15‭ ‬February‭ ‬1853:‭ ‬The loss of the paddle steamship,‭ ‬the Queen Victoria on this day.‭ ‬She went down on the rocks off the Bailey Lighthouse on Howth head on this day.‭ ‬Over‭ ‬80‭ ‬lives were lost as she struck this outcrop of the peninsula in a blinding snowstorm.

This precipitous portion of the coast was the scene of a lamentable shipping disaster in‭ ‬1853.‭ ‬The steamship‭ ‬Queen Victoria,‭ ‬on a voyage from Liverpool to Dublin,‭ ‬with about‭ ‬100‭ ‬passengers and cargo,‭ ‬struck on the southern side of the Casana rock during a dense snowstorm,‭ ‬between‭ ‬2‭ ‬and‭ ‬3‭ ‬o'clock on the morning of the‭ ‬15th February.‭ ‬Eight of the passengers managed to scramble overboard on to the rocks,‭ ‬from which they made their way up the cliffs to the Bailey Lighthouse.‭ ‬The captain,‭ ‬without further delay,‭ ‬ordered the vessel to be backed,‭ ‬so as to float her clear of the rocks,‭ ‬but she proved to be more seriously injured than was imagined,‭ ‬and began to fill rapidly when she got into deep water.‭ ‬Drifting helplessly towards the Bailey,‭ ‬she struck the rocky base of the Lighthouse promontory,‭ ‬and sank in fifteen minutes afterwards,‭ ‬with her bowsprit touching the shore.‭ ‬The‭ ‬Roscommon‭ ‬steamer fortunately happened to pass while the ill-fated vessel was sinking,‭ ‬and,‭ ‬attracted by the signals of distress,‭ ‬Promptly put out all her boats and rescued between‭ ‬40‭ ‬and‭ ‬50‭ ‬of the passengers.‭ ‬About‭ ‬60,‭ ‬however,‭ ‬were drowned,‭ ‬including the captain.

After a protracted inquest extending over several days,‭ ‬the jury found that the disaster was due to the culpable negligence of the captain and the first mate,‭ ‬in failing to slacken speed during a snowstorm which obscured all lights,‭ ‬they well knowing at the time that they were approaching land.‭ ‬The mate was subsequently put on trial for manslaughter.

It was believed by many that if the captain had not,‭ ‬in the first instance,‭ ‬backed off the rocks into deep water,‭ ‬all on board could have been saved.

From‭ ‬:‭ ‬The Neighbourhood of Dublin by Weston St.‭ ‬John Joyce.


A subsequent Board of Trade inquiry blamed the ship's captain and first officer, as well as the lighthouse crew. A fog bell was supposed to have been installed in the lighthouse in 1846, seven years earlier, but was delayed due to costs of other construction projects. The bell was finally installed in April 1853, as a result of the Queen Victoria shipwreck and the subsequent inquiry.

At least one attempt to raise the ship was made afterwards, which failed, and the ship was salvaged where she lay. The wreck is still in place.

Members of the Marlin Sun Aqua Club, Dublin discovered the wreck in 1983. They reported their discovery to the authorities, and were in part responsible for having the first Underwater Preservation Order placed on a shipwreck in Irish waters. They also carried out the first underwater survey on such a wreck. The wreck was the first to be protected by The National Monuments Act (Historic Wreck), when the order was granted in 1984, thanks to representations made by Kevin Crothers, IUART, and the Maritime Institute of Ireland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS_Queen_Victoria_(1838)