Maritime record MWX1976 - Dorothea 1914

Dutch cargo vessel stranded on Chesil Beach, 14 February 1914.

This Dutch steamship drove ashore in a gale following a breakdown of her engine. The salvage steamer LYONS was sent to attempt to refloat her, but failed. N.B. There is some confusion as to whether this vessel was saved or not. LCR states that she was a total wreck, whereas `Shipwrecks: Abbotsbury - Portland suggests she was refloated that November. (1) Magnetite on Chesil Beach, Evidence of a Ships Stranding in 1914 ...the range of material that makes up the beach is now generally well-known. For this reason the discovery of magnetite was something of a surprise. Magnetite, or lodestone, is a valuable ore of iron...However, the mineral does not occur naturally in Dorset or Devon, the main sources of the Chesil Beach pebbles. The magnetite was found on Chesil Beach, roughly opposite Chester's Hill at SY 578832, by David Harvey, who reported that: The tide was low and the pebbles were easily found just over a kilometre from the end of the Fleet Lagoon, south- east of the Dragons Teeth...The pebbles are mostly present in the wet lower part of the beach. There is also black magnetite sand...Larger isolated magnetite pebbles occur higher up, but do not seem to be present at the top of the beach. (David Harvey, pers. comm.) If the magnetite did not reach the beach naturally, it must have been brought by somebody, and a shipwreck seems the most likely source. The initial search of the Maritime Archaeological Record identified no obvious candidates, because although over 150 ships are recorded as having been wrecked along Chesil Beach, none are known to have carried iron ore...However, when the records of ships stranded on Chesil Beach were searched a possible candidate was found in the DOROTHEA... The steamship DOROTHEA was a large coaster carrying iron ore from Spain to Holland. During the night of 14/15 February 1914 she was driven onto Chesil Beach between Abbotsbury and Langton Herring. Mrs George of Fleet House recorded the event and its aftermath in her diary: Sat 14th Feb: Another tempestuous night and we heard signals and saw flares up towards Abbotsbury about 10.30. Sun 15th Feb: Gilbert sailed up to Abbotsbury to see the wreck - she is fast on the beach. Fortunately all the crew were saved. Thurs. 5th March: There is a tug trying to get the steamer off the beach today. Wed 11th March: A salvage company is attempting to get the stranded steamer off but weather prevents. Sat 14th March: The steamer on the beach is breaking up - the salvage company has made some ineffectual efforts to get her off. [`Extracts from Mrs George's Diary - Fleet House 1914 in 20 Years of Contact 1976-1996] The DOROTHEA did not break up and eventually, after considerable trouble, she was salvaged. William Read remembered how: The vessel was after a time launched broadside down the beach, a clever piece of work carried out by a firm from Great Yarmouth...She was towed to safety, balloted and put on an even keel, then towed to a dock, repaired, and eventually sold for a good figure. [`In the Days of the Paddlers (memories of William Read of Weymouth, Dorset B k 1969 70] The probability is that the magnetite derived from the DOROTHEA. The location of the stranding and the scatter of magnetite is apparently the same, between Abbotsbury and Langton Herring. The vessel would certainly have been lightened to enable her to be refloated... (2) The Dutch vessel Dorothea, was driven ashore on Chesil Beach on the night of the 14th February 1914, the crew all survived and were cared for by a local farmer who can be seen posing in front of the wreck. She lay on top of the beach for eight months, during which time she was sold twice, before being refloated in October. The salvage operation was very complex. First, the cargo of iron ore was off loaded, then the Lyon, a salvage vessel tried to tow her but she was too firmly embedded in the shingle. After this failure a different approach was tried, a wooden launching ramp was built and the Dorothea was launched sideways back into Lyme Bay, the Lyon pulling her down that ramp. The following year the Dorothea struck a mine in the North Sea and sank, again without loss of life. Eighty years after her stranding, a geologist studying the pebbles on Chesil Beach found pieces of magnetite, a very rich iron ore. There was no way this could have reached the beach naturally, and from its location, was almost certainly part of the cargo of the Dorothea. (5) Built: 1873 (1) Propulsion: Screw-driven, 3-cylinder triple expansion engine (1) Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: LCR 1914 p7(g); DDS p50; Shipwrecks: Abbotsbury - Portland p15 tonnage gross Salvaged

Record last edited

Mar 16 2020 11:27AM