More information : Wreck Site and Archaeological Remains:
Horizontal Datum: OGB
Vertical Datum: LAT
Method of Fix: PHOT (1)
02-MAR-1960: Wreck capsized in position 50 12 50N, 003 47 02W in Starehole Bay at the entrance to Salcombe Harbour. A very small portion shows at Low Water Spring Tides. It was observed that a stump, situated towards the centre of the area of wreckage and possibly made of wood, dried at least 1 foot at Low Water. It is not known whether this is the stump of the beacon which was erected to mark wreck. It is confirmed that the wreckage is broken up into at least three portions.
28-MAY-1963: Report of survey by I.S.S., 18-AUG-1961. The mast dries at 11 feet.
18-OCT-1967: Wreck badly broken up. Lies in 30 feet of water. There is a large quantity of chain to be found as well as planking etc. A huge mast straddles the wreck, broken in several places.
14-FEB-1969: Mast removed but the wreck still poses a danger at Low Water Spring Tides.
02-MAR-1981: Lies very broken up in about 20 feet of water, with bow section rising to within 10 feet of the surface.
24-FEB-1981: Examined in 50 12 49.5N, 003 46 58.5W. Least depth - dries 0.2m in general depth 4m. Scour 0.5m, lying on sloping sand seabed. Air photo of March 1981 shows wreck lying 120/300 degrees, centred on 50 12 49.5N, 003 47 01W.
11-JUL-1985: Examined in flat calm conditions, least depth obtained was 1.5m. (1)
1987: She lies very broken in Starehole Bay (formerly Stair Hole) at 50 12.49N, 003 47.01W. The bow locker, cleats and masts can still be seen. There are steam funnels amongst the wreckage, which at the deepest are 7m. The bow points out to sea and she has standing ribs, along with an anchor chain running seaward. The bow section can dry out at extremely low water and as a result her bow is usually buoyed. (11)
Artefact collections are held at Salcombe Maritime Museum and artefacts and newspaper cuttings are held at Overbecks House (National Trust). (2-7)
Remains of submerged wreck visible on air photograph. (8)
The Tamworth Sub-Aqua Club have adopted the wreck under the Nautical Archaeology Society Adopt-a-Wreck Scheme. A thorough survey of the site is planned for 2002 and this will be followed by regular visits thereafter. (9)
Her outline can be recognised from the coastal path. (11)
A large lead letter "N" was recovered in the vicinity of the stern of the wreck on the sand, Starehole Bay, during an archaeological assessment of the wreck site, as part of a larger project focused on the Salcombe/Kingsbridge Estuary area as a whole. (Droit 191/05) (13)
The master's cabin is preserved in the Ålands Sjöfartsmuseum, Mariehamn. (14)
The wreck has been mapped from aerial photographs. It appears as a relatively complete outline under the water in 1959 but by 2007 it appears to have been partly broken up or covered over. (15-17)
Various items recovered from the wreck of the HERZOGIN CECILIE were sold at auction in 2002. (18)
Wreck Event and Documentary Evidence:
The HERZOGIN CECILIE went aground at Soar Mill Cove, whilst on passage from Falmouth, and was later refloated and beached at Starehole Bay, where she capsized.
The HERZOGIN CECILIE, nicknamed the Duchess because she was named after the Duchess Cecilie and carried a romantic carving of her as a figurehead, was a four-masted ship built in Germany in 1902 for £43,000. One of the last of her class to be built specifically as a sail training vessel, for the first 12 years she sailed for Norddeutscher Lloyd Company; between 1914 and 1920 she was interned in Chilean waters and then in 1921 she was transferred to Finnish ownership.
At the end of January 1936 she left Port Lincoln, one of 16 windjammers loading grain and was the first of these vessels to arrive in European waters, taking 86 days. She received orders to leave Falmouth, where she had been lying in the bay, for Ipswich. She was travelling up the channel in a moderate south-westerly and in rain when the wind dropped and the rain became fog. At 3am she hit the Ham Stone off Soar Mill Cove (pronounced "Sewer"). The mate described it: "The ship lifted, then struck again with a sickening thud; then the swell lifted her again and she drifted away from the hump or rock head and broadside on, current or wind carried her towards a steep cliff on the port side. The Captain ordered me to let go both anchors, the ship took ground perhaps a cable length from the cliff". Holed in the forepeak, she settled by the head. Distress flares and rockets were seen by the coastguard. When a Danish seaman offered to swim ashore permission was initially refused, as one man had already been lost, but was given later. He returned with the news that there were only sheer cliffs ashore. Just as they were putting the ship's boats over, the Salcombe lifeboat arrived and took off all the women and passengers, and 21 of the crew, leaving 8 on board (the Captain and his wife, 2 mates and 4 crew).
'A full-rigged four masted sailing ship, this vessel cost £43,000 to build, planned as a crack German cadet training ship, and her first 12 years of service saw her owned by the Norddeutscher Lloyd Company, cadet manned. She was interned in Chile during WW1, from 1914-20, then transferred in 1921 to Finnish ownership, purchased by Capt. Gustaf Eriksson, under whom she made several record runs from Australia to Europe with grain, in what were called the annual 'grain-races'. She sailed from Port Lincoln in January 1936, one of 16 ships bringing home grain, making the passage in 86 days. After calling at Falmouth, she struck the Ham Stone at 4am in foggy conditions. The Salcombe lifeboat took off most of her crew at 8am, then stood by. She lay there for seven weeks before being towed into Starehole Bay, her decks awash her holds full of water. Carrying 52,514 bags of wheat, 464 tons were saved, the rest rotting as the ship broke up.' (10)
Divers from Plymouth inspected the hull with little success, but it was decided to salvage as much of the cargo as possible. A breeches buoy was set in place in the afternoon. Sails and rope were taken ashore and a small coaster shifted 450 tons of undamaged grain from the wreck. The rest of the cargo had started to swell and had begun to push up part of the decks. On the 19th June 1936 she was moved to Starehole Bay and allowed to settle of a sandy bed, with rock underneath, with the help of pumps and two tugs, the TREVOL and ALEXANDRE, along with a 14ft tide. (The first choice had been Salcombe but the fear of upsetting the tourist trade with the pungent smell of rotting grain meant permission was refused.). A rope bridge was rigged ashore and Cambridge University students and other volunteers started to clear the rotting wheat out of her. She became a major tourist attraction. She was open to the public, boat trips were organised around her and a public fund was set up. As the operation continued, she worked her way into the sand. On the 18th July a south-easterly gale into the bay popped rivets and the decks buckled. The wreck was sold to Messrs Noyce of Kingsbridge for £225. The figurehead was removed and taken back to Mariehamn, on the orders of Gustav Erickson, and the chart room along with the spiral staircase were sold locally for £25. Despite this, her masts were still visible for 11 months until a storm finished her off. (11)(12)
Built: 1902 (10)
Launched: April 1902
Builder: Rickmers AG (10)
Where Built: Bremerhaven (10)
Built for: Norddeutscher Lloyd Company (10)
Construction: 4 masts
Master: S Eriksson [indexed as such in (10), but named in text quoted in (10) as Gustav Eriksson]
Crew: 31 (10)
Owner: Gustaf Eriksson [quoted in text of (10), but not indexed in that source]; Gustav Erickson (11)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss |