Volume Ten - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Even more aspects - The Lloyd's Register at Penarth Dock . . .

It was interesting to note the change of language since the 1870's in that sailing vessels were referred to as a 'ship' whereas the new-fangled, steam powered vessels, were referred to as 'steamships' by Lloyd's Surveyors.

The graph below indicates the frequency of surveys undertaken at Penarth, the data being based upon the foregoing pages of reports released by Lloyds to date. (July 2020)Clearly, the peak activity was during the years 1879 and 1880. The Penarth Ship Building and Shiprepairing Company Limited was formed in 1878 and the Gridiron and Slipway were ready for use during May of 1879. Obviously, the new facilities at Penarth supplemented the ever growing need for ship-repair and subsequent survey at the Bute Docks, hence, the demand in these years. What happened in the other years is yet to be investigated.

Many vessels were lost, often without trace of the ship or crew, and Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping : Returns of Vessels Totally Lost, Condemned, &c. holds records of losses to vessels whilst en route to, or upon sailing from Penarth Dock and the Ely Tidal Harbour. The next section offers a selection of these losses commencing 1890 - click on the vessel's name to see more information about the loss.