Underley

Official Number 54549

The Underley was an iron full-rigged ship built by the Lune Shipbuilding Company in 1866, a year after the Wennington. She was wrecked at Luscombe on the Isle of Wight on the 22nd September 1871, during a violent SE gale. She was owned by the Lancaster Shipowners Company and was bound for Melbourne with 30 passengers and a general cargo (cotton goods, machinery and gunpowder) valued at £30,000. The passengers and all of the crew except for one man (said to have returned to the wreck to collect a canary) saved themselves. Attempts were made to tow the vessel  free, but this was impossible and the ship was abandoned where she lay. It has been claimed that at the time the Underley was the largest sailing ship to have become a total loss.
 

Name	Year Built	Gross Tons	Length (feet)	Breadth (feet)	Depth (feet)	Masts	Figurehead	Stern	Lloyd's Classn.
Underley	1866	1292	225.0	37.1	23.0	3

Sources :

1. There is an excellent  photo of the Underley ashore on the Isle of Wight, in the book "Merchant Sailing Ships 1850-1875; Heyday of Sail" by David R. Macgregor (1984), page 164.
2. Photos of the Underley, including an etching of the wreck scene, can be found through the Picture Australia database. Three photos are in the State Library of Victoria archive, including the etching of the wreck scene, a broadside photo, and another broadside photo of the vessel with sails furled.
3. Various articles & notes sent by Bill Butland.