2-888-521 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

H.M.S. "Sappho", on the Main Reef at Honduras, 1850. 'Small low islands are seen in the distance, and in the foreground are low rocks, with seas breaking over...On the morning of the 9th of December last, H.M.S. Sappho struck on the Main Reef, off the coast of Honduras. She is the only vessel ever saved from total shipwreck off that reef, which is one of the most dangerous in the world...rain...descended like a vast sheet of water-it blowing strong, with violent squalls...after thirty hours, the officers and ship's company succeeded in heaving her off into deep water, with the loss of her rudder, false keel,and part of her cutwater...eventually she weathered the reef and rocks by about half a cable's length, the ship's company giving three cheers...afterwards, we recovered everything that had been hove overboard, including guns, anchors, cables, &c'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.