3-028-606 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Scene of the wreck of the Gorgone, French man-of-war, 1870. 'The ill-fated steam-corvette...[with] a crew of 121 hands, was bound for Cherbourg...On the night of Dec. 18 it is supposed that the Gorgone, much damaged by the hurricane then blowing, was endeavouring to make Brest, when, owing to the stormy nature of the weather and the darkness of the night, she mistook the entrance to that port and struck on the "Pierres Noires"...the ship must soon have gone to pieces, for all hands were lost. The first intimation of her loss...was the coming ashore of a number of the tarpaulin hats used in the French navy, with the name of the ship stamped upon them. Two steamers were sent out, but...[found no] trace of the ill-fated ship beyond a few planks with her name on. The greatest part of the debris went ashore between Toulinguet and the "Tas de Pois," a chain of rocks depicted to the right of our Engraving - the sketch for which was taken by a correspondent, who was on board the coastguard cutter searching for any bodies...The concluding words of the log of the Gorgone, since fished up, form a touching finish to this sad tale of the sea: "We have struggled on to the end. Impossible to save the ship; there is a large leak. I put my trust in God".' From "Illustrated London News", 1870.