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Erato - a general history

Official No. 86948: Code Letters HGWR.

Owners: 1883 Gladstone & Cornforth, West Hartlepool: 1896 Zerssen & Co. Tonning, Germany-renamed Annie: 1909 AS Excelsior (S.O. Stray & Co.) Kristiansand, Norway-renamed Skagerrak.

Masters: 1883 E Fleetham: 1884-85 Geddes: 1887-91 F Simmons: 1892 G Grigs: 1893-95 W Alexander: 1896-99 W Gahde: 1900 AFR Grahl: 1902 W Gahde: 1903-09 C Kuhl: 1916-17 J Stray.  

Northern Daily Mail 26 September 1887.”

‘The crew of Messrs Gladstone & Cornforth’s steamer Erato of West Hartlepool, 2,230 tons, which was recently wrecked on Parker’s Reef, were landed by the Orient Line steamer Ormus, at Plymouth last evening. On the morning of 21 August the man on the look-out, a Norwegian, sang out ‘breakers ahead’. This was misunderstood by the man at the wheel, a Maltese, & five minutes later the vessel struck. Two or three of the crew were left in charge of the steamer whilst the remainder went to Aden but on their return they found that the vessel had been plundered by Arabs. She was subsequently towed to Perim.’

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