Hartlepool History Then & Now

Iron King - a general history

Launched as Iron King; Completed as Michele Vucetich in June 1866; Official No. 54566: Code Letters RHMW.

Owners: 1865 Vucetich & Co: 1866 Robert Harrowing, Whitby-renamed Delta: 1868 owners at Odessa: 1876 William Bailey & Leetham, Hull: 1882 Walter S Bailey, A K Rollit & Wm E Goddard, Hull: 1890 London & South Wales SS Co Ltd (Matthews & Shaddick) London.

Masters: 1876-85 Marshall: 1885 Mark Bartlett: 1882-86 Marshall: 1887-89 T Potter: 1889-90 W Curtis: 1890-91 Charles Todd.

Voyages: 1 July 1885 Delta left Millwall Dock in London at about 4.30am bound for Reval via Hull with a general cargo of 150 tons & a crew of 20 all told. About eight miles east of Pakefield, she collided with the Flossie, a fishing vessel from Lowestoft. The Flossie had a crew of seven, a boy & the master David Tunmore, who did not hold a certificate. Delta tried to tow the Flossie but she sank. All the crew were taken aboard the steamer & safely landed. The inquiry found the master of the Flossie to be at fault.

In 1891 Delta left St Petersburg bound for Geestemunde with a cargo of grain & was wrecked off Heligoland on 6 September 1891. The master & 1st mate were found in default with the master’s certificate suspended for 12 months & the 1st mate’s for six months. The 1st mate was granted a 2nd mate’s certificate for the period. No lives lost.

Crew September 1891:

Oliver, John, 1st mate

Woos, George E, 2nd mate