Sinking of Rochdale and Prince of Wales

Rochdale and Prince of Wales were two troop ships that sank in Dublin Bay in 1807.

Dublin Port had long been dangerous because it was accessible only at high tide and was subject to sudden storms. Many ships were lost while waiting for the tide, but little was done until this disaster. The impact of 400 bodies[1] being washed up on an urban shore effected public and official opinion. This event was the impetus for the building of Dún Laoghaire Harbour.[2]

On 19 November 1807 several ships left Dublin carrying troops bound for the Napoleonic Wars. The next day, two ships, the brig Rochdale and H.M. packet ship Prince of Wales, were caught in gale-force winds and heavy snow and foundered.[3] Troops on Prince of Wales may have been deliberately locked below deck while the ship's captain and crew escaped.[4] No lifeboat was launched. There was looting.

  1. ^ Reports of the numbers lost are contradictory. They vary from 380 to 500. Most published reports say 400
  2. ^ Gilligan, H. A., 1980, Captain William Hutchison and the early Dublin Bay lifeboats. Dublin Historical Record, 2: 43.
  3. ^ "Historical Coastal Walking Tour" (PDF). Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  4. ^ AAI | Physical Landscape Archived 23 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine