Trial: Montrose, North Sea
Schooner (19th Century)
Site Name Trial: Montrose, North Sea
Classification Schooner (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) River South Esk; West Point; Leads Rocks; 'on The Rocks South Of The Beacon'; Scurdie Ness; Montroseness; Montrose Ness; Trial
Canmore ID 247906
Site Number NO75NW 8074
NGR NO 734 566
NGR Description NO c. 734 566
Datum Datum not recorded
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/247906
- Council Angus
- Parish Maritime - Angus
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
NO75NW 8074 c. 734 566
N56 42 W2 26.2
NLO: Montrose [name: NO 720 572].
Location formerly entered as NO c. 71 57 [N56 42 W2 28].
26 September 1851. TRIAL of Kilbagh (County Down), schooner, 121 ton, 7 men. Liverpool to Newcastle upon Tyne, salt, wind NNE force 11, heavy, rain. 11.30 am, tide ? Full, master/mate exam - no, vessel age 4, Lloyds A1 for 4 years. Value #600 not insured, cargo #100 insured at Liverpool. Place - Leads Rocks, south of Montrose. Sprung a leak the day before and made a great deal of water, ran for Montrose Harbour, of which no one on board knew anything, and when within 300 or 400 yards of the West Point, struck just where the beacon stands and on the rocks known as the leads. Ship steering WNW when she struck. She had come through the Pentland Firth and had very heavy weather. The Master, finding she made much water and that the pumps choked with salt, dropped to leeward, the tide setting strong to the southward. The shock unshipped the rudder, damaged the sternpost and vessel becoming quite unmanageable, drove ashore and soon became a perfect wreck. The mast fell and made a bridge for the crew to get Stranded?. Materials sold for a mere trifle. McMahon = Master; Wm. Cotter, Killough = owner. Lloyds List 30 September 1851. Shipping and Mercantile Gazette 6 October 1851. Return
Coastguard Officers Montrose. Letter from Owner.
Source: Admiralty Register of Wrecks and Casualties Strandeds of UK 1850 and 1851.
Montrose, 26th Sept.. The TRIAL, of Killough, Mahon, from Liverpool to Newcastle, was wrecked this morning on the rocks South of the Beacon; crew [Record received incomplete].
NMRS, MS/829/67 (no. 302).
(Classified as schooner with cargo of salt: date of loss cited as 26 September 1851). Trial: [this vessel was] wrecked approx[imately] 100 yards south of [the] Montrose river [River South Esk]'.
Registration: Killough [Co. Down, NI]. Built 1848. 124 tons register.
(Location of loss cited as N56 42.00 W2 26.00).
I G Whittaker 1998.
(Location entered as NO c. 734 566 [N56 42 W2 26.2]). The location assigned to this record is tentative. The 'Beacon' may refer to Montroseness (Scurdie Ness) Lighthouse (NO75NW 48) which is situated at NO 73322 56758 and defines the S side of the approach to Montrose Harbour. This equation would suggest a location at NO c. 734 566 for the stranding.
Montrose Harbour or the Port of Montrose (NO75NW 44.00) occupies an ill-defined area around NO 7123 5121.
Neither West Point nor Leads Rocks can be identified from the available map evidence.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 29 July 2003.
Loss (26 September 1851)
26 September 1851. TRIAL of Kilbagh (County Down), schooner, 121 ton, 7 men. Liverpool to Newcastle upon Tyne, salt, wind NNE force 11, heavy, rain. 11.30 am, tide ? Full, master/mate exam - no, vessel age 4, Lloyds A1 for 4 years. Value #600 not insured, cargo #100 insured at Liverpool. Place - Leads Rocks, south of Montrose. Sprung a leak the day before and made a great deal of water, ran for Montrose Harbour, of which no one on board knew anything, and when within 300 or 400 yards of the West Point, struck just where the beacon stands and on the rocks known as the leads. Ship steering WNW when she struck. She had come through the Pentland Firth and had very heavy weather. The Master, finding she made much water and that the pumps choked with salt, dropped to leeward, the tide setting strong to the southward. The shock unshipped the rudder, damaged the sternpost and vessel becoming quite unmanageable, drove ashore and soon became a perfect wreck. The mast fell and made a bridge for the crew to get Stranded?. Materials sold for a mere trifle. McMahon = Master; Wm. Cotter, Killough = owner. Lloyds List 30 September 1851. Shipping and Mercantile Gazette 6 October 1851. Return
Coastguard Officers Montrose. Letter from Owner.
Source: Admiralty Register of Wrecks and Casualties Strandeds of UK 1850 and 1851.
Montrose, 26th Sept.. The TRIAL, of Killough, Mahon, from Liverpool to Newcastle, was wrecked this morning on the rocks South of the Beacon; crew [Record received incomplete].
NMRS, MS/829/67 (no. 302).
(Classified as schooner with cargo of salt: date of loss cited as 26 September 1851). Trial: [this vessel was] wrecked approx[imately] 100 yards south of [the] Montrose river [River South Esk]'.
Registration: Killough [Co. Down, NI]. Built 1848. 124 tons register.
(Location of loss cited as N56 42.00 W2 26.00).
I G Whittaker 1998.
Named Location (Nlo) (29 July 2003)
NLO: Montrose [name: NO 720 572].
Location formerly entered as NO c. 71 57 [N56 42 W2 28].
Note (29 July 2003)
(Location entered as NO c. 734 566 [N56 42 W2 26.2]). The location assigned to this record is tentative. The 'Beacon' may refer to Montroseness (Scurdie Ness) Lighthouse (NO75NW 48) which is situated at NO 73322 56758 and defines the S side of the approach to Montrose Harbour. This equation would suggest a location at NO c. 734 566 for the stranding.
Montrose Harbour or the Port of Montrose (NO75NW 44.00) occupies an ill-defined area around NO 7123 5121.
Neither West Point nor Leads Rocks can be identified from the available map evidence.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 29 July 2003.
Reference (2011)
Whittaker ID : 12459
Name : TRIAL
Latitude : 564200
Longitude : 22600
Date Built : 1848
Registration : KILLOUGH
Type : SCHOONER
Tonnage : 124
Tonnage Code : R
Loss Day : 26
Loss Month : 9
Loss Year : 1851
Comment : Wrecked approx 100 yards south of Montrose river.
Cargo : SALT
