Royal Adelaide (1865)
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The ''Royal Adelaide'' was an iron
sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...
of 1400 tons built by William Patterson at
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
in 1865. She was wrecked on
Chesil Beach Chesil Beach (also known as Chesil Bank) in Dorset, England is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain.A. P. Carr and M. W. L. Blackley, "Investigations Bearing on the Age and Development of Chesil Beach, Dorset, and the Associat ...
on 25 November 1872, while on a passage from London to Sydney with 32 crew members and 35 passengers. In bad weather, the ship tried to reach the shelter of Portland Harbour, but was forced into
Lyme Bay Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel off the south coast of England. The south western counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay. The exact definitions of the bay vary. The eastern boundary is usually taken to be Portland Bill on the ...
from which there was no exit in a storm. The anchors were lowered to try to prevent the ship being blown onto Chesil Beach. However, the anchors dragged and the ship began to break up on the beach. All but seven on board were saved. A large crowd gathered on the shore to help with the rescue and the salvage of the cargo, part of which was gin and brandy. By the end of the night four of the wreckers had died from exposure, having spent the night on the beach after becoming drunk on the cargo. She now lies at
OSGB36 The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system (OSGB) (also known as British National Grid (BNG)) is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, distinct from latitude and longitude. The Ordnance Survey (OS) devised the ...
and is accessible to scuba divers from the shore.


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External links


Weymouth Shipwrecks
1865 ships Sailing ships of the United Kingdom Ocean liners Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in November 1872 Shipwrecks in the English Channel Disasters in Dorset Wreck diving sites in the United Kingdom Ships built in Bristol 19th century in Dorset {{ship-stub