A starboard side view of the cargo steamer Bessie (1865) submerged in Carbis Bay, St. Ives, with only masts and a small part of forecastle and bow sprit above water. The photographer was standing on the beach looking out past Carrack Gladden to the east side of St Ives Bay.

Bessie was on passage from Cardiff to Portland with a cargo of coal, when it became caught in a gale on the night of 18 November 1893. It was one of five vessels wrecked off St. Ives during the gale. The Times newspaper reported on 20 November 1893, 'Painful and exciting scenes were witnessed in St. Ives Bay, Cornwall, on Saturday, when three steamers which had taken shelter in the bay from the terrific gale were wrecked, and a fourth was also driven ashore...The captains of the Bessie and Vulture ran their steamers ashore, and, amid the cheers of excited spectators, the crews of both were saved by the coastguard and their apparatus.' The Bessie subsequently broke up.