A starboard bow view of the cargo steamer Ely Rise (1877), along the inside of the pier at St. Mary's Isles of Scilly. Two men are standing on the forecastle. The port anchor has been lowered to the waterline. The bow has decoration detail either side of the stempost. Moored behind the ship is the Independence Company salvage vessel Recovery, which had been sent to assist with raising the ship after it hit the Hats in Crow Sounds. Portrait photograph.

On 23 October 1878, the Ely Rise (1877) was on passage from Cardiff for Savannah and ran into Crow Sounds, Scilly. Before a pilot could get on board the ship ran onto the Hats and lay in four fathoms of water on a smooth sandy bottom midway between Hats and Crow Bar [The Standard, 25 October 1878]. The ship was refloated with assistance from the Independence Company salvage ship Recovery and taken into St. Mary's. There was also a charge of wrecking, in this case stealing about £200 of goods and furniture from the ship, against one of the pilots of St. Martin, James Nance [The Times, 20 November 1878].