Sinking of the emigrant ship Cospatrick (1874)

The emigrant ship Cospatrick caught fire in the South Atlantic on 18 November 1874, resulting in 470 deaths. This disaster is considered the worst maritime disaster in New Zealand's history, despite occurring outside its waters. The ship was a Blackwall frigate built in 1856 and operated by Shaw, Savill & Co.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. Cospatrick was a wooden three-masted full-rigged Blackwall frigate built in Moulmein, Burma, in 1856 for Duncan Dunbar. She primarily traded between England and India before being sold to Shaw, Savill & Co. in 1873. The company used her to carry cargo and emigrants from England to New Zealand.

Voyage. The ship departed Gravesend for Auckland on 11 September 1874, carrying 433 passengers and 44 crew members under Captain Alexander Elmslie. The voyage was otherwise uneventful until about 12:45 a.m. on 18 November 1874, when a fire broke out on board south of the Cape of Good Hope.

Disaster. A fire broke out on board around 12:45 a.m. on 18 November 1874. The disaster resulted in 470 deaths, leaving only three survivors from the 472 persons on board. This event is remembered as one of the worst disasters associated with New Zealand-bound emigrant shipping.

People involved

Sources

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.