A view from the cliff tops looking down at a port stern view of the French steel three-masted ship Socoa (1901) aground off Kildown Point, near Cadgwith, Cornwall. The tide has dropped sufficiently for five boats to get safely alongside the port side. Some of the sails have been partially furled, while others are still set. A man is standing on the foremast lower yard near end above the partially lowered lower foresail, which G14201 shows lowered half-way to the deck. The negative has been manipulated with graphite pencil on the emulsion side to enhance the cloud shapes and the sea state. The swirling effect comes from the way the silver-mirroring effect matches the way the negative was originally cleaned.

The French owned steel sailing ship was on passage from Stettin to San Francisco with a cargo of cement for the city's rebuilding. Socoa became stranded near Cadgwith during thick weather on 1 August 1906 but was refloated after 50,000 barrels of cement were jettisoned over the side and beached in Cadgwith Cove on 26 August 1906 [The Times, 28 August 1906]. The ship was then towed to Falmouth by four steamers with pumps keeping it afloat, arriving 31 August 1906 [The Times, 1 September 1906].