The ''Jamestown'' was a large sailing ship which was abandoned and ran aground near the
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
ic village of
Hafnir
Hafnir () is a village in southwestern Iceland.
It is situated in the Reykjanes peninsula and has 109 inhabitants (as of 2011).
In 1994 the inhabitants of Hafnir, Njarðvík and Keflavík
Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is ...
on 26 June 1881.
History
The keel was laid in
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
,
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
. She was registered there in 1880 after having been
launched in November 1879.
Abandonment
The ''Jamestown'' left Maine on 10 November, 1880, bound for
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
carrying a cargo of high-quality lumber. No sooner was the ship out of port than four of the crew jumped ship, and Captain William E. Whitmore had to find replacements. Then a
windlass broke and the ship had to stop in
Eastport, Maine
Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, which is connected to the mainlan ...
for repairs. Finally underway across the Atlantic in early December, the ship encountered heavy seas and the rudder was torn away. After being battered by the seas for several weeks, the captain and crew were rescued by the
Anchor Line steamer ''Ethiopia'' and left the ''Jamestown'' to drift at . In total, 27 people were rescued, including the captain's wife and child.
[ (Apparently also published in Skjoeldur Issue No. 34. Vol. 10. No. 4, 2001.)]
The crew arrived safely in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
on 16 February 1881, but their ship didn't reach its final resting place for another four months. On the morning of 26 June, residents of Hafnir woke to find that the enormous vessel had run aground the night before. The cargo of timber was particularly valuable in Iceland, which suffered
almost complete deforestation in the several hundred years following the initial
Viking settlement in 874. As such, the cargo was unloaded and one third of it was reserved for those who had participated in the salvage operation. The rest was auctioned off, bringing in about
DKK 10,000.
This is equivalent to US$62,000 in 2012 dollars.
[Take DKK 10,000 and divide by 3.73 based on the DKK/US]
exchange rate in 1881.
Then calculate the equivalent in 2012 dollars using th
Measuring Worth
website.
Aftermath
In October 1881, the wreck of the ''Jamestown'' was visited by
George H. Wadleigh, Commander of the . He wrote a report to the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
explaining the ship's location and condition.
The ''Alliance'' was passing through Iceland on its way to look for survivors from the ill-fated
''Jeannette'' expedition which had also been wrecked that June.
References
{{coord, 63.935261, -22.692497, display=title
Maritime incidents in January 1881
Shipwrecks of Iceland
1881 ships
Ships built in Maine