Official No. 78423; Code Letters SHKM

Owners: 1879 Callender, White & Hunter, Hartlepool; 1879 R. Ropner & Co. West Hartlepool.

Masters: 1880-82 D Rooke; 1883 Frederick Brown; 1883-90 J Marquest; 1890-92 Grant; 1893 William Hill (C.N.015287).

Voyages: from Benisaf for Rotterdam with iron ore on 9 March 1883 touched ground near the Cataline Reef & sustained damage which was temporarily repaired at Gibraltar so she could get back to the UK & have proper repairs. The cost of these repairs came to almost £15,000 & an inquiry held at Middlesbrough in April 1883 resulted in the master, Frederick Brown of Shields, having his certificate suspended for three months; 22 July 1884 arrived Baltimore; 21 July 1886 from Benisaf for Baltimore she went ashore at Chesapeake but was re-floated after discharging some of her cargo; from Port Royal for the UK with phosphate she arrived at North Sydney, Cape Breton on 7 May 1887 with cracked plates. She had got into heavy ice the previous day & had to jettison 50 tons of cargo as the fore-compartment was full of water.

Northern Guardian 27 November 1893

‘Nothing has been heard of the overdue steamer Harlsey belonging to Messrs R. Ropner & Co of West Hartlepool, whose protracted delay in reaching port was reported in Saturday’s editions of the Northern Guardian. It appears she left Newport on 21 September for Sulina with coal & subsequently loaded in the Azov for Rotterdam with wheat & barley. She passed Gibraltar on 12 November & would, therefore, encounter the full fury of the recent gale in the northern part of the Bay of Biscay or the English Channel. Harlsey was in fine condition after having been extensively repaired last year by Messrs Gray & Co. & T. Richardson & Co. of the Hartlepools. She was built in 1879; was some 2200 tons burden & was registered 100 A1 at Lloyds. The Shipping Gazette reports the arrival at Liverpool of the S.S. Mangars, the crew of which sighted a vessel in the Bay of Biscay which answers very closely the description of the missing steamer. That which corresponds to the description of the Prestonis that the vessel was schooner-rigged, no yards, black funnel & white bulwarks. The rest of the vessel’s description, however, so far as Messrs Ropner & Co know, does not agree with that of the local vessel. The owners are not without hope, for it is quite possible that if the ship has been lost that the crew are saved. For instance the crew of the North Gwalia, which has just arrived at Liverpool, reported having picked up the crew of the Provincia,which was lost during the recent gale. There are only two local members of the crew aboard Harlsey these being William Hill, the captain, who lives at Grange Road, Middlesbrough & William Stokell, first engineer, whose home is in York Road, West Hartlepool.’

On a voyage from Newport to Sulina with a cargo of coal & a crew of 20 in October 1893 Harlsey was in Ukraine near the Sea of Azov where 1,209 tons of wheat & 904 tons of barley were loaded. She left about 30 October for Gibraltar where she arrived on 12 November taking on board 160 tons of bunker coal & then leaving the same day for Rotterdam. On 4 December a body & a lifebelt marked Ropner & Co was picked up near Ushant, France. A body of a boy aged about fourteen was then found near the Isle de Sein in the Atlantic Ocean. On 14 December three bodies were found near Ponmarche with Ropner & Co lifebelts on & a further two bodies with similar lifebelts had washed ashore at the Isle de Sein. One of the bodies was identified as that of James Lawrence. The Board of Trade inquiry held at the Municipal Buildings, West Hartlepool in April 1894 concluded that Harlsey was lost near the Isle of Sein but the exact circumstances were unknown. The crew must have known their vessel was going to be wrecked or founder as the bodies that were found were all wearing lifebelts.

Lives lost November 1894: