Volume Eight - Pre-Victorian to the present day - more aspects - Storms and their effects . . .

The schooner, however, by this time had become stranded, and in the effort to get her off the line snapped asunder. The tug again made an effort to reach the schooner, but in the attempt was thrown upon the beach with terrific violence.

During the operations a large number of persons had congregated at the pier-head, from which position a view could be had of the two vessels. Signals of distress were immediately hoisted, and the crew belonging to the lifeboat stationed at Penarth were soon in attendance. Owing to the proximity of the stranded ships to Penarth Point, the lifeboat men were enabled, with the aid of rockets, to throw lines on board, by which means the crews of both vessels were ultimately got on shore. While these operations were being carried on, the excitement amongst the crowd on the pier-head (which is about a mile distant from the scene of the disasters) was most intense, as the steamer was distinctly seen to break up piece by piece, until she entirely disappeared.

The view from Cardiff Pier Head across the Penarth Flats or West Mud to Penarth Head, the scene of the disasters about one mile distant. A lithographic image from the The Graphic - An Illustrated Weekly Magazine, London, published in April 1872. The image has been colourised. [243]