Archaeological remains associated with the loss of this vessel are not confirmed as present at this location, however they may possibly be in the vicinity.

Event and Historical Information:
The ALTHEA was built at Medford in 1847. Technical and configuration specification are given as barque rigged, 118ft long x 26ft 4in breadth x 19ft depth, 492nt. The ALTHEA was owned at time of loss by J Munch, Grimstadt, Norway and registered at that port. The barque was enroute from Swansea to Christiana when it was driven ashore during a gale on 13 December 1893. The crew of the ALTHEA managed to take to their ship's boat and where picked up by the Port Enynon lifeboat after the ship's boat was located by a light at the mast head. The ALTHEA quickly went to pieces.

Sources include:

Board of Trade Wreck Return 1893, Appendix C, Table 1, p.135 (495)
Larn and Larn shipwreck database 2002
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 October - 31 December 1893, p.7
Norkse Veritas 1889, number 138 in A
Rees, P H, 1978, Gower Shipwrecks, p.76
South Wales Echo, 14 December 1893, p.3

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, January 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.