Lady Elizabeth

An iron barque built in 1879 by Robert Thompson Jr, Sunderland. Dimensions 68,02×10'38×6,53 meters [223'0"×35'0"×21'4"] and tonnage 1208 GRT, 1155 NRT and 1091 tons under deck.

1879 June 4: Launched at the shipyard of Robert Thompson Jr, Sunderland. Sold to John Wilson, London, after completion. Assigned the Official British Rego. No. 81576 and signal JFQB.
1879 September 11 - January 30: Sailed from North Shields with 1760 tons of coal to Bombay in 132 days.
1884 March 15: Declared bankruptcy and was sold to Capt. George Christian Karran, Castletown, Ilse of Man, by the Merchant Banking Company of London.
1890: Captain Lever replaced Capt. Karran who was transferred to the Manx King.
1907: Sold to Skibsaktieselskabet "Lady Elizabeth" (Lars Lydersen), Sundet, Norway, for £ 3250.
1912 December 4: Left Vancouver, BC, with a cargo of timber for Delagoa Bay.
1913 February 24: Experienced heavy weather off Cape Horn and lost four men, the wheel, compass, lifeboat and received considerable damage.
1913 March 12: Grounded outside the harbour of Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, where she was seeking refuge. Was condemned after inspection by a diver from Montevideo and the ship was sold for £ 1000 and the cargo for £ 2000 to the Falkland Island Company. Used as a floating warehouse.
1936 February 17: Drifted aground in Whalebone Cove.

The hull remains with lower masts standing at the Falkland Islands today.

References:

Square-rigged ships, general references.
Lydersen, Øistein: Lady Elizabeth - condemned but not forgotten.
Gard News No. 147, September, 1997. pp 8-13, ill.

Updated 1998-01-09 by Lars Bruzelius

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