List of shipwrecks in 1894

The list of shipwrecks in 1894 includes some ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during the year 1894.

According to the American newspapers of 1894, the winter and spring storms of December 1893 to April 1894 proved to be one of the most disastrous for the United States of America, particularly the Cape Cod area since 1860.^[1] The eastern seaboard of the continent had already faced a fierce hurricane season in 1893 when over 2,000 lives where lost.

January

Unknown date

• Firth of Cromarty ( United Kingdom): Full rigged ship grounded in St Margaret's Bay with the loss of two lives.^[2][3]

February

2 February

• Kearsarge ( United States Navy): Ran aground at Roncador Cay, Colombia and was wrecked.

12 February

• Huntcliff ( United Kingdom) : The tramp steamer was beached at Blackpool, Lancashire. All crew safe.
• Maurice & Marguerite ( Belgium) : The schooner foundered on a voyage between Antwerp and Buenos Aires, Argentina.^[4]

24 February

• Aarhus ( Germany): Sank off Cape Moreton, Australia.

March

13 March

• De Ruyter ( Belgium): Passed Lizard Point bound for Boston, United States. No further trace.^[5]

22 March

• Glenravil Miner ( United Kingdom):The schooner was driven ashore and wrecked at Overton, Glamorgan. Her three crew were rescued.^[6]

April

12 April

• S A Rudolph ( United States): Three masted schooner loaded with ice blocks bound for Ocean City, Maryland from Boothbay, Maine. Captained by John P Burns of Camden, New Jersey. The ship was caught in a sudden gale on the night of Thursday, April 12 and floundered on the shoals of Cape Cod. The fractured hull of the ship washed up north of Nauset Beach.^[7] All six crew members perished including Captain Burns and his brothers on board the vessel.

• Jennie M Carter ( United States): Three masted schooner carrying paving stones bound for New York Bay. The ship was first damaged on April 10, 1894, ship owner and captain Wesley T Ober decided that he could pilot the crippled ship and dock safely, denying aid. However, they were overtaken by the storm of April 12. The survivors attempted to abandon the schooner in a lifeboat but did not reach land. The ship, meanwhile, had been driven by the storm onto Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts.^[8]

By April 15th, the crew was declared deceased after thorough searching. It is thought that the crew may have survived had they kept to the interior of the ship with the cargo. Three bodies and an overcoat belonging to the first mate were recovered; the lifeboat was recovered near Plum Island. Folklore dictates that the ship’s cat was the only survivor.

The story of the shipwrecks from April 12th and the previous weeks sparked national interest and thousands gathered to see the wreck of the Jennie M Carter.^[9] The paving stones were removed and sold at auction; some were used in Salisbury. The ship remains were considered unsalvageable and left to disintegrate on the beach where it became a well-known site. Some of the wooden frame could still be seen in 2013.

July

5 July

• Valkyrie II ( United Kingdom): Collided with yacht Santanita ( United Kingdom) and sank.

30 July

• Nicosia ( Canada): The barque ran aground and was wrecked on the south coast of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia. Her eighteen crew survived. She was on a voyage from Dublin, United Kingdom to Saint John, New Brunswick.^[10]

August

26 August

• Gertrude ( United Kingdom): The ship was driven ashore and wrecked at Chesil Beach, Dorset.^[11]

September

3 September

• Matchless ( United Kingdom): Capsized in Morecambe Bay with loss of 25 lives

17 September

• Chih Yuen () Beiyang Fleet): Sunk during the Battle of the Yalu River.
• Ching Yuen () Beiyang Fleet): Sunk during the Battle of the Yalu River.
• King Yuen () Beiyang Fleet): Sunk during the Battle of the Yalu River.
• Laiyuan () Beiyang Fleet): Sunk during the Battle of the Yalu River.

27 September

• Dorunda ( United Kingdom): Struck rocks off the Burlings Lighthouse, Portugal and was beached.^[12]

October

1 October

• Allegheny ( United Kingdom): Collided with tanker Caucase ( Belgium) in the Delaware River and sank. Later raised, repaired and returned to service.^[5]

24 October

• Vennerne ( Norway):The barque was driven ashore at Worms Head, Glamorgan, United Kingdom and was wrecked. All ten people on booard survived.^[6]

• Wairarapa ( New Zealand): Sailing between Auckland, New Zealand and Australia came to a tragic end when it hit a reef at the northern edge of Great Barrier Island, about 100 kilometres (54 nmi) out from Auckland, and sank. The loss of about 140 people remains one of the largest such loss in New Zealand's history.

December

22 December

• Abana ( Norway): The barque was wrecked at Blackpool, all seventeen crew and a dog saved.
• Petrel ( United Kingdom): The fishing boat was driven ashore at Blackpool.
• Stanley ( Norway):The schooner was wrecked at Borbjerg.^[5]

References

See also

Ship events in 1894
Ship launches:	1889	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
Ship commissionings:	1889	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
Ship decommissionings:	1889	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
Shipwrecks:	1889	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899

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