Wreck of British ship found off Mexico

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaki ... 6659077376" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MEXICAN marine archaeologists have located the wreck of the 19th-century British ship HMS Forth, which sank off the Yucatan Peninsula 164 years ago.

The ship, which belonged to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, sank after hitting the Alacranes reef.

HMS Forth went down on the night of January 14, 1849, while sailing to Bermuda.

The ship's crew made it to a nearby island, was rescued by a steam ship and reached Havana.

A National Anthropology and History Institute team led by archaeologist Helena Barba Meinecke explored the northern section of the reef and spotted metal items on the sea floor that gave researchers clues that it was a mail ship.

One of the other wrecks found in the area may be that of HMS Tweed, another Royal Mail Steam Packet Company vessel that sank in 1847, or of the Belgian ship Charlote, which went to the bottom in 1853.

Research conducted from 2010 to 2012 turned up historical references to 25 shipwrecks.

Marine archaeologists are planning other expeditions to explore additional wrecks, the institute said.

[Lounge Lizard]

"HMS Forth went down on the night of January 14, 1849, while sailing to Bermuda." - the triangle was to blame.

[capitalbiker]

one for the pedants

should have been RMS not HMS surely

[hopkirk]

thats the q of s figures down for that week

[fb1969]

Will they be able to do the relatives for wilful delay?

[Lounge Lizard]

one for the pedants

should have been RMS not HMS surely

Royal Mail Ship (sometimes Steam-ship or Steamer), usually seen in its abbreviated form RMS, a designation which dates back to 1840, is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. Any vessel designated as RMS has the right to both fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing and to include the Royal Mail "crown" logo with any identifying device and/or design for the ship.
It was used by many shipping lines, but is often associated in particular with the Cunard Line, Royal Mail Lines and Union-Castle Line, which held a number of high-profile mail contracts, and which traditionally prefixed the names of many of their ships with the initials "RMS".
While some lines in the past, particularly the Royal Mail Lines, called all their ships RMS, technically a ship would use the prefix only while contracted to carry mail, and would revert at other times to a standard designation such as "SS".
Originally the Admiralty operated these ships.
The designation "RMS" has been used since 1840. In 1850 contracts were awarded to private companies. Having the title "RMS" was seen as a mark of quality and a competitive advantage, because the mail had to be on time.
The most valuable route, with the highest volume, was between Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), in Ireland, and Holyhead in Wales. The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo) won the contract. They bought RMS St Columa and RMS Llwywllyn from the Admiralty to supplement their Prince Arthur.
In the CDSPCo contract, in 1860, there was a penalty clause of £1 1s 4d for every minute's delay.
The Canadian Pacific Railway's trans-Pacific Royal Mail contract required the building of the first three of a fleet of steamships: the Empress of China, Empress of India and Empress of Japan which regularly sailed between Vancouver and Asia beginning in 1891.
The RMS designation was also used on the ships White Star Line, P&O and the Cunard lines of the 19th and 20th century.

[TrueBlueTerrier]