3-011-659 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Wreck of the Aberdeen steamer Stanley at Tynemouth, 1864. Engraving from a sketch by Mr. R. Watson. '...while attempting to run into the Tyne for shelter, [the iron screw steam-ship Stanley] struck upon the rocks called the Black Middens...From the cries that reached the shore from the stranded ship it was discovered that there were women and children aboard, and that the steamer had a deckload of cattle, sheep, and pigs...the crew could be seen through the darkness throwing these animals overboard...the schooner seemed to slide off the ledge of rocks...The cries of her doomed crew were heard for a few moments, and then they and their vessel disappeared from sight. More than once a horrible crash was heard...and it was thought that she was breaking up; but it was not until after midnight that the Stanley parted amidships, breaking into two separate pieces. The prow and fore part of the vessel was afterwards turned round by the force of the sea, while the stern part lay in its fixed position...Twenty-one passengers, half of them being women, and five of the seamen, with the stewardess, were lost from the Stanley...The rocks...were strewn...with dead bullocks, casks, bales, and other miscellaneous articles washed out of the broken vessel'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.