Monomoy

The steel steamship Monomoy was launched from the yard of Bartram and Haswell and Co Ltd., Sunderland (Yard No 152) on 19th July 1892. She measured 310.0′ x 41.1′ x 18.5′ and her tonnage was 2783 gross tons, 1793 net tons. She was powered by a triple expansion steam engine by G Clark, Sunderland delivering 350 registered horse power. Built for the Manhanset Steamship Co Ltd., Liverpool she was registered in Bristol intended for the North Atlantic route.

In January 1896 she was en route from New York to Leith with a 3200 ton general cargo, mainly of wheat, under the command of Captain F J Duck who had a crew of twenty seven men aboard. On 5th January they approached the Scottish coast, intending to make a passage through the Pentland Firth, and Cape Wrath was sighted three or four miles south. The weather was clear but, as they steamed east, the crew could see that a dense fog was obscuring the land to their south and the horizon ahead. Captain Duck wisely decided that the poor visibility and the strong tidal flows of the area made a passage through the Pentland Firth too dangerous and instead steered a course to pass north of Orkney before turning south once more and continuing the voyage. However, this sensible decision was not followed by the necessary caution to avoid a disaster. The captain failed to establish his exact position as the course change to the north east was made somewhere off Strathie Point and continued to drive his ship at 10 knots into the dark night. In fact the weather even began to clear allowing the captain to compound his error by adjusting his course to north by east steering closer to land to reduce the delay to the voyage to a minimum. This was to be his final error. At 2.55am on 6th January Monomoy ran aground south of Marwick Head on the Orkney mainland. The sea was relatively calm leaving the ship and the crew in no immediate danger.

The ship’s mate managed to scramble ashore and proceeded to Stromness to summon assistance. The lighthouse steamer Pole Star set off for the wreck and was soon able to take off most of the crew leaving the mate and four crewmen aboard hoping that something could be done to save the ship. Two days later the salvage vessel Empress of India of the East Coast Salvage Association arrived in Orkney but by this time the hull was well holed and water flowing throughout her cargo spaces as the westerly swell continued to move the ship around on the rocks. Work began to save as much of the cargo as possible while the weather held but two days later, after a storm hit the area, she began to break up. A week later she was reported to have broken in two. She was to become a total wreck. The wreck was sold for scrap on 12th February. At the subsequent enquiry into the loss the Captain Duck was found to have navigated the ship without due care to the weather and tidal conditions prevailing – his master’s certificate was suspended for six months.

There is some scattered wreckage ashore in Marwick Bay in approximate position 59° 05.800′ N, 003°20.740′ W which is most likely the remnants of the salvage operation. It is not known if any wreckage remains under water.