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Description
The sloop ORION was one of the shipping losses during the Royal Charter Gale, 25-26 October 1859. It was a wooden sloop (or smack - sources differ) completed at Nefyn in April 1849. The sloop's port of Caernarvon Shipping Register entry (shown in the image above) provides us with a technical description:
24 94/100 tons burthen. 1 deck, 1 masts, that her length from the inner part of the Main Stem to the fore part of the Stern Post aloft is 40.4ft, her breadth taken in midships is 13.3ft, her depth in hold at midships is 7.2ft, that she is a Sloop rigged with a running bowsprit, square stern, carvel built, frame and plank wood, sailing vessel.
If you pass your mouse over this image, you'll find more information about the Welsh people closely associated with sloop during its service life.
The image reveals that, in 1854, John Roberts of Porthmadoc was the owner and master. The sloop's first owner recorded in 1849 was Richard Hughes of Tydweiliog, shopkeeper, and her first master, David Hughes. By time of loss, ownership had been transferred from John Roberts to John Timothy of Porthmadoc, on 14 July 1856. John Timothy had sold the vessel on by 6 March 1858 to William Roberts of Penrhyn, mariner.
The ORION was carrying a cargo of roofing slate when it foundered off St David's Head with the loss of the 3 crewmembers.
Sources include:
Board of Trade Wreck Return 1859 Table 19 pg26 (529)
Mercantile Navy List 1858, pg286 (online source Google books)
Port of Caernarvon Shipping Register 1849 - 1855, Gwynedd Archive Service XSR/15, 7 in 1849
Port of Caernarvon Shipping Register 1849 - 1855, Gwynedd Archive Service XSR/15, 11 in 1854
Port of Caernarvon Shipping Register Transactions Book1 1855-58, Gwynedd Archive Service XSR/20, folio 94
The sloop was carrying slate when it was lost. Which Welsh ports are most associated with the slate trade?
What number do you need to multiply the imperial feet and inches measurements for the length and breadth by in order to convert them to modern metres? How many people of your height might be able to lie head to toe on the ORION?
What is believed to be the origin of the 64 share system, said to date back to the time of the Tudor queen Elizabeth I?
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