List of shipwrecks in 1870

The list of shipwrecks in 1870 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during 1870.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

table of contents

1870
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
May	Jun	Jul	Aug
Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Unknown date
References

January

2 January

List of shipwrecks: 2 January 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Eliza	United Kingdom	The ship foundered in the Bristol Channel with the loss of all hands.[1]

4 January

List of shipwrecks: 4 January 1870

Ship	Country	Description
USS Maria	United States Navy	The paddle tug collided with the monitor USS Miantonomoh ( United States Navy) and sank in the Atlantic Ocean off Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.[2]

14 January

List of shipwrecks: 14 January 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Laughing Water	New South Wales	The 411-ton barque, carrying coal from New South Wales to Port Chalmers, hit a submerged rock and sank during a gale south of Te Waewae Bay, New Zealand, on the western approaches to Foveaux Strait. All fifteen on board survived, reaching the mainland near Orepuki in a longboat, though the ship's mate was lost overboard in the same storm two days before the ship was holed.[3]

16 January

List of shipwrecks: 16 January 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Laura	United Kingdom	The vessel sprang a leak and foundered in the English Channel 9 nautical miles (17 km) south of Bridport, Dorset. Her nine crew were rescued.[4]

19 January

List of shipwrecks: 19 January 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Persevere	New Zealand	The paddle steamer went aground and was wrecked on a bar at the mouth of the Hokitika River.[5]

24 January

List of shipwrecks: 24 January 1870

Ship	Country	Description
USS Oneida	United States Navy	Illustration of the sinking of USS Oneida from 19 March 1870 edition of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. The sloop-of-war collided with Bombay ( United Kingdom) off Yokohama, Japan and sank with the loss of 125 of her 216 crew. Survivors were rescued by Japanese fishing boats.

28 January

List of shipwrecks: 28 January 1870

Ship	Country	Description
City of Boston	United Kingdom	Departed Halifax, Nova Scotia for Liverpool. No further trace, possibly foundered in a storm on 30 January.

30 January

List of shipwrecks: 30 January 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Cruiser	United Kingdom	The paddle tug ran aground in Porlock Bay. She subsequently broke up.[6]

February

1 February

List of shipwrecks: 1 February 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Brunette	United States	During a voyage from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 274-gross ton steam screw cargo ship sank with the loss of two lives six minutes after colliding with the steamer Santiago de Cuba (flag unknown) in the North Atlantic Ocean off Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, in 75 feet (23 m) of water. There were 11 survivors. Brunette′s wreck is known as the "Doorknob Wreck."[7]

2 February

List of shipwrecks: 2 February 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Marwell	New Zealand	The 28-ton cutter hit rocks near Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf while laden with kauri gum and timber.[5]

March

2 March

List of shipwrecks: 2 March 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Shōhei Maru	Imperial Japanese Navy	The sailing frigate was wrecked on a sandbar at (41°52′N 140°07′E) off what is now Kaminokuni, Hokkaidō, Japan, after a storm.

11 March

List of shipwrecks: 11 March 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Hera	Norway	The 440-ton barque was run ashore at Port Underwood, New Zealand when she was found to be on fire, and was destroyed.[5]

13 March

List of shipwrecks: 13 March 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Challenge	New Zealand	The 57-ton schooner was wrecked on the bar at the mouth of the Manukau Harbour, New Zealand, when the wind dropped while she was crossing the bar.[8]

17 March

List of shipwrecks: 17 March 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Normandy	United Kingdom	The paddle-wheel mail steamer sank with the loss of 10 lives in the English Channel 20 miles from The Needles after colliding with the screw steamship Mary (flag unknown). Mary rescued 50 survivors.

23 March

List of shipwrecks: 23 March 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Falcon	New Zealand	The 42-ton schooner was ran aground and was wrecked at Opunake, New Zealand.[5]

April

1 April

List of shipwrecks: 1 April 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Favourite	New Zealand	The 59-ton paddle steamer ran aground at Ahipara, New Zealand, during a gale. It is likely she was the same ship that collided with the Pride of the Yarra in July 1863.[9]

8 April

List of shipwrecks: 8 April 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Polly	New Zealand	The 12-ton cutter was destroyed by fire at Whangaruru.[8]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date April 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Isabella Jackson	New Zealand	The 40-ton schooner left Wellington laden with coal for Lyttelton on 28 April and was not seen again.[8]

May

9 May

List of shipwrecks: 9 May 1870

Ship	Country	Description
HMS Slaney	Royal Navy	The Algerine-class gunboat was wrecked in the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea during a typhoon.

25 May

List of shipwrecks: 25 May 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Rapid	New Zealand	The 31-ton schooner was wrecked after it stranded at the mouth of the Manawatu River.[8]

27 May

List of shipwrecks: 27 May 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Folly	New Zealand	The 17-ton ketch was lost after becoming stranded on a bar at the mouth of the Waimakariri River.[8]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Joseph Hume	United Kingdom	The ship foundered on or about 10 May with some loss of life.[10]

June

1 June

List of shipwrecks: 1 June 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Cremorne	United States	The clipper passed through the Golden Gate bound for Liverpool, England. No further trace.

7 June

List of shipwrecks: 7 June 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Layard	Victoria	The 175-ton brig parted her cable and became grounded on a reef near Timaru, New Zealand, where she was headed with a cargo of coal from Newcastle, New South Wales. Her crew reached shore safely but the vessel subsequently broke up.[11]

8 June

List of shipwrecks: 8 June 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Ruby	New Zealand	The 24-ton schooner stranded on rocks and became wrecked at Kaikoura during a heavy storm.[8]

9 June

List of shipwrecks: 9 June 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Lizzy	New Zealand	The 20-ton cutter was driven ashore and wrecked at Opunake during a gale.[8]

17 June

List of shipwrecks: 23 June 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Forward	Canada	Battle of Boca Teacapan: The steamship, which had been seized by Mexican pirates and was in use as a pirate ship, was beached in the Teacapan Estuary at Boca Teacapan, Sinaloa, Mexico, when she was destroyed by United States Navy and United States Marine Corps personnel manning six boats – a howitzer-equipped launch and five cutters – from the sloop-of-war USS Mohican ( United States Navy).

23 June

List of shipwrecks: 23 June 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Mary	United Kingdom	The schooner was in collision with the steamship Sheldrake ( United Kingdom) and sank with the loss of one life. Survivors were rescued by Sheldrake, which lost a crew member in the accident. Mary was on a voyage from Barrow in Furness, Lancashire to Cardiff, Glamorgan.[1]

27 June

List of shipwrecks: 27 June 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Jane	New Zealand	The 37-ton schooner sank off Chamberlin's (Ponui) Island during a gale, with the loss of one life. An inquiry ruled that the boat had been overladen..[12]
Young America	New Zealand	The schooner was driven ashore close to the mouth of the Wairau River during a gale, and became a wreck.[12]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date June 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Buena Vista	United States	The vessel was lost in the Gulf of Alaska.[13]

July

10 July

List of shipwrecks: 10 July 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Esther Ann	New Zealand	The 30-ton schooner was hit by a sudden gale. She was hit broadside by a heavy sea and washed inshore near the mouth of the Hollyford River, New Zealand.[12]

23 July

List of shipwrecks: 23 July 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Enterprise	New Zealand	The ketch was destroyed after colliding with the steamer Tauranga in Hauraki Gulf. The crew survived in the ship's longboat. The Tauranga was also lost several days later as a result of the accident (see below).[14]

26 July

List of shipwrecks: 26 July 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Fusi Yama	United Kingdom	Fusi Yama was run into and sunk off Lizard Point in the English Channel by the American Ship Liverpool. She sank in only a few minuets after the collision.[15]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Emily	South Australia	The two-masted schooner was wrecked at Indented Head, Victoria.[16]
HMS Maeander	Royal Navy	The sailing frigate foundered in a gale in the South Atlantic Ocean off Ascension Island at 7°54′45″S 14°24′24″W.
Tauranga	New Zealand	The steamer collided with the ketch Enterprise in the Hauraki Gulf on 23 July (see above), and continued on its course apparently unscathed, but failed to arrive at its destination. Nothing was ever found of the 18 people on board, though a dog, thought to be that of the ship's captain, was rescued from Sail Rock, near Bream Bay at the end of July. On 4 August a lifeboat probably belonging to the Tauranga was found capsized near Pakiri.[14]

August

24 August

List of shipwrecks: 24 August 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Constant	New Zealand	The 13-ton ketch was hit by a roller while attempting to cross the bar of the Grey River mouth at low tide. Only one of the three men on board survived.[17]

26 August

List of shipwrecks: 26 August 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Almira	United States	The 310-ton whaling ship was stove in by ice and lost in the Arctic Ocean near Point Barrow on the north coast of the Territory of Alaska.[18]

28 August

List of shipwrecks: 28 August 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Hibernia	United States	The 256-ton ship was wrecked on the Chukchi Sea coast of the Territory of Alaska about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) southwest of Point Barrow after ice punched a hole in her bow. Her wreck later was sold at auction.[19]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date in August 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Pilot	South Australia	The three-masted schooner was wrecked on the coast of New Caledonia.[16]

September

5 September

List of shipwrecks: 5 September 1870

Ship	Country	Description
HMS Trinculo	Royal Navy	The Britomart-class gunboat collided with the steamer SS Moratin ( Spain) off Estepona, Spain, and was wrecked.[20]

6 September

List of shipwrecks: 6 September 1870

Ship	Country	Description
HMS Captain	Royal Navy	The masted turret ship capsized and sank in a gale in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Finisterre, Spain, with the loss of approximately 480 lives. There were 27 survivors.

14 September

List of shipwrecks: 14 September 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Kate	New Zealand	The 46-ton ketch was inundated when it stuck on the bar of the Catlins River, New Zealand..[17]

21 September

List of shipwrecks: 21 September 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Sturt	New Zealand	The 104-ton paddle steamer became a wreck after stranding on the bar at Kaiapoi, New Zealand.[21]

October

10 October

List of shipwrecks: 10 October 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Japan	New South Wales	The 140-foot (42.7 m) whaling barque was lost in a gale and heavy fog on the coast of Siberia 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) northwest of East Cape.[22]

12 October

List of shipwrecks: 12 October 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Brigand	United Kingdom	The schooner was in collision with another vessel off The Mumbles, Glamorgan, Wales, and foundered. Her crew were rescued by the tug Pero Gomez ( United Kingdom).[1]
Joseph et Marie	flag unknown	The schooner foundered off Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. Her crew were rescued. She was on a voyage from Sardinia, Italy to Swansea.[1]
Key West	United States	The merchanr steamer ran aground off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and was wrecked..

16 October

List of shipwrecks: 16 October 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Sydney	United Kingdom	Memorial to those lost on the Sydney Wrecked off Glen Head, Sturrall, Donegal, Ireland.

19 October

List of shipwrecks: 19 October 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Cambria	United Kingdom	The passenger-cargo steamship was wrecked off the Giant's Causeway, Ireland.

24 October

List of shipwrecks: 24 October 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Mabel	United Kingdom	The brig foundered in the North Sea. Her nine crew survived. She was on a voyage from Hartlepool, County Durham to Danzig.[23]

26 October

List of shipwrecks: 26 October 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Kennet	United Kingdom	The ship was driven ashore and wrecked at Bridport, Dorset.[4]

27 October

List of shipwrecks: 27 October 1870

Ship	Country	Description
North Alabama	United States	The steamer was wrecked on a sandbar in the Missouri River west of vermillion, South Dakota in what's today the Myron Grove Lake Access area. Her equipment was salvaged. Barrels of whiskey in her cargo was salvaged in 1890, or in 1906 when she reportedly somehow briefly regained buoyancy on 10 July.[24][25]

29 October

List of shipwrecks: 29 October 1870

Ship	Country	Description
USS Saginaw	United States Navy	Wreck of USS Saginaw The sidewheel sloop-of-war was wrecked in the Pacific Ocean off Kure Atoll.

November

17 November

List of shipwrecks: 17 November 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Seraing	Belgium	Wrecked near Björkösund, Gulf of Finland.[26]

29 November

List of shipwrecks: 29 November 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Union	Germany	The Norddeutscher Lloyd mail steamer, Bremen for New York with 310 passengers, after repairing engine in heavy weather, stranded off Rattray Head, Aberdeenshire. All passengers, 112 crew and mails were landed in boats.[27] The ship later broke up.[28]

December

6 December

List of shipwrecks: 6 December 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Supply	New Zealand	The cutter was wrecked close to Pencarrow Head in a northwesterly gale while en route from Havelock, New Zealand to Wellington.[29]

9 December

List of shipwrecks: 9 December 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Dasher	United Kingdom	The pilot cutter struck the Tusker Rock in the Bristol Channel and was wrecked. Her three crew were rescued by Good Deliverance ( Royal National Lifeboat Institution).[1]

15 December

List of shipwrecks: 15 December 1870

Ship	Country	Description
HMS Psyche	Royal Navy	The paddle dispatch vessel was wrecked in the Mediterranean Sea off Catania, Sicily, Italy.

24 December

List of shipwrecks: 24 December 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Ulpiano	Spain	The barque was stranded on Süderoogsand, Föhr, Germany 54.425°N 8.478889°E / 54.425; 8.478889[30]

27 December

List of shipwrecks: 27 December 1870

Ship	Country	Description
Betsy Douglas	New Zealand	The schooner foundered off Charleston, New Zealand, probably after being holed on a rock.[29]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: unknown date 1870

Ship	Country	Description
B. C. Schriviner	Unknown	The schooner was lost in the vicinity of "Squan Beach," a term used at the time for the coast of New Jersey near Manasquan and sometimes for the 7-mile (11 km) stretch of coast between Manasquan Inlet and Cranberry Inlet or for the entire coast of New Jersey between Sea Girt and Barnegat Inlet.[31]
Betsy	New Zealand	The cutter left Napier bound for Auckland and was never seen again.[29]
Gilman D. King	Unknown	The schooner was lost in the vicinity of "Squan Beach," a term used at the time for the coast of New Jersey near Manasquan and sometimes for the 7-mile (11 km) stretch of coast between Manasquan Inlet and Cranberry Inlet or for the entire coast of New Jersey between Sea Girt and Barnegat Inlet.[31]
John Collins	Unknown	The schooner was lost in the vicinity of "Squan Beach," a term used at the time for the coast of New Jersey near Manasquan and sometimes for the 7-mile (11 km) stretch of coast between Manasquan Inlet and Cranberry Inlet or for the entire coast of New Jersey between Sea Girt and Barnegat Inlet.[31]
Lizzie Lane	Unknown	The sloop was lost in the vicinity of "Squan Beach," a term used at the time for the coast of New Jersey near Manasquan and sometimes for the 7-mile (11 km) stretch of coast between Manasquan Inlet and Cranberry Inlet or for the entire coast of New Jersey between Sea Girt and Barnegat Inlet.[31]
Myrtle	United States	The schooner was wrecked in the Aleutian Islands late in 1870.[32]
Scudd	Unknown	The schooner was lost in the vicinity of "Squan Beach," a term used at the time for the coast of New Jersey near Manasquan and sometimes for the 7-mile (11 km) stretch of coast between Manasquan Inlet and Cranberry Inlet or for the entire coast of New Jersey between Sea Girt and Barnegat Inlet.[31]

References

Notes

1. Tovey, Ron. "A Chronology of Bristol Channel Shipwrecks" (PDF). Swansea Docks. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
2. "Maria". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
3. Ingram & Wheatley, pp. 167–168.
4. "Historical List of Shipwrecks at Chesil Beach & from Bridport to Lyme Regis". Burton Bradstock Online. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
5. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 168.
6. "Cruiser". Tyne Tugs. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
7. njscuba.net Brunette ("Doorknob Wreck")
8. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 169.
9. Ingram & Wheatley, pp. 168–169.
10. "No. 23709". The London Gazette. 24 February 1871. p. 706.
11. Ingram & Wheatley, pp. 169–170.
12. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 170.
13. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (B)
14. Ingram & Wheatley, pp. 170–171.
15. MacGregor, David R. (1983). The Tea Clippers, Their History and Development 1833-1875. Conway Maritime Press Limited. pp. 213–216. ISBN 0 85177 256 0.
16. "Major Vessels Built at the Tasmanian Government Dockyards" (PDF). Keyportarthur. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
17. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 171.
18. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (A)
19. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (H)
20. wrecksite.eu HMS Trinculo (+1870)
21. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 171–172.
22. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (J)
23. "SHIPS BUILT AT SUNDERLAND IN THE 1830s". Searle. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
24. "American Marine Engineer". Unknown/Googlebooks. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
25. "Steamboat wreckage from 1870 reappears". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
26. "Belgian Merchant P-Z" (PDF). Belgische Koopvaardij. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
27. "The Shipwreck of the German Steamship "Union"". The Aberdeen Journal (6413). 7 December 1870. p. 6.
28. "Breaking up of the steamer Union". The Dundee Courier & Argus (5417). 12 December 1870. p. [3].
29. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 172.
30. Das Meer legt die "Ulpiano" frei Archived 2013-01-19 at the Wayback Machine (German)
31. njscuba.net "Lavallette Wreck"
32. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (M)

Bibliography

• Ingram, C. W. N., and Wheatley, P. O., (1936) Shipwrecks: New Zealand disasters 1795–1936. Dunedin, NZ: Dunedin Book Publishing Association.

Ship events in 1870
Ship launches:	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875
Ship commissionings:	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875
Ship decommissionings:	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875
Shipwrecks:	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875