The following ships were sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost in the year 1891.
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
The 1,261-ton steamship ran aground in calm weather on the northeast ledges of the Seven Stones Reef, while bound for St Nazaire, France, with coal from Cardiff, Wales. The captain is supposed to have said "every man for himself" before going down along with ten crew and his ship. Eight survivors were picked up by the Sevenstones Lightship's longboat.[6][7]
The schooner was rammed and sunk by Northern Queen (flag unknown) in Pelee Passage in Lake Erie in 60 feet (18 m) of water. One crewman of Fayette Brown jumped aboard Northern Queen and the rest were rescued from her rigging by Robert Mills (flag unknown). The wreck was removed in 1893.[26][27][28]
The schooner, a fisheriesresearch ship, was on a voyage from Hyannis to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, with U.S. Fish Commissioner Marshall McDonald and his wife and daughter, Assistant U.S. Fish Commissioner J. W. Collins, and two female guests aboard when she ran aground on L'Hommidieu Shoal in Vineyard Sound during a southeasterly storm. McDonald, Collins, McDonald's family members, and the other two women made it safely to Falmouth, Massachusetts, in a dory, and Grampus later was refloated and returned to service.[32]
While on an Arcticwhaling voyage, the 463-gross register ton, 134-foot (41 m) steambark was wrecked during a gale and snowstorm off Point Barrow, District of Alaska, when she became stranded on a snow-covered sandspit that her captain mistook for slush ice floating on the sea. The steamersBelvedere and Navarch (flags unknown) rescued her entire crew of 45. During salvage operations, the wreck of William Lewis was destroyed by an accidental fire on 20 March 1892.[40]
The schooner was driven ashore and wrecked on the coast of Delaware just south of the Indian River Inlet during a gale, killing her entire crew of six.[42]
The full-rigged ship caught fire due to spontaneous combustion in her cargo of coal and was beached and burned out in Cumberland Bay, Juan Fernandez Island, Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile. The captain, his wife, two daughters, and 30 crew were eventually rescued by the government steamer Huemial (Chile).[44][45]
The steam barge sprung a leak and sank between Point Peninsula and Poverty Passage in 65 feet of water. Raised in 1893, rebuilt and returned to service in 1894.[49][50]
A steamer carrying wood from Sävenäs, near Skellefteä, to Sutton Bridge ran aground off Umeå due to navigational error. The ship was taken under tow but sank. The crew was rescued.[58]
References
^Carter, C (1998). The Port of Penzance: a history. Lydney: Black Dwarf Publications.[page needed]
^ abcLarn, Richard (1992). The Shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly. Nairn: Thomas & Lochar. ISBN 0-946537-84-4.
^"1891". downtothesea.com. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
^Vidal Gormaz, Francisco (1901) Algunos naufrajios ocurridos en las costas chilenas desde su descubrimiento hasta nuestros dias (Imprenta Elzeviriana).
^"SAVIDGE, HUNTER (1879, Schooner)". Alpina County George N. Fletcher Public Library northeast Michigan Oral history and Historic Photo Archive. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
^Crothers, William L. (1997). The American-Built Clipper Ship, 1850-1856: Characteristics, Construction, Details. Camden, ME: International Marine. pp. xvii, 342, 502, etc. ISBN 0-07-014501-6.