Atlas

Official Number none

The Atlas was a brig built by William Bowes at Whitehaven and launched on the 15th October 1799.

The Atlas, Capt.Joseph Stockdale, arrived off Lancaster with the Neptune, Capt.Bouch, and the Favourite, Capt.Henry Richardson, on the 25th October 1806, all three vessels from Jamaica, and probably having sailed in convoy for safety.  They were all driven out to sea by the violence of the weather. They all made for Whitehaven, where the Neptune was got into the harbour. The other two vessels failed, and were again driven out to sea. The Favourite, dismasted, went ashore at Barlocco Bay, about ten miles E of Kirkcudbright, on Sunday morning. Her crew were all saved. The Atlas was less fortunate. She had struck on Dumfries sands earlier in the night, and all her eighteen crew, save one man, were lost. Six of these men had boarded the brig off Whitehaven earlier in the day, to try to assist her into the harbour. The one man who was saved floated on some wreckage and was picked up by boat near Blackshaw Sands, near Annan, where some of the cargo was also washed ashore. The Atlas had been carrying rum, sugar, pepper, logwood and fustic. These vessels had encountered a terrific storm from the SSW, and several other vessels, including the Isle of Man packet, were put ashore on the Cumberland coast.

Sources :

1. "Shipbuilding in Whitehaven - A Checklist" by Harry Fancy, Whitehaven Museum (1984) - states lost in the Solway Firth, 25th October 1806.
2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (Underwriters' Green Book) 1806: Atlas, brig, 240 tons, registered at Workington, 7 years old, owned by Whiteside, master Capt.J.Stockdale, voyage Cork - Jamaica.
3. Wreck reported in the Lancaster Gazette, 1st and 8th November 1806. See also the Newcastle Courant, 8th November 1806.
   
4. Wreck info from "Shipwreck Index of the British Isles" Vol.5 by Richard & Bridget Larn, pub. Lloyd's Register (2000) ISBN 1 900839 61 X.
5. Lloyd 's List, 31st October 1806: "The Atlas, Stockdale, from Jamaice for Whitehaven, is totally lost off Bowness, and all the crew."
6. Wreck details also listed on the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland website, citing from Lloyd's List and "Off Scotland" by I.G.Whittaker. The entry states that the crew were all drowned, and numbered 24. This is probably a mistake, as a brig would have been unlikely to have had an original crew as large as 18, prior to the additional six Whitehaven men.

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