Daily Event for September 28

For hundreds of years people have risked their lives to get to America, many lost their lives in the attempt. On Four hundred and fifty emigrants, mostly Scots with a few Germans, Irish and French mixed in set sail from Liverpool on the Annie Jane with the hope of starting a new life in the new world. The ship sailed for America using the northern route taking her just south of Barra Island in the Hebrides and it was here that disaster struck. Heavy seas and high wind tossed the ship violently, most likely causing most of the passengers to become sea sick. On the evening of the September 28/29, 1853 a huge wave crashed the ship and collapsed the poop deck killing dozens instantly and causing the ship to begin breaking up. According to the survivors the ship was gone in ten minuets and with it the lives of three hundred and forty eight people who just wanted a new life. Most of the one hundred and two who survived washed up on a large piece of the deck which they managed to hang on to in the savage seas.
© 2005 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com