On this day in 1859, 2 ships – the Mirabita and the Sentinel – sank on the back of the Wight coast in a Force 8 gale, with the loss of at least 12 lives.
The Mirabita was a small Maltese sailing barque carrying a cargo of oats from Marseilles to London. It was blown ashore onto Grange Chine.
Local men could hear the screams of the sailors on board the vessel but could do nothing to help their plight.
The following day, the bodies of captain Salvador Miribita and 6 of his crew were recovered from the shore. The body of the captain’s brother-in-law Francisco Tanli was also found further up the coast.
Exactly a year after they had been lost in the shipwreck, the remains of Mirabita’s crew were disinterred and shipped home to be buried in their native land of Malta.
The very same night, another ship, the Sentinel – carrying a cargo of slate – came to ground along the same stretch of coast. Only 4 seamen were saved. The bodies of the lost crew washed ashore over the following days. They were buried in Brighstone churchyard.
The tragedy of 2 sunken vessels encouraged local vicar, the Revd John Pellew Gaze, to campaign for a local lifeboat. However, it was a decade before the first lifeboat made an appearance.
The new local lifeboat was christened The Rescue.
Great stories IE please keep them coming.
Big thumbs up, makes a change from reading all the horrible stuff going on right now.
Agree it is interesting yet only ‘horrible stuff’ from years ago.
As we all know, good news is rarely interesting to readers.
Echo is a wonderful site imo
Great story, last bit not entirely correct. The Brighstone vicar assembled a local group one week later, which originated the Isle of Wight Lifeboat Board. As a result, two new RNLI lifeboats were installed by the following October, at Brooke (sic) and Grange Chine. Fundraising took place across the Island, and the Board continues to this day.
Thank you for the additional and correct infromation.