The STUART came to rest almost broadside on to the shore. Iron ribs and several section of riveted plate can be seen at low water. The bows are to the north on the rock and the stern is flat on the seabed. The ship's frames have collapsed outwards and now stand 1/5m proud of the seabed. The remains are covered in kelp. A cracked willow patter saucer has been recovered and reported to the Receiver of Wreck. Other items recovered from the STUART may be seen in the Nefyn Maritime Museum.
Event and Historical Information:
The STUART was an iron-hulled barque built by A Stephen & Son, Dundee in 1877. Technical and configuration specifications given as 912gt,881nt; 202ft 5in length x 34ft 2in breadth x 19ft 1in depth; 1 bulkhead, quarterdeck 33ft, forecastle 20ft. At time of loss the barque was owned by W M Nicholson, Liverpool, and registered at that port. The barque was carrying cases of spirits (whiskey), pottery, plates, and glass Codd bottles. The latter, made of green glass with glass marble in the neck are marked 'Gifford Plowman & Co, Napier' and were made by Cannington, Shaw & Co, at St Helens, Lancashire. The STUART had left Liverpool for Wellington undertow of a tug to escape Liverpool Bay and gain enough sea room to turn south down the Irish Sea. The barque encountered drizzle and poor visibility on the tack that was to take them clear of the Lleyn peninsula into the Cardigan Bay before taking another tack back towards the Irish coast. Mistaking the ship's position it ran onshore 9 miles north of Bardsey at Porth Colman on 6 April 1901. The crew immediately abandoned ship in their lifeboats and took several hours looking for a suitable landing place. A Liverpool Salvage Association surveyor was sent to the site and reported that the wreck lay a quarter mile from Port Colman, with its bow orientated to the north-east, broadside to the sea. The ship was reported to have an 8-degree list to starboard. The sea was washing in and out of the hold. The Surveyor notes that the ship was likely to break up during the first strong wind from the west. Subsequent reports stated that large boulder had forced its way through the ship's hull before the vessel spit into three sections.
Sources include:
Bennett, T, 1987, Shipwrecks around Wales, Vol 1, pp.98-9
Board of Trade Wreck Return 1901, Appendix C, Table 1, p.137 (785)
Evening Express, 9 April 1901, p.4
Larn and Larn shipwreck database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 April - 30 June 1901, p.10 (g)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1 July 1899 - 30 June 1900, number 957 in S
Receiver of Wreck Droits Database 2007, RCIM6/2/5; letter and printout June 2001 RCIM6/2/5/5
Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, June 2012.
This record was enhanced in 2020 with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of the project ‘Making the Link: Lloyd's Register and the National Monuments Record of Wales’. Visit Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre for more resources.