Harwich ferry disaster
Encyclopedia
The 1807 Harwich ferry diasaster is an incident that occurred inside the English
sea port
of Harwich
on the Essex
coast in the North Sea
on Saturday 18 April 1807, in which sixty to ninety people drowned during the capsizing of a small ferry boat.
and Dutch
raiding parties during the Napoleonic Wars
. Stationed at the fort were soldiers of the 79th Regiment of Foot
, who would later become the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
. This Scottish
unit was accompanied by many of the soldiers' wives and families as well as local people attached to the camp. On the day of the disaster a company (military unit)
of the regiment
, accompanied by women and children, wished to take passage into Harwich, but the regular ferry was far too small to take such a large number of people. A local ship owner who possessed a small 18-ton coastal vessel heard about the predicament and offered to take the whole party at a low fare.
As the captain pushed off the beach near the fort, his grossly overladen vessel was hit by a sudden and strong gust of wind, which caught the sails and capsized the vessel, plunging the crew and passengers into the sea. Because many of the passengers could not swim and there was no passing shipping nearby, it was some time before rescuers could reach the site; by then only ten men were pulled alive from the sea. Regimental records record that 59 soldiers, the boat's crew, and the company's commander drowned. The number of women and children aboard is unknown, although records indicate it was a significant. Many bodies were collected at sea and the beach the following day and identified and buried at the nearby fort.
The tragedy was reported in The Times
on 22 April 1807, and much comment was made at the time about the war record of the drowned men, as many of them had served in the British Egyptian Campaign of 1801 under General Sir Ralph Abercromby
, where they had distinguished themselves in action.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
sea port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
of Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
on the Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
coast in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
on Saturday 18 April 1807, in which sixty to ninety people drowned during the capsizing of a small ferry boat.
Cause
The disaster was caused by the large number of army personnel and their families who wished to gain passage from Languard Fort to Harwich at one time. Languard Fort was a small army encampment on the coastline designed to protect the harbour from FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
raiding parties during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Stationed at the fort were soldiers of the 79th Regiment of Foot
79th Regiment of Foot
79th Regiment of Foot may refer to:* 79th Regiment of Foot , took part in the Seven Years' War* 79th Regiment of Foot , saw service in the West Indies during the American Revolution...
, who would later become the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1793. In 1961 it was merged with the Seaforth Highlanders to form the Queen's Own Highlanders...
. This Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
unit was accompanied by many of the soldiers' wives and families as well as local people attached to the camp. On the day of the disaster a company (military unit)
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
of the regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
, accompanied by women and children, wished to take passage into Harwich, but the regular ferry was far too small to take such a large number of people. A local ship owner who possessed a small 18-ton coastal vessel heard about the predicament and offered to take the whole party at a low fare.
As the captain pushed off the beach near the fort, his grossly overladen vessel was hit by a sudden and strong gust of wind, which caught the sails and capsized the vessel, plunging the crew and passengers into the sea. Because many of the passengers could not swim and there was no passing shipping nearby, it was some time before rescuers could reach the site; by then only ten men were pulled alive from the sea. Regimental records record that 59 soldiers, the boat's crew, and the company's commander drowned. The number of women and children aboard is unknown, although records indicate it was a significant. Many bodies were collected at sea and the beach the following day and identified and buried at the nearby fort.
The tragedy was reported in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
on 22 April 1807, and much comment was made at the time about the war record of the drowned men, as many of them had served in the British Egyptian Campaign of 1801 under General Sir Ralph Abercromby
Ralph Abercromby
Sir Ralph Abercromby was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.He twice served as MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire, and was...
, where they had distinguished themselves in action.