There have been many shipwrecks around the Cornish coast (hundreds, maybe even thousands) and these are just a selection of them. As I am from Helston, most of the wrecks are around the West Cornwall coast.
The biggest and most well-known wreck on Loe Bar was HMS Anson (a frigate), which was wrecked in 1807 with the loss of 120 crew. A cannon from the frigate can be found outside Helston's Museum. The ship was in sight of the shore when she went down and Henry Trengrouse saw the disaster occur. He spent the rest of his life designing the rocket life-saving apparatus, which saved over 20,000 lives.
Another famous wreck was the four-masted square-rigger Bay of Panama. She was wrecked in March 1891 when she was caught in a storm near Porthallow (Nare Point). Unfortunately, she was not found until morning and most of the crew were drowned. However, some were rescued by the St. Keverne coastguards. Sometimes the outline of the hull can still be seen.
A ship named Hansy was wrecked at The Lizard in 1911. She was carrying timber between Sweden and Melbourne. All of the crew were rescued and a couple of days later, two goats were found asleep on a bunk!
The Manacles (off-shore rocks east of St. Keverne) were the sight of many wrecks. One of the worst was that of the 7,000 ton luxury liner Mohegan. She hit them on 14th October 1898 at full speed, and in good weather. She sank in ten minutes. Forty-four people were rescued by the Porthoustock lifeboat (out of 157).
The SS Nivelle ran aground off The Lizard on 10th June 1923. Twenty crew were rescued by the Lizard lifeboat. The ship may have been refloated at some stage and not actually become a wreck.
The Ocean Home and the Cherubim (two American ships), collided near The Lizard Point in 1856.
On the 21st May 1899, the liner Paris ran aground on Lowlands Point in the mist. All of the crew and passengers were rescued. The Paris re-entered service as the Philadelphia and was again stuck in the fog on the east coast of Cornwall in 1914!
The SS Tripolitania ran aground at Loe Bar on Boxing Day 1912. This steamer could not make any headway against a fierce gale and was grounded. Attempts to refloat her were continued for nearly two years, but were unsuccessful. She was broken up there on the Bar.
An unnamed treasure ship, which was carrying several tons of gold was wrecked at Gunwalloe in 1780. Because of this, Gunwalloe is also sometimes known as Dollar Cove!
Click here for a map of the shipwreck positions.
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