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

The length and loss location of the SS ABERDARE are comparable to the length and location of shipwreck UKHO 89232 (NPRN 800434) although further research is required to confirm this identification.

Event and Historical Information:
The ABERDARE was an iron-hulled steamship built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Co Ltd, Jarrow, in 1883. The company was set-up in 1851 at Jarrow by Charles Mark Palmer and his brother George. Steamship were completed for several Cardiff owners such as John Cory, the Anning Brothers, Evans Thomas and Morel & Company. Philip Morel registered the vessel new at Cardiff on 12 January 1883. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 1309gt, 842nt; 240ft length x 33ft 2in breadth x 16fst 7in depth; 1 deck, 4 bulkheads, 2 masts schooner rigged, elliptical stern, clencher built, iron framework; screw propulsion powered by twin steam boilers linked to a compound engine producing 99hp (diameter of cylinders 30in and 57in, length of stroke 39in); official number 86497. In May 1883, Morel transferred the ownership of the vessel to a company bearing the vessel's name - the Aberdare Steamship Company Ltd, of 2 Stuart Street, Cardiff - but remained the named managing owner.

At time of loss on 22 March 1899, the vessel was carrying a cargo of coal from Cardiff to St Nazaire. The ship was in collision with the Glasgow registered steamship NIOBE and subsequently foundered 1.5 miles south of Barry Island. March 1899 saw a collision off Barry Island between the steamship Aberdare, loaded with coal for St. Nazaire, and the steamer Niobe of Glasgow, bound for Bristol. The ABERDARE's second engineer, Mr Greatrix of Penarth, was drowned in the incident. The wreck was blown up under the direction of Trinity House in April 1899.

Sources include:

Board of Trade Wreck Return 1899, Appendix C, Table 1, p.156 (728)

Cardiff Court Petty Sessions, Board of Trade Inquiries, number 5908, 8-12 June 1899, Glamorgan Archives CL P/S Cbo BT 166

Jones, G M, and Scourfield, E, 1986, Sully; A village and parish in the Vale of Glamorgan, p.142

Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002

Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 January - 31 March 1899, p.8 (d)

Port of Cardiff Shipping Register 1881-1885, Glamorgan Archives DRBS1/5, folio 70

South Wales Daily News, 23 March 1899, p.4

https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?192980

J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, March 2024.

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.