Rescue of the crew of the “Caber-Faigh” on the Owens Shoal, Isle of Wight

Rescue of the crew of the “Caber-Faigh” on the Owens Shoal, Isle of Wight. 1867. Source: Illustrated London News. Click on image to enlarge it.

Article accompanying the illustration above

The passage below was created using ABBYY FineReader to render the Hathi Digital Library images into text. — George P. Landow

During the rough weather in the Channel on Monday week a brave action was performed by the crew of the yacht Urania, belonging to Mr. W. Wise, by which the lives of five poor fellows were saved from imminent peril of destruction. The yacht, having lost her anchor and cable off Newhaven, on the Sussex coast, bore up for the Isle of Wight, in the midst of a gale of wind so violent that her squaresail was split to pieces. When she arrived off that dangerous shoal named “The Owens,” near the entrance to the Solent, a vessel was seen wrecked there, which afterwards proved to be the Caber-Faigh, of Whitstable. As soon as the yacht, putting on more sail, was enabled to beat to nearer to the wreck half a dozen men were perceived clinging to the rigging or lashed to it. The Urania determined immediately to make an effort to save these unfortunate sailors. The boat was got ready, and six men volunteered, at some risk, to go and fetch them. One, the mate of the brigantine, perished before the boat could get to the wreck. The others, five in number, were taken off, and brought safely to the yacht, though severely frostbitten and much exhausted. The weather was dreadful, with a tremendous sea and a storm of wind from the east, bitterly cold, and accompanied with sleet and snow.

We give an Illustration of the scene, from a sketch taken on board the Urania.

You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the Hathi Trust Digital Library and The University of Michigan Library and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. — George P. Landow

Bibliography

“Rescue of the crew of the ‘Caber-Faigh’ by the Yacht ‘Urania.’” Illustrated London News (30 March 1867): 317. Hathi Trust Digital Library version of a copy in the University of Michigan Library. Web. 13 December 2015.


Last modified 13 December 2015