South Shields, Herd Sand, Betsy

HER Number:
14712

District:
S Tyneside

Site Name:
South Shields, Herd Sand, Betsy

Place:
South Shields

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

Class:
Maritime Craft

Site Type: Broad:
Sailing Vessel

Site Type: Specific:
Brigantine

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Wreckage

Description:
1849 brig drifted to Herd Sand in gales. The Shields lifeboat went out to the rescue, but capsized, drowning twenty men. Extract from North and South Shields Gazette 7th December 1849: It is our painful duty this week to record one of the most melancholy and deplorable of accidents which has befallen our port for a long period of years. Twenty of the bravest of our pilots have fallen victim to their daring intrepidity in the cause of humanity and have been engulfed beneath the waves... `Since last Sunday our coast has experienced a continuous succession of violent gales...On Tuesday forenoon it blew a heavy fresh of wind from the east with snow and sleet, producing a very sharp and dangerous sea on the bar. Between 9 and 10 o'clock a light brig, the BETSEY of Littlehampton, was seen making for the harbour, and shortly after was drifted by the force of the sea on a very dangerous point of the Herd Sand. No sooner was she seen to strike than the PROVIDENCE lifeboat was launched from South Shields...In a few minutes she was alongside of the brig. A rope was thrown to her and made fast. A part of her crew were preparing to mount the vessel's side to rescue the endangered mariners, when in a moment she ws seen to heel suddenly round, mount upon the crest of an enormous wave, tilt over, and bury her crew in the turbid waters. Three by almost a miracle gained her upturned bottom...A fourth snatched a rope which had been thrown from the brig and was hauled to safety on her deck. The remaining twenty...sank exhausted... [The other boat put off with a different crew, and joined by the NORTHUMBERLAND, searched for the PROVIDENCE, and towed her to shore. The NORTHUMBERLAND took off the brig's crew.] Master: J Tucker

Easting:
37900

Northing:
67300

Grid Reference:
NZ3790067300

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
National Monuments Record (987090); United Kingdom shipwreck index [pre publication typescript]; Richard and Bridget Larn 1997 Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 3. The east coast of England : Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland Section 6, County Durham (CF); Boswell Whitaker 1979 Preservation of life from shipwreck, volume 1 : Skuetender lifeboat Page(s)77-88