Belem Shipwreck Cornwall
by Richard Brookes
Title
Belem Shipwreck Cornwall
Artist
Richard Brookes
Medium
Photograph
Description
A very low tide at Sandymouth beach North Cornwall near Northcott Mouth, north of Bude, Cornwall, England, UK. Just appearing is all that remains, probably boilers?, of the the wreck of the 1,925 ton Portuguese steamship "Belem" (formerly the German SS Rhodos) stranded in thick fog at Northcott Mouth, Bude, on 20th November 1917 while on passage from Gibraltar to Barry with ballast. The crew of 33 including two Royal Navy gunners (she was armed with a light gun aft), were brought ashore by rocket apparatus. She soon broke her back and was deemed a constructive total loss, being later broken up for scrap. The remains are not always visible except on occasion when heavy seas scoop away the covering sand, In the 1980's(?) a team of local enthusiasts recovered her propeller shaft which was donated to Bude Museum. Also understand that another part of the shaft was used to perch the barrel on Barrel Rock at the end of Bude Sea Breakwater.
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September 21st, 2014
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Viewed 2,428 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/28/2024 at 2:49 AM
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Comments (4)
Ingvild Carmen
Love this! So amazing!
Richard Brookes replied:
Thank you Ingvild, I'm really pleased you like it. I have some other photos of the wreck site on here - there's a separate gallery - in case you haven't seen them! :)
Laurie Search
This is a really interesting and beautiful image, Richard! Wonderful composition!! :)))
Richard Brookes replied:
Thank you Laurie. Really pleased you like it. I liked the incongruous nature of the wreck with such beautiful surroundings. This was taken a couple of years ago. In March this year I came across it again & winter storms had removed several feet of sand and a lot more was exposed. It was amazing. If you're interested these other photos are at http://fineartamerica.com/featured/propeller-steamship-belem-shipwreck-richard-brookes.html and http://fineartamerica.com/featured/steamship-belem-shipwreck-propeller-shaft-richard-brookes.html and http://fineartamerica.com/featured/wreck-of-the-belem-richard-brookes.html :o)