The Downs is a roadstead in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In August 1511, Andrew Barton, a privateer, was killed in battle on board his ship. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge in neutral English waters. From the Elizabethan era onwards, the presence of the Downs helped to make Deal one of the premier ports in England, and in the 19th century, it was equipped with its own telegraph and timeball tower to enable ships to set their marine chronometers.
Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long (16 km) sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying 6 miles (10 km) off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately 25 m (82 ft) depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geological feature that incorporates the White Cliffs of Dover. The banks lie between 0.5 m above the low water mark to around 3 m (10 ft) below low water, except for one channel that drops to around 20 m (66 ft) below. Tides and currents are constantly shifting the shoals.
The SS Cap Lopez was a 758 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1885 as Rheinland. She was sold in 1905 and renamed, and became stranded on the south Goodwin Sands on 21 December 1907.
MS Pride of Canterbury was a cross-channel ferry operated by P&O Ferries between Dover, United Kingdom and Calais, France. She made her maiden voyage on 4 January 1992 as the European pathway. She was converted in 2003 to a pure passenger vessel. She retired from service on the 10 September 2023 before a brief lay up and a departure for Alaiga to be broken up for recycling
MS Pride of Kent was a cross-channel ferry operated by P&O Ferries, it operated on the Dover to Calais route from 2003 until its retirement in June 2023. Before that, between 1992 and 2002, it had operated on the Dover to Zeebrugge route.
The SS Mount Ida was a cargo ship built in 1938 by William Hamilton & Co. Ltd of Glasgow. Launched in 1938 as Arcscott, she was renamed Mount Ida after being bought by the Atlanticos Steam Ship Company Ltd, of Athens, Greece. She was wrecked in 1939 after being in service for only about 18 months.
SS Suevic was a steamship built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line. Suevic was the fifth and last of the Jubilee-class ocean liners, built specifically to service the Liverpool-Cape Town-Sydney route, along with her sister ship Runic. In 1907 she was wrecked off the south coast of England, but in the largest rescue of its kind, all passengers and crew were saved. The ship herself was deliberately broken in two, and a new bow was attached to the salvaged stern portion. Later serving as a Norwegian whaling factory ship carrying the name Skytteren, she was scuttled off the Swedish coast in 1942 to prevent her capture by ships of Nazi Germany.
Blackpool and the Fylde coast have become a ship graveyard for a number of vessels over the years. Most of the shipwrecks occurred at or near Blackpool, whilst a few happened a little further afield but have strong connections with the Blackpool area. For this article, Blackpool means the stretch of coast from Fleetwood to Lytham St Annes.
The SS Mohegan was a steamer which sank off the coast of the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, on her second voyage. She hit The Manacles on 14 October 1898 with the loss of 106 out of 197 on board.
SS Mahratta was a Brocklebank Line steamship launched in 1917. She ran aground in the English Channel on the Goodwin Sands in October 1939. She was the second and final Brocklebank Line ship with this name. The first Mahratta suffered a similar fate in 1909. After Mahratta broke up, the ship was found to be resting on top of the first Mahratta.
Over the years, a number of ships have foundered off Southport. For the purposes of this article, the Southport area shall be considered as Southwards from Lytham St Annes to Freshfield.
Hydrabad was an iron cargo and passenger sailing ship, built in Scotland and launched in 1865. She was owned by several successive companies, and served until being wrecked off the coast of New Zealand in 1878. There were attempts to salvage her, but they all failed, and the wreck was left to deteriorate on the shoreline.
Sir Raylton Dixon, was a shipbuilding magnate from Middlesbrough on the River Tees who served as Mayor of Middlesbrough.
Alondra was an English steamer owned by Yeoward Bros. Ltd. out of Liverpool. She sank on 29 December 1916, in the North Atlantic after running aground at Kedge Rock in Baltimore, County Cork, Ireland. Seventeen men of the crew died while the remaining 23 were rescued.
The SS Luray Victory was the seventeenth Victory ship, a new 10,500 ton class ship built during World War II. The California Shipbuilding Company built the ship under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. She was launched on May 11, 1944, and completed on June 26, 1944. The ship’s United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3, hull number 17 (V-17). The SS Luray Victory served in the Pacific Ocean during World War II and was operated by the Black Diamond Steamship Company.
The SS Northeastern Victory was a cargo ship built during World War II, under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. The Northeastern Victory (MCV-735) was a type VC2-S-AP2 Victory ship built by Richmond Shipyards|Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard 2, of Richmond, California. The cargo ship was the 703rd ship built. The ship was laid down on March 28, 1945 and completed on June 30, 1945. SS Northeastern Victory was an armed cargo ship named after a Northeastern University in Boston. She was built at the Oregon Shipbuilding yards in just 96 days. The 10,600-ton ship was constructed for the Maritime Commission. The American-Hawaiian Steamship Company operated her under the United States Merchant Marine act for the War Shipping Administration.
Kingsdown Lifeboat Station was located on the shore off Wellington Parade, Kingsdown, a village situated at the north end of the White Cliffs of Dover, Kent.
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