“The Pandora”
Description
The Pandora "went down in Youghal Bay." On November 18 she sailed from Nova Scotia and, after seven days of heavy seas, sank after striking a rock. Captain Hardcastle "ordered out the longboat in hopes to reach the land" but many "perished in the deep"
Notes
Youghal Bay is in County Cork. Ranson: "'The Pandora' was a Wexford vessel ... homeward bound with timber."
The only Pandora listed by Bourke is a Wexford brig that sank December 15, 1848 (see Bourke in _Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast_ v1, p. 100)- BS
A more famous _Pandora_, an English warship sent out in late 1790 to search for the mutinous crew of the _Bounty_. On August, 1791 it struck a reef near the ill-fated island of Vanikoro and sank with large loss of life. Clearly not the inspiration of this song, but it might have added to the aura of ill fate about the name _Pandora_. There was also an 18-gun warship _Pandora_, wrecked February 13, 1811 off Jutland. - RBW
References
- Ranson, p. 11, "The Pandora" (1 text)
- BI, Ran011