List of shipwrecks in 1872

The list of shipwrecks in 1872 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during 1872.

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

1872
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
May	Jun	Jul	Aug
Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Unknown date
References

February

20 February

List of shipwrecks: 20 February 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Heathcote	New Zealand	The 22-ton ketch became wrecked after stranding at the entrance of Whanganui Inlet.[1]

24 February

List of shipwrecks: 24 February 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Onehunga	New Zealand	The 61-ton schooner hit rocks and foundered while trying to leave Oamaru Harbour in a heavy swell.[2]

March

5 March

List of shipwrecks: 5 March 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Great Republic	United States	The clipper sank off Bermuda in a storm.

7 March

List of shipwrecks: 7 March 1872

Ship	Country	Description
USS Abeona	United States Navy	The gunboat caught fire and was destroyed in the Mississippi River at Cincinnati, Ohio.

15 March

List of shipwrecks: 15 March 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Huntress	New Zealand	The 54-ton schooner hit rocks in a heavy sea to the north of the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, while sailing in ballast from Thames to Russell and came ashore to the south of Cape Brett. All hands were saved.[3]

30 March

List of shipwrecks: 30 March 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Mahia	New Zealand	The 19-ton cutter was driven onto the bar at the mouth of the Wairoa River in a storm and was wrecked.[3]

April

15 April

List of shipwrecks: 15 April 1872

Ship	Country	Description
El Majidi	Sultanate of Zanzibar	The full-rigged ship was driven ashore in a hurricane at Zanzibar.

29 April

List of shipwrecks: 29 April 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Monticello	United States	The screw steamer foundered in the North Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland.[4]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date April 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Magnet	New Zealand	The 153-ton brig was reported missing in April. In mid-May, the mate of the ketch Mary reported seeing a floating derelict brig drifting near the mouth of the Whanganui Inlet, which was thought to be the Magnet.[5]
Ocean Bird	New Zealand	The 33-ton schooner left Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand, on 17 April. The master of the schooner Emerald reported seeing her capsized hull to the west of Stephens Island a week later. All three men on board perished. The steamer Lyttelton, aided by the steamer Charles Edward managed to tow her to Nelson.[3]

May

30 May

List of shipwrecks: 30 May 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Caledonia	New Zealand	The 60-ton schooner was dashed on rocks at the mouth of the Catlins River.[6]

June

19 June

List of shipwrecks: 19 June 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Kate	New Zealand	The 27-ton schooner went onshore and was wrecked south of the mouth of the Whanganui River. All hands survived.[6]

26 June

List of shipwrecks: 26 June 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Struggler	New Zealand	The 30-ton ketch stranded at Le Bons Bay, Banks Peninsula in a gale and became a wreck.[6]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date June 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Dauntless	New Zealand	The 72-ton schooner was lost towards the end of the month while en route from Tauranga to Auckland.[5]

July

4 July

List of shipwrecks: 4 July 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Harriet King	New Zealand	The 184-ton brigantine stranded near Cape Colville, Coromandel Peninsula in a gale while en route from Lyttelton Harbour to Auckland and became a wreck.[6]

16 July

List of shipwrecks: 16 July 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Alice	New Zealand	The 21-ton schooner ran aground on the bar at the mouth of the Porangahau River and became a wreck.[6]

18 July

List of shipwrecks: 18 July 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Our Hope	New Zealand	The 236-ton brig parted a cable while moored at Oamaru. The second anchor was not enough to hold her and she repeatedly struck on the harbour bed. All crew landed safely but the Our Hope became a wreck.[6]

23 July

List of shipwrecks: 23 July 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Hydra	New Zealand	The 585-ton barque left Newcastle, Australia, bound for New Zealand, on 2 July. She hit rough weather and seas in the Tasman, and the Hydra started taking on water. She approached the bottom of the South Island on 15 July, making slow progress in a heavy gale, taking onboard some 20 inches (51 cm) of water per hour. She signalled a passing ship, the Ottawa, on the 22nd, which stayed alongside. On 24 July, when she was close to the Solander Islands, the Hydra's engine broke down, and the crew abandoned her and were taken on board the Ottawa.[7]

27 July

List of shipwrecks: 27 July 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Aurora	New Zealand	The 42-ton schooner was wrecked at the mouth of the Catlins River while carrying timber to Oamaru.[7]

31 July

List of shipwrecks: 31 July 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Lahloo	United Kingdom	The clipper was wrecked on Sandalwood Island, Fiji.

August

8 August

List of shipwrecks: 8 August 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Three Sisters	New Zealand	The cutter became a total wreckafter it was stranded on the northern end of Great Barrier Island.[7]

10 August

List of shipwrecks: 10 August 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Pioneer	New Zealand	The 11-ton ketch stranded near the mouth of the Patea River and became a wreck.[7]

11 August

List of shipwrecks: 11 August 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Venture	New Zealand	The 20-ton ketch was beached near Ward after being holed on a reef near Cape Campbell in rough weather.[7]

18 August

List of shipwrecks: 18 August 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Alarm	New Zealand	The 15-ton ketch was wrecked after stranding on a bar at the mouth of the Rangitikei River.[7]

19 August

List of shipwrecks: 19 August 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Roscoe	United States	The 313.37-ton whaling bark was stove in by ice and abandoned in the Arctic Ocean while anchored off Point Barrow, Territory of Alaska.[8]

24 August

List of shipwrecks: 24 August 1872

Ship	Country	Description
America	United States	The passenger steamship was destroyed by fire in Yokohama Harbour, Japan.

31 August

List of shipwrecks: 31 August 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Helen Snow	United States	After suffering ice damage on 19 August, the 215-ton whaling bark was abandoned in the Arctic Ocean. She later was salvaged, repaired, and returned to service.[9]

September

9 September

List of shipwrecks: 9 September 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Islesman	Barbados	The steamship was wrecked at Martinique .[10]

17 September

List of shipwrecks: 17 September 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Tell	New Zealand	The 302-ton barque was wrecked stranded in Northland, New Zealand, while en route from Newcastle, New South Wales and became a total wreck.[11]
Victoria	New Zealand	The 17-ton schooner was wrecked at the mouth of the Awanui River when she stranded on rocks.[11]

26 September

List of shipwrecks: 26 September 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Assomption	France	The sloop, built in Cherbourg, France, and belonging to a resident of that city, was wrecked on the coast of Guernsey in the Channel Islands.[12]

October

16 October

List of shipwrecks: 16 October 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Eiderstedt	Denmark	The paddle steamer was driven ashore at Covehithe, Suffolk, United Kingdom. She was on a voyage from London, United Kingdom to Tønning.[13]

22 October

List of shipwrecks: 22 October 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Missouri	United States	The steamship burned and sank in the Bahamas 25 nautical miles (29 statute miles; 46 km) northeast of Abaco with the loss of 69 lives.

November

1 November

List of shipwrecks: 1 November 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Moscou	Belgium	Foundered off Skagen, Denmark.[14]

11 November

List of shipwrecks: 11 November 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Pyrenee	United Kingdom	The schooner was wrecked at Cardigan with the loss of all three of her crew.[15]

14 November

List of shipwrecks: 14 November 1872

Ship	Country	Description
City of Newcastle	New Zealand	The 538-ton barque was en route from Wellington to Newcastle, New South Wales and took shelterin Cloudy Bay from a heavy storm raging in Cook Strait. In a thick mist, she drifted close in to the cliff-faced shore and became wedged between two rocks. Most of the 14 crew and nine passengers took to the ship's two boats, from which they were rescued by the schooner Canterbury and barque John Knox. Six men remained on board, of whom two drowned (one passenger and the ship's cook). The four survivors were rescued by the steamer Rangatira.[16]

23 November

List of shipwrecks: 23 November 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Jane Catherine	United Kingdom	The schooner was driven ashore and wrecked between Fleet and Wyke, Dorset with the loss of four of her crew,[17]
Pera	Norway	The barque was driven ashore and wrecked at Port Tennant, Glamorgan, United Kingdom. All seventeen people on board survived.[18]

25 November

List of shipwrecks: 25 November 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Antonio Luca	United Kingdom	The barque was driven ashore and wrecked at Oxwich Point, Glamorgan, United Kingdom. She was on a voyage from Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, United Kingdom to Venice.[18]
Paladino	Italy	The brig was driven ashore at Swansea, Glamorgan. Her crew were rescued. She broke up over the next few days.[18]
Royal Adelaide	United Kingdom	The sailing ship was driven ashore at Chesil Beach, Dorset, England, and wrecked with the loss of six lives. Four salvors also killed in attempting to salvage her cargo of brandy and gin.

26 November

List of shipwrecks: 26 November 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Dalmatian	United Kingdom	The cargo ship foundered in the Irish Sea off Bardsey Island, Pembrokeshire. She was on a voyage from Liverpool, Lancashire to Trieste.[19]

30 November

List of shipwrecks: 30 November 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Celeste Maria	France	The schooner ran aground on the Barnard Sands, in the North Sea off the coast of Suffolk, United Kingdom. Her crew were rescued by the Southwold Lifeboat ( Royal National Lifeboat Institution). She later came ashore at Covehithe, Suffolk and was wrecked. Celeste Maria was on a voyage from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom to Dieppe, Seine-Inférieure.[13]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Coronella	United Kingdom	The smack foundered in the North Sea between 10 and 16 November.[13]
Thomas and Edward	United Kingdom	The smack foundered in the North Sea between 10 and 16 November.[13]
Gosforth	United Kingdom	On a voyage from Sark to Guernsey the ship struck a rock between Herm and Jethou Channel Islands and sank. All crew and passengers got ashore on Herm [20]

December

5 December

List of shipwrecks: 5 December 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Mary Celeste	Canada	The brigantine was discovered abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores.

8 December

List of shipwrecks: 8 December 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Hope	United Kingdom	The collier was driven ashore and wrecked in Porteynon Bay. Her four crew survived. She was on a voyage from Cork to Swansea, Glamorgan.[18]
Margaret Ann	United Kingdom	The barque was driven ashore at Swansea. She was later refloated. Margaret Ann was on a voyage from Quebec, Canada to Swansea.[18]
Mystery	United Kingdom	The cutter was in collision with the schooner John Pearce ( United Kingdom in the Bristol Channel off Penarth, Glamorgan and sank. All fourteen people on board were rescued by John Pearce.[18]
The Eleanor	Canada	The ship ran aground off Cardiff, Glamorgan. All but one of her crew were taken off by George Gay ( Royal National Lifeboat Institution). Her crew returned the next day, she was refloated and taken in to Cardiff for repairs.[18]
Wallace	United Kingdom	The brig capsized in the Bristol Channel with the loss of all hands.[18][18]

11 December

List of shipwrecks: 11 December 1872

Ship	Country	Description
Karmt	Norway	The cargo ship foundered in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, United Kingdom on her maiden voyage.[21]

Unknown date

List of shipwrecks: Unknown date 1872

Ship	Country	Description
HMS Blanche	Royal Navy	HMS Blanche The Eclipse-class sloop ran aground off New Hanover Island.
Don Leandro	Unknown	The 86-ton two-masted lumber schooner was wrecked. She was refloated, repaired, and returned to service.[22]
Glenmark	United Kingdom	The clipper left Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand, for Gravesend, England, in early 1872 with a cargo of wool and fifty people on board. She was never sighted again.[5]
USS Mohican	United States Navy	The decommissioned steam sloop-of-war sank at her moorings at Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, California, during the second half of the year. She was refloated, beached, and scrapped.
Ocean Chief	United Kingdom	The clipper sank in a storm in the Bay of Bengal off Calcutta, India.[21]
Panther	Unknown	The steamer 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.[23]
USS Picket Boat No. 5	United States Navy	The torpedo boat was lost.[24]
Seabreeze	United States	The 472-ton whaling ship was abandoned in the Arctic Ocean. Her crew may have returned to her later and saved her.[25]
Ticonderoga	United States	The clipper was wrecked off India.

References

Notes

1. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 178.
2. Ingram & Wheatley, pp. 178–179.
3. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 179.
4. Naval History and Heritage Command: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Monticello I (ScStGbt)
5. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 184.
6. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 180.
7. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 181.
8. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (R)
9. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (H)
10. "Islesman". Caledonian Maritime Heritage Trust. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
11. Ingram & Wheatley, p. 182.
12. "SV Assomption (+1872)". wrecksite.eu.
13. Bottomley, Alan Farquar. "Shipwrecks at or near Walberswick from 1848 - 1874" (PDF). Suffolk Records Society. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
14. "Moscou (5619030)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
15. "Cardigan & District Shipwrecks and Lifeboat Service". Glen Johnson. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
16. Ingram & Wheatley, pp. 182–184.
17. "Historical List of Shipwrecks at Chesil Beach & from Bridport to Lyme Regis". Burton Bradstock Online. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
18. Tovey, Ron. "A Chronology of Bristol Channel Shipwrecks" (PDF). Swansea Docks. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
19. "Dalmatian". The Yard. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
20. "Gosforth SS (+1872)". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
21. "M/S Karmt". Warsailors. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
22. Gaines, W. Craig, Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks, Louisiana State University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8071-3274-6, p. 27.
23. njscuba.net "Lavallette Wreck"
24. Gaines, W. Craig, Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks, Louisiana State University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8071-3274-6, p. 186.
25. alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (S)

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 1872
Ship launches:	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877
Ship commissionings:	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877
Ship decommissionings:	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877
Shipwrecks:	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877