SS Drummond Castle

The SS Drummond Castle was a steamship built in 1881 by John Elder & Co. of Govan, Glasgow, Scotland, for D. Currie & Co. and later operated by the Castle Mail Packet Company. The ship sank on 16 June 1896 off Ushant.

Drummond Castle
History
NameSS Drummond Castle (1883-1895)
Operator
BuilderJohn Elder & Co., Govan, Glasgow, Scotland
Yard number246
Launched17 February 1881
FateRan aground and sank 16 June 1896
General characteristics
Tonnage3,706 gross register tons
Length365 ft (111 m)
Beam43.5 ft (13.3 m)
Draught31.3 ft (9.5 m)

Sinking

The Drummond Castle departed Cape Town, South Africa, on 28 May 1896 for London via Delagoa Bay, Natal and Las Palmas, with 143 passengers and 102 crew.[1] On 16 June the Drummond Castle was off Ushant, the sea was calm but foggy.[2]

The safe passage past Ushant is to the north, but for an unknown reason the Drummond Castle sailed between Ushant and Molène.[3] Around 23:00 the Drummond Castle struck rocks at the south entrance to the Fronveur Sound, within four minutes the ship had sunk.[4]

Two crew were rescued by Breton fishermen; one passenger managed to reach Molène.[3] The other 242 crew and passengers were drowned.[1] The main cargo was 1,943 bales of wool, skins, hides and horns, weighing 450 tons; the rest was 250 tons of coal.[1]

A Board of Trade wreck inquiry was held in July 1896 in Westminster.[1] The inquiry concluded that the loss was due to "careless or unskillful navigation".[5]

References
  1. "Wreck Inquiry." Times [London, England] 14 July 1896: 13. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
  2. "Wreck Inquiry." Times [London, England] 15 July 1896: 15. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
  3. "Struck on a Sunken Reef". The Times (Philadelphia). 19 June 1896. p. 9. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  4. "Wreck Of A Castle Liner." Times [London, England] 18 June 1896: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
  5. "The inquiry ordered by the Board of Trade into." Times [London, England] 28 July 1896: 11. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.

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