SS Stella sinks on Les Casquets with 80 lives lost
- When
- 1899–1900
- Where
- Les Casquets rocks; Guildhall, Westminster
- Episodes
- 2
The SS Stella, a London and South Western Railway passenger ferry, wrecked on the Les Casquets rocks in the English Channel on 30 March 1899. The vessel was traveling from Southampton to Guernsey when it struck the rocks, resulting in significant loss of life. The incident occurred during an Easter crossing, with many passengers on holiday or returning home.
Episodes
- Wrecking on Les Casquets
SS Stella struck the Les Casquets rocks on 30 March 1899 during a crossing from Southampton to Guernsey, resulting in the loss of life.
- Board of Trade Inquiry
A Board of Trade inquiry into the wreck opened in Westminster on 27 April 1900 and lasted six days.
Background and detail
Background. Stella was a passenger ferry built in Glasgow in 1890 for the London and South Western Railway's Southampton to Channel Islands service. She was one of three sister ships constructed by J & G Thomson Ltd. The vessel was operating during the Easter period, carrying passengers traveling to the Channel Islands for holidays or returning home.
Wrecking. On Maundy Thursday, 30 March 1899, Stella departed Southampton for Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, carrying 147 passengers and 43 crew. Approaching the Channel Islands, the ship encountered a fog bank but did not reduce speed. The vessel subsequently wrecked against the Les Casquets rocks, a group of rocks northwest of Alderney.
People involved
- SS Stella · Passenger ferry
- London and South Western Railway · Operator
- Board of Trade · Inquiry authority
Sources
- SS Stella (1890) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-07
- Les Casquets Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-27
- Channel Islands Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-28
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.