On This Day in Wembury
29 November 1852 — A Storm Clears the Seas Around Britain
On this day the Admiralty’s Register of Wrecks recorded that by 29 November 1852 a violent south-westerly storm had driven almost every vessel around the British Isles into harbour. The gales, which began late in October and flared again through November, culminated in such sustained force that “by the 29th there was scarcely a vessel in the neighbourhood of the British Islands left at sea.”
The destruction was immense: 183 casualties were listed from the December gale that followed, with 102 ships totally wrecked, an average of three vessels a day. By year’s end, 1,115 wrecks had been recorded in 1852, with 920 lives lost. Among them was the Ocean Queen, wrecked on 26 December at Wembury, near the Mewstone, claiming fifteen lives.
This tragedy occurred even though the Eddystone Lighthouse — Smeaton’s great stone tower, completed in 1759 — was fully operational at the time. Its beam safeguarded ships navigating the open Channel, but in storms of such ferocity vessels were still driven onto the nearer reefs and headlands. Wembury Bay, with its rocks and exposed coastline, remained perilous despite the guiding light offshore.
Source: General Advertiser for Dublin and All Ireland, 14 January 1854, reporting from the Admiralty Register of Wrecks for 1852.
