Marine Disasters and Shipwrecks of Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador has been the site of hundreds of shipwrecks throughout the last two centuries. The area has had many more shipwrecks than Sable Island. Shipwrecks on these treacherous coasts were frequent. Every year steamers and other types of vessels mistook their positions and went to their doom on the rocks. Many of the accidents happened during the summer and fall, when the weather is foggy but comparatively mild. The strong currents that drove vessels miles off their course and lack of foghorns and lighthouses were all major contributing factors to the loss of shipping. Marine Disasters and Shipwrecks of Newfoundland and Labrador was originally published in 1986. Meanwhile, so many new photographs and stories have since surfaced that it was decided to split the work into two separate volumes in chronological order, one from 1822 to 1938 and the second from 1939 to 1989. These two volumes are being reprinted in 2004 with additional stories and photographs, this time from 1822 to 1945, and from 1945 to 1998. Marine Disasters and Shipwrecks Volume 1 is the first of these two volumes.