The general cargo ship Cragoswald (1899) down by the bows in Mount's Bay

A starboard broadside view of the general cargo steam screw ship Cragoswald (1899) semi-submerged by the bows in Mount's Bay. The bow is mostly underwater and the stern has lifted slightly. The salvage vessel Greencastle (1884) is alongside, just aft the bridge and funnel. The photographer was at sea in a boat looking inland to coast behind the ship.

A copy negative from an original print. The glass side has masking fluid on it to enhance the clouds, the shoreline behind the ship, and the waves in the foreground.

The Cragoswald was on passage from Barry to Venice with a cargo of coal when it became stranded on the Low Lee Rock, Mount's Bay on 29 April 1911. According to The Times article, dated 13 April 1911, reporting on the results of the Inquiry, the captain had decided to put into Penzance as the chief engineer was seriously ill. He had misjudged the tide and current leading to the misidentification of the Low Lee Rock buoy on the west side as the Mount-a-Mopus buoy on the east side of Mount's Bay. The ship was refloated after the cargo had been jettisoned.

Object Details

ID: G14135
Collection: Historic Photographs
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Gibson & Sons of Scilly
Vessels: Cragoswald (1899); Greencastle (1884)
Date made: Circa 29 April to early May 1911
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Gibson's of Scilly Shipwreck Collection
Measurements: Overall: 10 in x 12 in