View of James Town and the Harbour, Saint Helena

A lithograph with the caption: ‘Taken from the Harbour Master’s Office during the rollers of the 17th February 1846, on which day thirteen vessels (mostly captured slavers) were destroyed by the extraordinary phenomenon, and public as well as private property to the amount of £10,000 destroyed. It was also remarkable that the agitation of the water was confined to about 500 yards from the shore, beyond which distance the sea was perfectly calm, there being at the time scarcely any wind’. A key names a number of vessels including the slave ships Descobrador, St Domingos, Aquilla, Eufrazia, Esperanza and the Quatre-de-Marco, which was captured with 540 slaves on board. The destructive phenomenon was presumably a tsunami.

Object Details

ID: ZBA2762
Collection: Special collections
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Stack, Frederick Rice; Day & Son Picken, Thomas
Date made: circa 1846
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Michael Graham-Stewart Slavery Collection. Acquired with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund
Measurements: Sheet: 455 mm x 617 mm; Image: 363 mm x 592 mm; Mount: 610 mm x 837 mm