The Ardente is reported to have stranded in Weymouth Bay in 1914. (1)
It is very rare for a lifeboat to be photographed carrying out a rescue, the conditions are, understandably, usually against it. This makes this picture of the Weymouth lifeboat Friern Watch rescuing the crew of the French schooner Ardente particularly interesting. On the 11th December 1914 the Ardente dragged her anchors in Weymouth Bay. The lifeboat tried to get a line onboard so a tug could tow her to safety, but this proved impossible. The lifeboat then rowed close into the French vessel and managed to get the five crew members off just before she struck.(2)
The building date for this vessel is an estimate based on an average age at wrecking of twenty years. This average is derived from those vessels wrecked on the Dorset coast whose age at wrecking is known.
Salvaged
Sources/Archives (5)
--- SWX1056
Monograph: Farr, Grahame. 1971. Wreck and rescue on the Dorset coast.
--- SWX7302
Article in serial: Boddy, M. 1975b. Dorset Shipwrecks part 2.
--- SWX7989
Monograph: Larn, R. 1996. Shipwrecks of the Devon Coast. .
<1> SWX8707
Digital archive: Le Pard, G. 1995-2003. Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database.
<5> SDO16406
Monograph: Cumming, E. The Dorset shipwreck and maritime incident directory. 10.
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
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Location
Grid reference
SY 70 80 (point) Estimated from sources
Map sheet
SY78SW
Protected Status/Designation
None recorded
Other Statuses/References
Legacy UID: Dorset Sites and Monuments Record: 9 000 1058
Record last edited
Dec 2 2019 11:39AM
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