3-011-997 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Wreck of the Lottie Sleigh on the beach at New Ferry, Birkenhead, 1864. Engraving from a sketch by Mr. John N. P. MacBride showing '... a portion of the hull of the vessel as it lies, keel uppermost, on a mud-bank...whither it drifted after the explosion. The deck and stern are blown out, and the timbers in that quarter are much shattered and splintered. The vessel has opened outwards from the line where the deck was, the cutwater being partly smashed and quite parted from the timbers of the bows...Looking into the hull at the bows, nothing is seen but a broken mass of charred beams and timber, crossing and recrossing each other in all directions...This vessel, which belonged to Messrs. Hatton and Cookson, and was bound for Africa, was taking in powder from the magazine-boats off Tranmere, and had stowed away eleven tons, when, about six p.m., as the steward was engaged in the cabin trimming the lamps with paraffin oil, some of it exploded and ignited the captain's bed-curtains...When the explosion took place the...shock at Liverpool and Birkenhead, and for nearly five miles round, was severely felt, and created indescribable terror'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.