SV Hydaspes (1880)

Hydaspes was a large British iron sailing ship, originally built as a steamship in 1852 by C. J. Mare & Co. at Blackwall, London, then later converted into a sailing ship after sale in 1868. By the time of her loss she was registered at 2,092 tons net, owned by James Park of London and others, and outward bound from Gravesend to Melbourne. She carried 47 crew, 40 passengers, and around 2,000 tons of cargo, making her no small coaster, but a proper long-distance emigrant and cargo ship heading for Australia. Naturally, she had barely cleared the English coast before the Channel decided to behave like a Victorian murder mystery with poor visibility.

On 17 July 1880, Hydaspes was under tow by the tug Napoleon in thick fog off the Kent coast when she collided with the steamship Centurion near the Dungeness / Dover approach. The inquiry records that Centurion struck Hydaspes just abaft the fore rigging on the starboard side, cutting her down below the waterline. Passengers and crew scrambled aboard Centurion, while her master, chief mate and pilot left by the tug’s boat shortly before Hydaspes sank with everything still aboard. Crucially, the crew and passengers were saved, which is a rare civilised moment in Channel wreck history. For divers, Hydaspes has the pull of a big lost sailing ship: emigrant voyage, Australian-bound cargo, fog, collision, towline drama and a wreck story rich enough to make even a lump of iron seabed feel personal.