''Zebrina'' () was a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

-rigged, three-masted sailing barge, of 189 tons, built in 1873 at Whitstable, originally intended to trade on the River Plate in South America. She was discovered aground on the coast of France in October 1917 with her crew missing. The ''Zebrina'' sailed from Falmouth in October 1917, commanded by Captain Martin, with a crew of 5 and cargo of

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

coal for

Saint-Brieuc Saint-Brieuc (, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. History Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who Christianised the region in the 6th c ...

, France. Two days later, she was found ashore on Rozel Point, south of

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

, without damage except for some disarrangement of her rigging, but without her crew. At the time, her crew was assumed to have been taken off by a ''Unterseeboot'' preparatory to the

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

sinking the vessel by gunfire. The U-boat presumably sighted, or was sighted by, an

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

vessel and departed the scene before she could sink the ''Zebrina'', and was later sunk herself with the crew of the ''Zebrina'' aboard. A subsequent investigation, described in ''When Ships Go Down'' by David Masters, published in 1932, came to the conclusion the crew of five had been washed overboard in a squall and the craft had sailed on without them. The case is often referenced in popular books about mysterious disappearances, where her destination is commonly misprinted as ''Saint Brieux'', and she was claimed to have been found adrift. She was destroyed by fire in 1953 at Velder Creek (an inlet of Langstone Harbour) in Portsmouth.

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References

* Ghost ships 1873 ships Maritime incidents in 1917 Maritime incidents in 1953 {{Merchantship-stub