Official No. 67556; Code Letters NTVG.

Owners: 1874 William H. Wise & Son, West Hartlepool; 1878 William Gray & Co, West Hartlepool.

Masters: 1877 David Blacklaw (b.1856 Hartlepool C.N. 83872 South Shields 1869); 1879-83 Murton; 1883 James Nurton; 1884-88 Robert Crudas Appleton (b.1857 York C.N. 17863 Shields); 1889 Tregarthen; 1889-90 James Fraser Brigstocke (C.N. 15324 Leith 1875).

Minerva left the Surrey Commercial Dock in the Thames on 28 October 1886 bound for Sunderland in water ballast. She had on board a crew of 23 & three stowaways. At about 3.30pm she reached Gravesend where the pilot was landed. She proceeded down Gravesend Reach when she came within sight of the SS Borderer which was owned by the Borderer SS Co of Liverpool. The Bordererhad left Boston on 16 October 1886 bound to London with a general cargo & 418 head of cattle. She had a crew of 48, 17 cattle-men & two stowaways on board & had picked up a Trinity House pilot, William Monger, at Dungeness. The weather was clear & the two vessels whistled at each other to indicate the course they were taking but they collided. The Borderer struck the Minerva on her starboard side cutting her down to the water’s edge where she sank in two or three minutes. With the exception of six, the crew were picked up by the Borderer’s boat, a coastguard boat & the Red Rose tug. One of the crew that was picked up subsequently died. The master later stated that some of the crew had lost their lives through spending precious seconds trying to save their personal belongings. At the inquiry witnesses who were crew on the Minerva blamed the collision on the Borderer signalling that she was under a starboard helm & not carrying out the rule. Frederick Manley, master of the Borderer,said it was due to the Minerva not starboarding in time but he did query to the pilot whether they should have been at full speed when there were so many small vessels in the vicinity. The results found that the Borderer’s speed was too great & the signal given was incorrect so the actions of the pilot aboard the Borderer were at fault & the master also deserved blame for not taking control of the vessel if he questioned the pilot’s actions. The Minerva was exonerated from any blame & neither masters’ certificates were suspended. She was raised & re-floated on 27 November of the same year by the Thames Conservancy Commissioners & taken to West Hartlepool for repair.

The Minerva was at Messina, Algeria to load copper-ore for Swansea. On 13 July 1890, during a severe gale, she broke from her moorings & drifted onto a sunken reef where she stuck fast. The master thought they could weather the storm & gave the order for all to remain aboard. Although the steamer was only about 150 yards from shore the seas were too violent for any rescue to be attempted as the natives only had light craft. There were four ship’s boats, two lifeboats, a dinghy & a gig. As the gale continued to increase in violence some of the crew decided to leave but the lifeboats & the gig were smashed as terrific waves washed over the ship. One of the lifeboats had five men in it at the time. A man was washed away but four clung to the remnants of the lifeboat & reached shore. Seven of the crew struggled through the heavy surf in the dinghy & eventually they also reached the safety of the shore. About two hours later the steamer broke in two with five men in the fore-rigging & the others, including the master, in the aft part of the vessel. The fore part gradually disappeared beneath the waves taking some of the crew with it. Huge waves were breaking over the part of the vessel that remained on the rocks with one washing James Young overboard. He managed to grab a piece of wreckage & was partly washed & partly swam ashore. Most of the men were taken to hospital because of the bruising they had suffered. Six men were still aboard when, at about 9pm, in the darkness the remains of the Minerva silently sank out of sight with only one, Isaac Girlang managing to somehow save himself. In total 14 of the crew survived but eight, including the master were drowned. The bodies of John Nash, John Morgan & William Fuller washed ashore & were buried by their comrades.