SS Treveal (1919)

SS Treveal was a cargo ship that sank on its maiden voyage on 9 January 1920, in one of the deadliest maritime incidents off the Jurassic Coast on the English Channel coast of southern England.

Treveal was built by Harland & Wolff.[1] Owned by the Hain Steamship Co. Ltd.,[2] it was steam powered.[3] In early 1920, the vessel was on a voyage from Calcutta, India, to Dundee, Scotland,[4] carrying a cargo of jute and manganese ore.[1] On 9 January 1920, the ship was wrecked off the Dorset coast in extremely stormy conditions.[5] It broke in two after running aground on Kimmeridge Ledge below St Aldhelms Head,[5] and finally sank just outside Chapman's Pool.[6]

The next morning, the crew was rescued by lifeboats, though 36 of the 43 men were lost.[7] Among those confirmed dead was Ernest Henry Hutchinson, the first mate and a veteran of the First World War.[8] Most of the bodies were interred in the churchyard at Worth Matravers.[5] Reverend Horace Piercey and local fisherman Frank Lander were awarded bronze medals by the Royal Humane Society for their part in the rescue.[7] The cargo was salvaged, but little of the ship now remains.[9] The Board of Trade subsequently launched an inquiry into the sinking.[10]

• The Loss of the SS Treveal by David Pushman

• List of ships lost on their maiden voyage
• List of shipwrecks in 1920
• List of ships built by Harland & Wolff