The wreck of the general cargo ship William Cory (1909) below Boscaswell Cliffs, near Pendeen Watch.

A distant port bow view of the semi-submerged general cargo steamer William Cory (1909) below the Boscaswell Cliffs near Pendeen Watch. The tide is high enough to cover the bow up to bridge and the foredeck cargo of timbers is floating in a tide line off the port side between the bow and the cliffs. The photographer was standing on the top of Boscaswell Cliffs looking northeast to the lighthouse on Pendeen Watch in the very distance.

This is a glass copy negative of an original print.

The William Cory was on passage from Oulu, Finland, bound for Newport, Wales, with a cargo of timber pit props. On 5 September 1910 the ship was steaming in fog when it struck outlying rocks off Bottallack Head, putting a hole in the forward hull. The captain looked to beach the ship but could only find cliffs. The ship was grounded on rocks below the cliffs at Boscaswell, near Pendeen Watch. The crew took to the boats but had trouble getting ashore as the deck cargo was floating in the seas. The ship was written off and the cargo of pit props was purchased by the Levant Mine nearby.

Object Details

ID: G14175
Collection: Historic Photographs
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Gibson & Sons of Scilly
Vessels: William Cory (1909) [also Wm Cory]
Date made: After 5 September 1910
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Gibson's of Scilly Shipwreck Collection
Measurements: Overall: 10 in x 12 in