Title
Suevic, Wrecked at the Lizard, March 1907
Subject
Liner
Passengers
Shipwreck
Wreck
Description
The Suevic was homeward bound from Australia, carried a crew of 141, plus 382 passengers, and one stowaway; her cargo was general, and included frozen meats, butter, and copper bars.
She was on her way to Liverpool via Plymouth when an error of navigation and bad visibility combined to put her ashore on the Maenheere rocks.
Two days after she went ashore, a railway company steamer arrived alongside to disembark the passengers, luggage, and was followed later by every available lighter and coaster in the West Country. On March 20th, in calm conditions, unloading of the cargo into the smaller vessels began and was completed exactly one hour before the weather deteriorated on March 27th.
Divers inspected the hull, but the Suevic was so badly damaged in the forepart that explosives were used to detach the bow section from the remainder. The after portion, containing all the valuable machinery, boilers, and passenger accommodation, then floated free and virtually undamaged, was towed to Southampton and dry docked. A new bow section was built at Belfast, then towed to Southampton where the two ends were malted and the Suevic was re-born to sail again. So confident of success were the owners that they advertised her next sailing for January 14th 1908, while the bow section was still on the stocks at Belfast.
During the First World War the Suevic served as a troopship, and in 1929 she was sold to a Norwegian whaling company. Re-named the Skyttern, she survived as a whale factory ship until April 1st 1942 when her crew deliberately scuttled her in the Skagerrak rather than let her fall into German Hands.
Description from Richard Larn and Clive, Cornish Shipwreck: The South Coast (Newton Abbot: David & Carter, 1971), p.127.
She was on her way to Liverpool via Plymouth when an error of navigation and bad visibility combined to put her ashore on the Maenheere rocks.
Two days after she went ashore, a railway company steamer arrived alongside to disembark the passengers, luggage, and was followed later by every available lighter and coaster in the West Country. On March 20th, in calm conditions, unloading of the cargo into the smaller vessels began and was completed exactly one hour before the weather deteriorated on March 27th.
Divers inspected the hull, but the Suevic was so badly damaged in the forepart that explosives were used to detach the bow section from the remainder. The after portion, containing all the valuable machinery, boilers, and passenger accommodation, then floated free and virtually undamaged, was towed to Southampton and dry docked. A new bow section was built at Belfast, then towed to Southampton where the two ends were malted and the Suevic was re-born to sail again. So confident of success were the owners that they advertised her next sailing for January 14th 1908, while the bow section was still on the stocks at Belfast.
During the First World War the Suevic served as a troopship, and in 1929 she was sold to a Norwegian whaling company. Re-named the Skyttern, she survived as a whale factory ship until April 1st 1942 when her crew deliberately scuttled her in the Skagerrak rather than let her fall into German Hands.
Description from Richard Larn and Clive, Cornish Shipwreck: The South Coast (Newton Abbot: David & Carter, 1971), p.127.
Date
1907-03-17
Rights
Morrab Library
Format
Print
Identifier
COLLINS.191A
Coverage
The Lizard, Cornwall