Starboard stern view of the Benwick (1889) aground on rocks at Porthgwarra.

A starboard stern view of the cargo ship Benwick (1889) aground almost parallel to the cliffs near Porthgwarra, Cornwall. The tide is out leaving the after part of the ship exposed. The ship is heeling to starboard. The photograph was taken from the foreshore among the rocks looking at the ship with waves breaking over boulders in the middle-foreground.

The Benwick was on passage in ballast from Antwerp to Swansea when it struck the Runnel Stone rock, just south of Gwennap Head. The crew abandoned the ship to drift and slowly sink, ending up off the cliffs near Porthgwarra [some records state Porthcurno]. The ship went to pieces on 23 February 1903.

Object Details

ID: G14074
Collection: Historic Photographs
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Gibson & Sons of Scilly
Vessels: Benwick (1889)
Date made: 4 February 1903
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Gibson's of Scilly Shipwreck Collection
Measurements: Overall: 254 mm x 304 mm
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