A middle distant starboard bow view of the wooden sailing barque Cviet (1870) aground on Porthleven beach with waves crashing against the broadside.

A middle distant starboard bow view of the Austrian wooden sailing barque Cviet (1870) taken from the top of the beach, aground on Porthleven beach. Waves are breaking around the port bow and broadside, throwing spray into the air. The cliffs curve from the left of the image into the background behind the wreck.

The Cviet was bound from St. Domingo to Falmouth for orders with a cargo of about 600 tons of logwood. On 26 January 1884 the ship was caught in hurricane force winds that blew most of her sails. Cviet was driven ashore on Porthleven beach broadside to the waves. Rocket lines were fired to reach the crew, but eventually a fisherman swam through the surf and threw a line. The captain and one of the crew were washed overboard and drowned. The rest of the crew were saved. The rigging was taken down on 27 January at low water and the salvage operations continued under the direction of the Receiver of Wreck. [Royal Cornwall Gazette, 1 February 1884]

Object Details

ID: G14353
Collection: Historic Photographs
Type: Glass plate negative
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Gibson & Sons of Scilly
Date made: 26 January 1884
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Gibson's of Scilly Shipwreck Collection
Measurements: Overall: 6 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in