An elevated port bow view, taken from the cliffs, of the three-masted sailing ship Alexander Yeats (1876) aground off the east side of Gurnard's Head.

An elevated port bow view, taken from the cliffs, of the three-masted sailing ship Alexander Yeats (1876) aground in Treen Cove off the east side of Gurnard's Head. The ship has a slight list to starboard and still has some of the lower and main sails set or partially clewed-up. A small rowing boat is secured alongside the port broadside close to a wooden ladder. In the background is Carnelloe Cliffs to the east of Porthglaze Cove with Veor Cottage on the cliffs just to the right of the main topmast. Zennor Head is in the very distance.

The Alexander Yeats (1876) was wrecked on voyage from Savannah, USA to Devonport Dockyard, via Holyhead, with a cargo of deals and pitch pine on 25 September 1896. The ship went aground on the east side of Gurnard's Head, swinging broadside into the cove nearby. The cargo had shifted in a gale making the ship difficult to handle. The 19 crew were rescued using Breeches Buoy apparatus from the St Ives brigade. Much of the cargo was salvaged. The Gibsons advertised on 1 October in The Cornish Telegraph that photographs of the wreck were available for purchase from their Penzance studio.

Object Details

ID: G13989
Collection: Historic Photographs
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Gibson & Sons of Scilly
Vessels: Alexander Yeats (1876)
Date made: Late September 1896; 26-circa 30 September 1896
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Gibson's of Scilly Shipwreck Collection
Measurements: Overall: 254 mm x 304 mm
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