Stanley Harbour Shipwreck Walk

On Saturday 9th March 15 children and three adults gathered together at Joan and Terry Spruces 'Milestone house', car port entrance.  Joan kindly lent two pieces of coal to show the group a very large chunk and your normal small oval shaped piece.

Sandra started by talking to the group about the Beaver Hanger pre- 1982 and showed them a photo of a land rover towing the beaver out of the sea, onto the slipway.

She also showed the group a sketch from 24th February 1871, where you can clearly see a very busy Stanley Harbour with over 13 ships and 3 row boats.  

The following information on shipwrecks was taken from John Smiths 'Condemned at Stanley' booklet.

Capricorn - Welsh barque, built in 1859 at Cleare Houses, Bideford, Devon by Cox & Son for Madge & Co of Swansea.  The ship sailed from Swansea with a cargo of coal heading for the west coast of South America. Sailing around Cape Horn, the coal caught fire which forced them to head towards shallow waters where the water was pumped out and the Capricorn was refloated. The master had to sail to the Falkland Islands for repairs, but the damage was too much. The Capricorn was surveyed and deemed unseaworthy.

The Capricorn was purchased by Messrs. Dean for use as a storage hulk and lighter and remained afloat in the harbour for many years and was at one point, used by troops in WWII.  The Capricorn ended up in the harbour at the west of of Stanley and her remains can be seen to this day.  

Philomel - Fishing vessel built in Great Britain for the Admiralty in 1945. The Government purchased her in 1948 for mail and passenger service. After twenty years service the Philomel was replaced by the MV Forrest. She was sold and continued sailing working around the Islands until a fateful fire. You can just see remains at low tide just west of Fairy Cove.

The group enjoyed looking through the binoculars following the shoreline before coming into view.

Sandra showed the group a map of the eight planets which have been placed around Stanley Harbour, Wireless Ridge and Mt Tumbledown. The group started their search of the planets along the sea front.

Jhelum - Built in Liverpool in 1849, by Messrs. Steele.  The Jhelum resembled a frigate and was constructed from mahogany, with copper fastenings, and tree nails below the waterline.

The Jhelum began her voyage from Callao heading for Dunkirk in 1870. She was overloaded with cargo. The Jhelum suffered a similar fate to other ships that ended up in and around the Falklands.  Rounding Cape Horn proved difficult and, in desperate need of repair, she sailed towards Stanley in sinking condition. The Jhelum was condemned and scuttled.

The group visited the WWI Battle Memorial for inspection and photo opportunity. Sandra talked briefly about the Battle of the Falklands, the ships involved and the bullet holes which remain in the ship's sail atop the memorial (from 1982 War). 

Moving on Sandra pointed out all the different jetties that were once in the harbour. One in front of Government House, the Water barge Jetty, the Government Jetty, the Public Jetty and FIC Jetty.

Margaret - Canadian barque built at Halifax Nova Scocia in 1836. The ship set off on a voyage from Liverpool to Valparaiso - badly overloaded with coal. She tried for two months to round Cape Horn and began taking water.  The Margaret was surveyed, and condemning followed. She remained afloat and helped coal the SS Great Britain so it could continue its voyage back to Melbourne. The Margaret was used as a base for the Government jetty and the former Air Service Office.

The group then walked as one into the Museum and Sandra talked about a few of the shipwreck exhibits upstairs starting with the Afterglow, Charles Cooper (Transom), Fleetwing and the SS Great Britain (Mizzen Mast).

Lunch break - there was cause to celebrate after the Past Finders won the  'Simon Summers Challenge Cup' at this years Horticultural Show.  For the hard work the children put into growing and harvesting their own vegetables and flowers, Sandra treated them to chocolate cake, pizza, sausage rolls and sandwiches.  Each member of the group was awarded with a medallion to keep.  

Refuelled and ready to go, the group walked towards the Capstan Gift Shop east of Victory Green. Sandra talked about the wrecks of the Charles Cooper, Actaeon and Fennia. Moving on towards the Public Jetty Sandra told the group about the original, and the new jetty.  Looking east they talked about some of the Shipwrecks that were condemned and used for storage by FIC for many years - the Snow Squall, William Shand and Egeria.

Heading east along the seafront, the group stopped at the B-slip and talked about the History of the harbour, 1982, the Cross of Sacrifice, and the WWI and WWII war graves. 

Further on, there was a brief history of the YPF, dairy, rubbish tip and street signs. The final stop was at Hatchie's slaughterhouse and the remains of the Afterglow.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day returning home full of information and fun facts.

Thank you to Saphena Berntsen and Alison Barton for their help during the outing.