Maritime record MWX2117 - Earl of Abergavenny

Remains of 1805 wreck of English East Indiaman which grounded and foundered 2 miles off Portland Bill while on voyage from London via Portsmouth to the East Indies with passengers and cargo.

The EARL OF ABERGAVENNY struck the Shambles off Portland Bill and stranded while seeking shelter in Portland Roads during bad weather. Later broke up and sank. (1) Vessel appears in the departure list from Portsmouth on the 1st as the ABERGAVENNY, Wadsworth, for Bengal and China. (6) The EARL OF ABERGAVENNY formed part of a convoy which assembled in Portsmouth in the last week of January 1805, consisting of four other East Indiamen, the ROYAL GEORGE, HENRY ADDINGTON, WEXFORD and the BOMBAY CASTLE along with two whalers. The escort was the 44 gun frigate HMS WEYMOUTH. After delays caused by weather and collision the convoy finally departed at 2 o'clock on the 2nd February. (10) 05-FEB-1805 Part of a convoy of five English East Indiamen, escorted by the frigate HMS WEYMOUTH. Having called at St. Helens, Isle of Wight, to pick up troops, the ABERGAVENNY proceeded alone for Portland, where she was due to pick up the other vessels and proceed to the Far East. Although she carried a pilot, she struck the Shambles, south- east of Portland Bill. Leaking badly, she ran for the shelter of Weymouth Bay, firing cannon as distress signals, a total of 20 in all. By 6pm the leak had intensified, and the pumps were unable to keep down the level. One of the ships boats was lowered, and the purser, with the ships papers, dispatches, and urgent requests for help, rowed into Weymouth. The ship sank in 65 feet of water so that only her three masts showed above the surface. Heavy loss of life followed. The value of her cargo was 200,000 [sterling], of which 70,000 [sterling] was in silver coin, all of which was recovered by John Braithwaite and his sons. The bottom of the ship still survives. (2)(3) (20) `The EARL OF ABERGAVENNEY [sic], Wardsworth, from London to Bengal and China, struck on the Shambles, near Weymouth, on Tuesday, and is sunk in about 12 fathom water; the captain, first mate, and about 300 people drowned. (4) 5 February, EARL OF ABERGAVENNY, East Indiaman. On Friday 1 February, the EARL OF ABERGAVENNY, an East Indiaman, sailed from Portsmouth in company with the ROYAL GEORGE, HENRY ADDINGTON, WEXFORD, and BOMBAY CASTLE, under convoy of the WEYMOUTH frigate, and all destined for the East Indies. However, immediately after sailing, the ships ran into foul weather, and after floundering about for four days, on the morning of the 5th, at 10am, the Commodore made a signal to bear up for Portland Roads, they then being 10 leagues to the westward of Portland. The story is now taken up by Mr John Clark, 5th mate of the EARL OF ABERGAVENNY. `We bore up accordingly; at this time having the main topgallant mast struck, fore and mizzen ditto on deck, jib-boom in, and the wind about west-south-west. At 3pm got a pilot on board, being about 2 leagues to the westward of Portland; ranged and bitted both cables. At about half-past 3 called all hands and got out the jib-boom at 4 o'clock. While crossing the east end of the Shambles [about 3 miles east of Portland] the wind suddenly died away, and a strong tide setting the ship to the westward, drifted her into the breakers; and a sea striking her on the larboard quarter, broached her to with her head to the northward, when she instantly struck, it being about 5 o'clock; let out all reefs, and hoisted the topsails up, in hopes to shoot the ship across the Shambles. The wind shifting to the northward, the surf driving us off, and the tide setting us on alternately, sometimes having 4 and a half, at others 9 fathoms. Continued in this situation till 7 o’clock; at half past 7 she got off. During the time she was on the Shambles, had from 3 to 4 feet water, pumps constantly going. Finding she gained on the pumps, it was determined to run her to the nearest shore. At 8 o'clock the wind shifted to the eastward. The leak continuing to gain upon us, having 10 or 11 feet water, found it expedient to bail at the fore scuttle and hatchway. The helm being hard a starboard, the ship would not bear up, she being waterlogged; but still had a hope we could keep her up till we got her on Weymouth sands; cut the lashing of the boats, could not get the longboat out without laying the main topsail back, by which our progress would have been so retarded, that little hope would have been left us of running her aground; and there being several sloops in sight, one having sent a skiff. One of the ship's boats and the purser Mr Steward were sent ashore in the cutter with the ships papers and dispatches and to obtain assistance. The crew continued pumping and bailing until 11 o'clock, when she went down. The last heave of the lead was in 11 fathoms. The tops of all the masts were above water, when at 2 o'clock in the morning boats came and rescued about 70 people from the wreck. The ships cargo, estimated to be worth about 200,000 [sterling], was made up of porcelain, together with 70,000 [sterling] in specie; and on board were upwards of 400 persons, as follows: seamen etc., 160; troops (Kings and East India Company's), 159; passengers at the captains table, 40; passengers at the third mates table, 14; Chinese, 32. The number of persons saved totalled between 90 and 100, so that those who perished with the ship exceeded 300. (5) 06-FEB-1805 During the night she had settled deeper into the seabed on an even keel but the ships top masts and shrouds could be seen above the water a mile and a half out to sea. (10) Salvage/Survey History: Cargo was salvaged by Enoch Tonkin in 1806 using his diving apparatus. Date of loss given as 06-FEB-1806. (1) 20-MAR-1805 Dragging operations were being undertaken near the wreck and John Wordsworth's body was recovered. (10) 24-APR-1805 During a strong SE gale in Weymouth Bay part of the submerged deck was broken up by the waves and articles from the wreck along with 30 bodies were washed up on the beach. (10) During the summer minor objects from the wreck were recovered.(10) 18-MAY-1806 `Weymouth. Last night was landed at the Custom House, the last chest of dollars from the wreck of the ABERGAVENNY, which completed the 62 chests recovered by Mr Braithwaite, who with much ingenuity has succeeded. The total value was 70,000 [sterling]. He is now going to proceed immediately on the cargo. (5) (20) 11-OCT-1807 `Weymouth. Almost the whole of the valuable property of the ABERGAVENNY has been recovered from the wreck, near the Race of Portland. Thirty pipes of wine have also been weighed from her during the course of the late summer. (5) 1812 `ABERGAVENNY has since been blown up, under water, so as to prevent the wreck from forming a dangerous shoal. (5) 19-JAN-1960 Position 50 36.00N 002 24.43W thought to be the wreck of the EARL OF ABERGAVENNY, which foundered 2 miles off Portland Bill. (1) 1979 In 1979 an investigation was carried out by Ed Cummings of Chelmsford. By 1982 many small finds had been recovered but a major part of the ships hull still lay buried under the soft silts. (8)(9). 04-OCT-1986 Co-ordinates 37 11 38E, 78 15 4N. Least echo sounder depth 16.3 in general depth 17.1M. No scour. Chelmsford Archaeological Group divers report that 140 feet of keel has been uncovered and highest point is no more than 1 foot 14-OCT-1988 Position 50 36.06.5 002 24.428.5W, least estimated depth 16.3m in a general depth of 17.1m, no scour. Chelmsford Archaeological Group of divers report that 140 feet of keel has been uncovered and that the highest point is no more than 1 foot above the seabed.(1) 1997: The 1997 Duke of Edinburgh Prize for the British Sub Aqua Club was won by the Earl of Abergavenny Survey Team. Excavation of the ship was judged to have followed the best in scientific tradition, Several thousand artefacts including ceramics and human skeletal remains have been recovered and a detailed sire plan produced. All the items have been conserved and brought together in one collection by a charitable trust. (12) The finds are in numerous museums including the Deep Sea Adventure Shipwreck Museum in Weymouth. Work on the site, N 50 36.15, 002 24.95W still carries on even though it is not protected. (8)(9) Illustrations of the EARL OF ABERGAVENNY, her loss, and a sketch map by a survivor illustrating her final route as well as photographs of salvaged items are included in this volume. (10) Programme 2 of the Wreck Detectives series was broadcast on Channel 4 on 20th April 2003, taking the EARL OF ABERGAVENNY as its theme. She was described as an East Indiaman of 1400 tons, 50 metres long, with 400 passengers, of whom over 250 lost their lives; her cargo included, iron, tin, copper, lead and military stores. Ed Cumming took part and his main question after diving on the site for 22 years was: how and why did the ship founder so suddenly after grounding on the Shambles? Only 50% of the site has been uncovered up to now as it is very heavily silted; the main area remaining is 10 x 50m of wreckage. Where did the answer lie? Captain Wordsworth was an efficient seaman who would not have put the lives of his crew and passengers at risk by attempting to refloat the vessel if he had thought she was seriously damaged. He would have considered it feasible to refloat the vessel and attempt Weymouth harbour or the shore nearby, only a few miles away. Greed was not, therefore, a motivation, although he had himself invested £20,000 in the voyage. A clue might lie in the fact that a contemporary engineer had commented that iron knees, which were then just coming into use in ships, were structurally unsound, not good British iron. A contemporary naval architect, Thomas Nichols, stated that iron knees spread less surface and were less elastic than oak but use of iron was a necessity in the Napoleonic era when oak was in great demand. The Shambles themselves are composed of shingle, predominantly sand and shell, so grounding thereon should not have caused a major breach of the hull. However, two hours aground, buffeted by the wind and waves, would have put immense strain on the knees. If they were structurally unsound this might have led to the disintegration of the hull. The team therefore searched for iron knees among the wreckage for testing. A large knee was found but this was initially thought too large to retrieve. Another, smaller, knee, which was 300kg, was lifted and had an old fracture, thought to have been on or shortly after the impact of the vessels grounding on the Shambles. This knee was heavily concreted. When the knee was sent for analysis in Oxford no obvious defects were found in the composition of the iron. Other theories were then considered, such as the fact that the ship was so heavily laden, particularly with metals and bullion. This would at the very least have placed extra stresses on her frame when aground. However, removal of the concretion also revealed broken copper bolts in a fractured state, thought to have occurred on impact. time although they did not have the chemical language to describe the process accurately. Essentially the combination of copper and iron in sea water sets off a process of electrolysis, accelerating the corrosion of iron, which in turn causes the bolts to work loose and therefore weaken the joints of the ship. Had this combination of iron knees and copper bolts been used throughout, the grounding on the Shambles would have been the last straw and resulted in the disintegration of the hull. The team therefore looked at other knees. A similar knee to the one raised was found and the concretion chipped away in situ to reveal an iron bolt. A copper bolt was found elsewhere in an iron fitting but this fitting was partially buried so was not identifiable. It was then decided to raise the knee that was found initially; this was discovered to weigh 600 kg. A copper bolt was found; from the size and curved structure of the knee and its location among the wreckage it was established that the knee was below the waterline of the vessel, where the corrosive damage would have had serious implications. It was concluded that as some bolts were correctly made of iron the use of copper bolts was probably on an ad hoc basis but this was likely to have been the cause of loss. With the pressure on the supplies of oak during the Revolutionary Napoleonic period, just at the time the vessel was built, it was thought that this was the reason for the use of both iron knees and such bolts as were available at the time. The ABERGAVENNY was not known to have undergone a major refit, so the copper bolts probably dated from the time of her building 8 years previously and this was probably an accident waiting to happen. Items shown on the programme included cufflinks initialled JW and thought to have been the personal property of John Wordsworth [also illustrated in (10)], a Portuguese brass piece which served as a form of international currency (as most of the coins on board were recovered by the salvor it is thought this was a piece of personal property); toothbrushes for sale to expatriates in the East Indies, and bones of food animals and of dogs of a size consistent with hunting dogs, probably also for export to the colonies. (13) Narratives giving an account of the loss and of the survivors may be read on this site. (14) [Some of this material is used in source (10)] A poem was written by William Wordsworth to commemorate his dead brother, Captain John Wordsworth. (15) [Partly quoted in source (10)] Also on board was a cousin, Joseph Wordsworth, who was the third mate and who survived the wreck. (5)(10)(17) A list of passengers and their fates can be seen on this site. (16) A list of crew and their fates can be seen on this site. (17) 6 copper finger ingots, and a bone lice comb recovered from this wreck off Weymouth Harbour. (Droit A/1739) (7a) A bronze ingot and 12 gun flints recovered from this wreck, position 50 36.15N 002 24.95W. (Droit A/2284) (7b). 5 musket flints recovered from this wreck, Portland Harbour. (Droit A/2417) (7c) Copper nails, a muzzle butt plate, copper roves, coins, bronze nails, a wax palette, pencils and a quill pen, a sail makers palm, buckles, a horn pot, a bronze tap and a silver item among the objects recovered from this wreck. (Droit A/2676) (7d) A large number of artefacts recovered from this wreck. (Droit A/3406) (7e) 21 x copper bars, 52 x gun flints (D it A/3961) (7f) 11 copper bar ingots recovered from this wreck off Dorset. (Droit A/4006) (7g) Copper hull sheathing and 2 large copper bolts recovered from this wreck (Weymouth Museum). (Droit A/4388) (7h) Various musket/pistol flints, 6 animal bones, a limestone block, 2 lamps, 7 bottle fragments, 4 musket shot, a 1lb cannon shot, 2 copper ingots, 2 lead ingots, 6 brass items, a pottery sherd, a hull pin etc. recovered from this wreck off Weymouth. (Droit A/4471) (7i) Conflicting details from sources: Built: 1789 (3); 1797 (13) Builder: Pitcher (3) Where Built: Gravesend (3) Master: John Wordsworth (3)(5); Wardsworth (4); Wadsworth (6) On Board: 400 (5) [392 accounted for] Crew: 160 (3) Passengers: 222 (3); 400 (13) Passengers Lost: 250+ (13) Lives Lost: 234 (3); c.302 (4) over 300 (5) Owner: English East India Company (all sources). A presumed description of the Braithwaite salvage operations on the vessel is given in an 1806 edition of the Hereford Journal. (18) A full account of the wreck and associated investigations is presented in a CD. (19) Gross tonnage

Record last edited

Jan 18 2010 12:23PM