter was the most prominent among about 200 ships wrecked by the Royal Charter Storm.
The Royal Charter was built at the Sandycroft Ironworks on the River Dee and was launched in 1855. She was a new type of ship, a 2,719-ton iron-hulled steam clipper, built in the same way as a clipper ship but with auxiliary coal-fired steam engines which could be used in the absence of suitable winds. The Royal Charter had three clipper masts and a single funnel.
The ship was used on the route from Liverpool to Australia, mainly as a passenger ship although there was room for some cargo. There was room for up to 600 passengers, with luxury accommodation in the first class.
The Royal Charter's maiden voyage was from Liverpool to Melbourne. The voyage was made in 52 days beating the previous record by 13 days.
In late October 1859 Royal Charter was returning to Liverpool from Melbourne. Her complement of about 371 passengers, with a crew of about 112 and some other company employees, included many gold miners, some of whom had struck it rich at the diggings in Australia and were carrying large sums of gold about their persons. A consignment of 79,000 ounces of gold bullion was loaded onto the ship. As she reached the north-western tip of Anglesey on 25 October the barometer reading was dropping and it was claimed later by some passengers,[who?] though not confirmed, that the master, Captain Thomas Taylor, was advised to put into Holyhead harbour for shelter. However, he decided to continue on to Liverpool.
Off Point Lynas Royal Charter tried to pick up the Liverpool pilot, but the wind had now risen to Storm force 10 on the Beaufort scale and the rapidly rising sea made this impossible. During the night of 25/26 October the wind rose to Hurricane force 12 on the Beaufort Scale in what became known as the "Royal Charter Storm".
As the wind rose its direction changed from east to northeast and then north northeast, driving the ship towards the northeast coast of Anglesey. At 11 pm she anchored, but at 1.30 am on the 26th the port anchor chain snapped, followed by the starboard chain an hour later. Despite cutting the masts to reduce the drag of the wind, Royal Charter was driven inshore, with the steam engines unable to make headway against the gale.
The ship initially grounded on a sandbank, but in the early morning of the 26th the rising tide drove her on to the rocks at a point just north of Moelfre at Porth Helaeth on the north coast of Anglesey. Battered against the rocks by huge waves whipped up by winds of over 100 mph (160 km/h), she quickly broke up.
Hub AI
Royal Charter (ship) AI simulator
(@Royal Charter (ship)_simulator)
Royal Charter (ship)
Royal Charter was a steam clipper which was wrecked off the beach of Porth Helaeth in Dulas Bay on the northeast coast of Anglesey, Wales on 26 October 1859. About 450 people died, the highest death toll of any shipwreck on the Welsh coast. The precise number of dead is uncertain as the complete passenger list was lost in the wreck, although an incomplete list (not including those who boarded just before departure) is retained in the Victorian Archives Centre in Victoria, Australia. The Royal Charter was the most prominent among about 200 ships wrecked by the Royal Charter Storm.
The Royal Charter was built at the Sandycroft Ironworks on the River Dee and was launched in 1855. She was a new type of ship, a 2,719-ton iron-hulled steam clipper, built in the same way as a clipper ship but with auxiliary coal-fired steam engines which could be used in the absence of suitable winds. The Royal Charter had three clipper masts and a single funnel.
The ship was used on the route from Liverpool to Australia, mainly as a passenger ship although there was room for some cargo. There was room for up to 600 passengers, with luxury accommodation in the first class.
The Royal Charter's maiden voyage was from Liverpool to Melbourne. The voyage was made in 52 days beating the previous record by 13 days.
In late October 1859 Royal Charter was returning to Liverpool from Melbourne. Her complement of about 371 passengers, with a crew of about 112 and some other company employees, included many gold miners, some of whom had struck it rich at the diggings in Australia and were carrying large sums of gold about their persons. A consignment of 79,000 ounces of gold bullion was loaded onto the ship. As she reached the north-western tip of Anglesey on 25 October the barometer reading was dropping and it was claimed later by some passengers,[who?] though not confirmed, that the master, Captain Thomas Taylor, was advised to put into Holyhead harbour for shelter. However, he decided to continue on to Liverpool.
Off Point Lynas Royal Charter tried to pick up the Liverpool pilot, but the wind had now risen to Storm force 10 on the Beaufort scale and the rapidly rising sea made this impossible. During the night of 25/26 October the wind rose to Hurricane force 12 on the Beaufort Scale in what became known as the "Royal Charter Storm".
As the wind rose its direction changed from east to northeast and then north northeast, driving the ship towards the northeast coast of Anglesey. At 11 pm she anchored, but at 1.30 am on the 26th the port anchor chain snapped, followed by the starboard chain an hour later. Despite cutting the masts to reduce the drag of the wind, Royal Charter was driven inshore, with the steam engines unable to make headway against the gale.
The ship initially grounded on a sandbank, but in the early morning of the 26th the rising tide drove her on to the rocks at a point just north of Moelfre at Porth Helaeth on the north coast of Anglesey. Battered against the rocks by huge waves whipped up by winds of over 100 mph (160 km/h), she quickly broke up.