This record is for the documented loss of the steamship HENRY BELL on 20 January 1904. The remains of the wreck are located on the foreshore of Whiteford Beach (NPRN 370).

Event and Historical Information:
The HENRY BELL was an iron-hulled steamship built in 1857 at Rutherglen by Thomas B. Seath (Official No. 20524). The vessel was 46gt; 78.7ft length x 17.2ft breadth x 7ft depth; one deck, square stern, clencher built. The ship was registered new at Glasgow in 1858 under the ownership of John Steel and Sons, who owned the vessel until it was transferred to a Swansea registry with a change of ownership in 1903. At time of registry, Christopher Rowland of Swansea, contractor, was the sole owner. However, the vessel's ownership was soon passed to a company called Rowland Steam Lighterage and Salvage Company. The secretary of the company was Frank Rowland.

On 20 January 1904 the HENRY BELL was discharging a cargo of coal at Whiteford Point Beach, Burry Point, when it became stranded. The ship subsequently became a total loss and was sold to be broken up where it lay. The vessel's Swansea registry was eventually closed on 21 November 1904

Sources include:

Bennett, T, Wrecks on Welsh Beaches. 

Board of Trade Wreck Return 1904 Appendix C Table 1 pg135 (639)

Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002

Mercantile Navy List, 1902 p. 174; 1904, p. 187.

Port of Swansea Shipping Register 1898-1907, West Glamorgan Archive Service D/D PRO/RBS/S 1/8, 1 in 1903

J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, August 2023