Prior's Haven, First of May
Prior's Haven, First of May
HER Number
14258
District
N Tyneside
Site Name
Prior's Haven, First of May
Place
Tynemouth
Map Sheet
NZ36NE
Class
Maritime Craft
Site Type: Broad
Sailing Vessel <By Rig>
Site Type: Specific
Snow
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Form of Evidence
Wreckage
Description
SNOW. Wrecked at Prior's Haven in December 1876. She was en route from London to the Tyne in ballast but was struck by a huge wave as she entered the river. Her steering and rigging gear were broken and she drifted into Prior's Haven. The crew were saved by the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade who fired a line to the ship. The ship was built at Monkwearmouth in 1855. She was uninsured. The figurehead of the First of May is held in the Volunteer Life Brigade Watch House at Tynemouth. Seven other ships were wrecked at the mouth of the Tyne in the same storm and 30 sailors were drowned. Built: 1855
Where Built: Monkwearmouth
Master: Robert Coulson
Crew: 8
Owner: J MacKenzie, Blyth
Where Built: Monkwearmouth
Master: Robert Coulson
Crew: 8
Owner: J MacKenzie, Blyth
Easting
437000
Northing
569000
Grid Reference
NZ437000569000
Sources
Dick Keys and Ken Smith, 1998, Black Diamonds by Sea - North-East Sailing Colliers 1780-1880, p 34; Richard and Bridget Larn 1997 Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 3. The east coast of England : Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland Section 6, County Durham (CF); Boswell Whitaker 1980 Preservation of life from shipwreck, volume 3 : Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade Page(s)49-50; National Monuments Record (1365145)