A distant stern view of the wrecked cargo steamer Umbre (1898) with the salvage ship Hermes of the London Salvage Association off its port side. Three small boats are off the starboard side of the Umbre. In the middle foreground, on the left, a man sits on the top of a large rock formation looking out at the wreck and salvage ship. The photographer was standing on the top of Greeb Point, near Morvah, and his shadow and that of his camera on a tripod can be seen on the bottom right of the image.

The Umbre was on voyage from Liverpool to Amsterdam and Rotterdam when it encountered a gale that resulted in the ship going ashore at Greeb Point on 20 February 1899. The Umbre had struck amidships at low water and tore a large hole in the hold so that within 10 minutes the upper decks were awash. The crew launched two lifeboats and survived. The Hermes arrived at St Ives on 22 February but due to the weather could not get alongside the ship until a few days later. By 11 March 1899 the rudder and stern post had gone and the bridge taken clean away by the sea.