HMS Primrose (1807) was a Royal Navy Cruizer-class brig-sloop built by Thomas Nickells (or Nicholls), at Fowey and launched in 1807.[1][2] She was commissioned in November 1807 under Commander James Mein, who sailed her to the coast of Spain on 3 February 1808.
On 14 May 1808 Primrose was in the Tagus with the 14-gun brig Rapid. They saw and chased two merchant feluccas that took shelter under the protection of a shore battery. On 18 May the British decided to try to cut the feluccas out nonetheless, with Rapid leading the way. However, fire from the battery struck Rapid, opening two holes in her bow so that she filled quickly with water. Still, that evening Primrose was able to save Rapid's entire crew.
In January 1809 Primrose sailed for Spain with a convoy. During a snowstorm she ran aground at 5 am on 22 January on Minstrel Rock, The Manacles, a mile offshore, and was wrecked. (The Manacles are a set of treacherous rocks off The Lizard, close to the shipping lane into Falmouth, Cornwall.) The sole survivor was a drummer boy. Lieut. J. Withers of the Manacles Signal Post prevailed on six local men to try to rescue survivors. For their efforts, albeit unsuccessful, the Admiralty directed that the volunteers each receive an award of 10 guineas from the Naval authorities at Falmouth.
(
visit link)
The rocks are in Falmouth Bay and extend about 1 nautical mile east and south-east of Manacle Point, on the east coast of the Lizard Peninsula. The nearest village is Porthoustock.The reef consists of many submerged rocks and several groups of rocks that break the surface, although some only do so at low water. The Middle Manacles in the north consist of Maen Chynoweth or Morah (Cornish: Morhogh, meaning dolphin), Chyronos, Maen Gerrick and the Gwinges, the eastern group has Vase Rock and Pen Vin, the large group in the centre includes the Minstrel Rock, Carn-dhu, Maen Voes (the Voices) and the Quants and Maen Land is in the south-west.
The location of the Manacles - 50deg 2.1015 N
5deg 1.7328 W
There have been over a thousand lives lost from more than one hundred ships that have been wrecked on The Manacles. The reef lying on the eastern approach to the port of Falmouth is one reason for a large number of wrecks, although some ships such as the SS Mohegan were many miles off course when they ploughed into the rocks.
Many of the well-known wrecks are in the central group where depths are less than 6 metres (20 ft) for an area of 300 by 200 metres (980 by 660 ft). These wrecks include:
HMS Primrose, an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop, sank on 22 January 1809, with only one of the 126 onboard surviving.
The John carrying 263 emigrants to Canada, sank on the Maen Land in May 1855, and only 86 survived.
Spyridon Vagliano, a Greek steamer carrying grain from Novorossijsk to Falmouth sank on 8 February 1890 with the loss of 14 of the 22 crew.
SS Mohegan sank on 14 October 1898 with 106 fatalities.
Immortalised by the Dundonian poet William McGonagall in his poem "The Wreck of the Steamer Mohegan."
In 1885 Trinity House was petitioned for a lightship to be moored near the rocks. Over the previous ten years, sixteen vessels, with 693 crew and passengers were wrecked and the value of the ships and their cargoes was estimated to be about £100,000.
(
visit link)