Breadalbane 1853
.jpg){kind=link}
Marker: recorded wreck position (Steam era).
Key facts
| Name | Breadalbane | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1853 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Steam era | derived from year |
| Ship type | merchant vessel, barque | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Ice | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Depth | 5.5 m | Wikidata P4511 vertical depth |
| Sea / ocean | The North Western Passages | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Canada | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 7 km from land |
| Position | 74.6833, -91.8333 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
Breadalbane was an 1843 British three-masted merchant barque that was crushed by ice and sank in the Arctic in 1853. Notable as one of the northernmost shipwrecks known, she is also considered one of the best-preserved wooden ships ever found in the sea due to slow deterioration in the cold Arctic water. Historically, Breadalbane is considered to be a time capsule.
On 21 August 1853, she became trapped by an ice floe and was crushed. She sank to the bottom of the Northwest Passage near Beechey Island in Lancaster Sound, approximately 500 miles (800 km) north of the Arctic Circle. Her entire crew of 21 abandoned ship in time and were rescued by her companion, HMS Phoenix.
In August 1980, the wreck was discovered by a five-man team led by Joe MacInnis working from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Sir John A. McDonald. Three years later it was designated a national historic site of Canada because the ship was used in the search for John Franklin's lost expedition.
Location
- Recorded position: 74.6833, -91.8333 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: The North Western Passages
- Nearest coast: Canada
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Breadalbane (ship) (revision 1343744164), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Browse more: North America wrecks · wrecks off Canada · Steam era