Maritime record MWX1669 - Osprey

`Vessel foundered early in the morning after being in collision with HMS AMAZON of 1,040 tons, a wooden screw sloop armed with 4 guns, on passage from Portsmouth to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The OSPREY carried seven passengers and the captains wife, son and two daughters. The collision took place in the Channel, off Portland, the night being clear and calm. The steamship which was making 8.5 knots, was cut in two and sank within minutes, most of her crew and passengers being rescued by the boats of the warship. The ten persons lost included four female passengers and the captains three children. N.B. The AMAZON was also lost. (1)(3) `HMS AMAZON...and the OSPREY, Berridge, from Liverpool to Antwerp, foundered this morning early after being in collision 30 miles off the Start. (4) `This vessel [the AMAZON] was off Start Point at 1am, when the steam collier OSPREY was sighted ahead...the vessels collided, the collier being cut in two and sinking immediately. (5)(6) Built: 1855 Builder: Eben Pike and Co. Where Built: Stockton-on-Tees HP: 250 Propulsion: Screw driven, 2 cylinder compound engine Owner: Hartley and Co. Master: Burtridge (3); Berridge (4) Crew: 26 Passengers: 7 (text of (3) implies 11) Lives Lost: 10 Date of Loss Qualifier: A Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index:

gross tonnage

<1> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<2> Hocking, Charles, 1990, Dictionary of Disasters at Sea during the Age of Steam, p532 (Monograph). SWX4536.

<3> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<4> 1745 onwards, Lloyds list, 11-JUL-1866, No.16301 (Serial). SWX8434.

<5> Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 5, South Devon (AH) (Monograph). SWX4666.

<6> Gosset, W P, 1986, The lost ships of the Royal Navy, 1793-1900, p118 (Monograph). SWX5057.

<7> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, Shipwreck 687 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 901092 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 22 2024 3:50PM