The sailing ship Cromdale (1891) breaking up off Bass Point

An elevated port bow view, taken from the cliffs, of the three-masted sailing ship Cromdale (1891) semi-submerged on the rocks at Bass Point below the Lloyd's Signal Station, just south-east of Lizard, Cornwall. The main mast has disappeared and the mizzen topmast has broken and is hanging by its rigging. The foremast is still standing. A wave is breaking on the ship just forward of the mizzen mast and water is cascading from the forecastle deck. The spray of the previous wave can be seen on the left of the image where the wave has broken against the rocks.

The Cromdale was sailing from Chile to Falmouth with a cargo of nitrates when it ran into the rocks below the Signal Station at Bass Point in dense fog. The crew took to the ship's lifeboats. The lifeboats from Lizard and Cadgwith put crew on board to rescue personal belongings but were removed as the ship was settling in the water. The wreck broke up on 30 May 1913.

Object Details

ID: G14059
Collection: Historic Photographs
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Gibson & Sons of Scilly
Vessels: Cromdale (1891)
Date made: 30 May 1913
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Gibson's of Scilly Shipwreck Collection
Measurements: Overall: 254 mm x 304 mm