Royal Charter (ship)

The Royal Charter sank in an 1859 storm, stimulating the establishment of modern weather forecasting.
History
United Kingdom
NameRoyal Charter
OwnerLiverpool & Australian Steamship Navigation Company
BuilderSandycroft Ironworks, River Dee, Deeside, Wales, UK
Launched1855
FateWrecked on 25 October 1859 at 53°22′17″N 4°15′20″W / 53.37139°N 4.25556°W / 53.37139; -4.25556
General characteristics
Class and typeSteam clipper
Tonnage2,719 GRT
Length236 ft (72 m)
Beam39 ft (12 m)
Depth of hold23 ft (7.0 m)
Installed power200 nhp
Propulsion
  • One boiler
  • Direct acting steam trunk engine
  • One propeller
Scene of the shipwreck
St Gallgo's Church, showing graves. Black and white print on lithograph c. 1860.

Royal Charter was a steam clipper which was wrecked off the beach of Porth Helaeth[1] in Dulas Bay on the northeast coast of Anglesey, Wales on 26 October 1859. About 450 people died,[2] the highest death toll of any shipwreck on the Welsh coast. The precise number of dead is uncertain as the complete passenger list was lost in the wreck, although an incomplete list (not including those who boarded just before departure) is retained in the Victorian Archives Centre in Victoria, Australia. The Royal Charter was the most prominent among about 200 ships wrecked by the Royal Charter Storm.

The Royal Charter was built at the Sandycroft Ironworks on the River Dee and was launched in 1855. She was a new type of ship, a 2,719-ton iron-hulled steam clipper, built in the same way as a clipper ship but with auxiliary coal-fired steam engines which could be used in the absence of suitable winds. The Royal Charter had three clipper masts and a single funnel.[3][4]

The ship was used on the route from Liverpool to Australia, mainly as a passenger ship although there was room for some cargo. There was room for up to 600 passengers, with luxury accommodation in the first class.

  1. ^ www.anglesey-history.co.uk
  2. ^ Copping, Jasper (17 July 2011). "Gold rush shipwreck offers up treasures off Welsh coast after 150 years". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Royal Charter". Graces Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  4. ^ This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Royal Charter – from record holder to shipwreck (13 January 2014) by Katy Roberts published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 19 August 2024.