At around midday on 17 August 1831, she left Liverpool carrying 150 passengers. She had been intended to leave at 10 am but was delayed by the weather and the late arrival of a passenger.
On leaving the Merseyestuary, she encountered a strong NNW wind and a rough sea. One of the passengers went to see the captain, a Captain Atkinson, to ask him to return to port, but he found Atkinson drunk and unwilling to consider turning back. By 10 pm the ship had still only reached the Great Orme and the ship was found to have two feet of water in the stokehold. The pumps were found not to work, there was not even a bucket available for bailing, and the single lifeboat (shipboard) had a hole in the bottom and had no oars. At around 1 am on 18 August the Rothsay Castle ran aground on Dutchman Bank and after a while broke up, the captain and the two mates being swept to their death when the funnel collapsed. Twenty three passengers were rescued in the morning.
Bodies were washed up over a wide area of Anglesey and the Welsh mainland. An inquest was held at Beaumaris and the jury concluded:
had the Rothsay Castle been a seaworthy vessel and properly manned, this awful calamity might have been averted. They therefore cannot disguise their indignation at the conduct of those who could place such a vessel on this station ...
As a result of this man-made disaster, a lifeboat was established at Penmon on the south-east tip of Anglesey in 1832 and Trwyn Du Lighthouse built there in 1837.
Victims' grave in Llanfaes churchyard
Trwyn Du lighthouse, Penmon
Referencesedit
Ivor Wynne Jones (1973) Shipwrecks of North Wales (David & Charles)
External linksedit
Media related to Rothsay Castle (ship, 1816) at Wikimedia Commons
rothsay, castle, 1816, rothsay, castle, also, spelt, rothesay, castle, paddle, steamer, built, 1816, service, river, clyde, scotland, later, transferred, liverpool, england, where, used, trips, along, coast, north, wales, shipwrecked, lavan, sands, welsh, trae. The Rothsay Castle also spelt Rothesay Castle was a paddle steamer built in 1816 for service on the River Clyde Scotland and was later transferred to Liverpool England where she was used for day trips along the coast of North Wales She was shipwrecked on the Lavan Sands Welsh Traeth Lafan at the eastern end of the Menai Strait North Wales in 1831 with the loss of 130 lives HistoryNameRothsay CastleOwnerLiverpool amp Beaumaris Packet CompanyLaunched1816FateWrecked on 18 August 1831General characteristicsClass and typePaddle steamerTonnage75 GRTLength93 ft 28 m Beam16 ft 4 9 m Depth8 ft 10 in 2 69 m PropulsionPaddle propulsion 2 cylinder compound engine 2 boilersFinal voyage edit nbsp The wreck of the Rothsay CastleAt around midday on 17 August 1831 she left Liverpool carrying 150 passengers She had been intended to leave at 10 am but was delayed by the weather and the late arrival of a passenger On leaving the Mersey estuary she encountered a strong NNW wind and a rough sea One of the passengers went to see the captain a Captain Atkinson to ask him to return to port but he found Atkinson drunk and unwilling to consider turning back By 10 pm the ship had still only reached the Great Orme and the ship was found to have two feet of water in the stokehold The pumps were found not to work there was not even a bucket available for bailing and the single lifeboat shipboard had a hole in the bottom and had no oars At around 1 am on 18 August the Rothsay Castle ran aground on Dutchman Bank and after a while broke up the captain and the two mates being swept to their death when the funnel collapsed Twenty three passengers were rescued in the morning Bodies were washed up over a wide area of Anglesey and the Welsh mainland An inquest was held at Beaumaris and the jury concluded had the Rothsay Castle been a seaworthy vessel and properly manned this awful calamity might have been averted They therefore cannot disguise their indignation at the conduct of those who could place such a vessel on this station As a result of this man made disaster a lifeboat was established at Penmon on the south east tip of Anglesey in 1832 and Trwyn Du Lighthouse built there in 1837 nbsp Victims grave in Llanfaes churchyard nbsp Trwyn Du lighthouse PenmonReferences editIvor Wynne Jones 1973 Shipwrecks of North Wales David amp Charles External links edit nbsp Media related to Rothsay Castle ship 1816 at Wikimedia Commons 53 17 00 N 04 00 30 W 53 28333 N 4 00833 W 53 28333 4 00833 Rothsay Castle shipwreck Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title PS Rothsay Castle 1816 amp oldid 1176838329, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
