Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage and legacy

Volume Ten - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Even more aspects - The Lloyd's Register at Penarth Dock . . .

s.s. 'Olaveaga'

On 13th November 1884, the vessel, then owned by M. Angel of Cardiff, Wales, under the command of Captain Stevenson (possibly correct, but probably not Stephenson), with a crew of 13 all told, & a cargo of 780 tons of Penarth coal, bound for Les Sables d'Olonne ('Sables'), France, located on the western Atlantic coast of France, S. of Nantes.

On the evening of 15th November, 1884, between 6 & 7 p.m., proceeding slowly, the vessel struck fast on an invisible sunken & unmarked rock, about a mile from the harbour entrance. As per this contemporary newspaper article. Water quickly filled the engine room, all power was lost & the vessel settled with a heavy list to port. By the next day, the vessel had broken in two. The crew safely made it to Sables in ship's boats & were returned to Cardiff aboard s.s. 'G. W. Jones'. [797]

The s.s. 'Olaveaga' under construction at the yard Bartram, Haswell & Company of Sunderland and launched on the 7th August 1872.

The s.s. 'Olaveaga' (not as printed the s.s. Olavaega!) under construction at the shipyard Bartram, Haswell & Company of Sunderland was launched on the 7th August 1872. The lower image has been colourised. [797]

TOTAL LOSS OF A CARDIFF STEAMER. THE CREW SAVED. The screw steamer Olaveaga (Captain Stephenson), of Cardiff, of 414 tons register, and about 85 tons cargo, from Penarth for Sables d'Olonne, with coal, belonging to Mr M. Angel, of Cardiff, is reported totally lost on Monday morning, off Sables. Fortunately the whole of the crew are saved. As the entrance to Sables lies very flat, formed of low sand banks, it is supposed she ran ashore during thick weather. The screw steamer Brittany, which arrived at Cardiff on Monday, from Charente, reports having passed the Olaveaga on Saturday, at 7 a.m., steering S.E. 20 miles off Belle Isle. Weather very hazy at the time. - South Wales Daily News [325] [361] 18th November 1884.

THE LOSS OF THE OLAVEAGA. CONCLUSION OF THE BOARD OF TRADE INQUIRY. The Board of Trade inquiry into the loss of the s.s. Olaveaga, of Swansea, was concluded at Swansea on Thursday before Mr. Fowler. The court found the master guilty of a serious error of judgment, almost amounting to culpable carelessness, in taking the south-west passage into the Sound, off Sables d'Olonne, when the south-east passage was open to him. Taking into consideration his good character they did not suspend his certificate. - Weekly Mail [067] [361] 24th January 1885.