EVERYONE LOVES A GOOD SHIPWRECK STORY - The world's oceans are filled
with mysteries beyond counting. Amongst the many are ship's that
disappear leaving few if any traces of their passing. The brave souls
aboard these vessels have rarely had their stories told. Grief and loss
confront family members when a loved one goes missing. In the days
before satellite communications and GPS when a sailing ship ventured out
over the horizon, there would be no further contact unless signalled by
a passing vessel. It could be weeks or months before Lloyd's of London
recorded the ship's safe arrival in Lloyd's List. Some however never
arrived and would eventually be listed as overdue. Then telegrams would
be sent out by agents and owners enquiring at ports around the globe
asking if the missing ship had arrived or been heard of. Eventually,
there would be an inquiry conducted by Boards of Trade or Trinity House
Masters as Lloyds now listed the vessel as 'Missing - presumed lost with
all hands'. For the shipping trade, this would be an end to the matter
as underwriters paid out on marine insurance policies and merchants had
their lost goods replaced. For families and loved ones there would be no
formal closure, no memorial, no grave, just endless grief and mourning.
Here at least a few of their stories are now told - The tales of those
who never came home. The stories of the lost vessels told in this volume
include the barque West Ridge, discovered in the search for Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370, the wool clipper ships Loch Long, Loch Laggan,
Loch Maree, the iron hulled sailing ships; Marlborough, Mysore, Dunedin,
Inchcape Rock, Seatoller, and Deanfield. the loss of the Archduke Johann
Salvator von Habsburg and his wife Mili Stubel after they had run away
to sea aboard the clipper Saint Margaret. Then finally the stories of
Captain Nicholas Rutter who lost the barque Kohinoor, the ships Knight
Errant, and the Foundling of Liverpool, before disappearing when the
ship British King was lost without trace.
