''May Queen'' was an iron

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

of 733 tons net register. It was built at

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Scotland, launched in May 1869, and was wrecked near

Lyttelton Harbour Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is a major inlet on the northwest side of Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand; the other major inlet is Akaroa Harbour, which enters from the southern side of the ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, in January 1888.

Construction

''May Queen'' was built by A. Hall and Company, Aberdeen. It weighed 733 tons net register, had a length of , and a beam of .

Final voyage and stranding

''May Queen,'' inward bound from London carrying 1,200 tons of cargo, approached Lyttelton Heads on 26 January 1888. A pilot from the port boarded the ship outside the heads, and beat up against a strong, uncertain breeze. The pilot took the vessel too close to the south shore of Lyttelton Harbour, near Red Rock. A squall called the ship to miss stays, and it was carried on to the rocks. A tug from the port endeavoured to tow ''May Queen'' free, but failed. The ship had run aground at

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

; as the tide ebbed the ship became lodged on the rocks. Rocks penetrated the hull, and boats from the port discharged most of the cargo before the ship became a total wreck. ''May Queen'' was abandoned to the underwriters on 27 January 1888.

Salvage

Between 500 and 600 tons of cargo was salved from the wreck, along with various cabin fittings. A mahogany sideboard and couch from ''May Queen'' are now displayed at Lyttelton Museum.

Shipwreck

The wreck of ''May Queen'' lies in Lyttelton Harbour, where the ship sank. The ship lies in of water on the harbour floor, though is mostly buried in the sand and silt.

References

{{1888 shipwrecks 1869 ships Ships built in Aberdeen Barques Shipwrecks of Banks Peninsula Maritime incidents in January 1888