The ''Abana'' was a sailing

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 ...

wrecked at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in England on 22 December 1894.

History

''Abana'' was built at Saint John,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, Canada in 1874. She was originally homeported at Saint John,

. By 1894, she was flying the Norwegian flag.

Loss

The ''Abana'' was sailing from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

when she was caught in a storm in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

. She was spotted at 3 pm drifting in a northwesterly direction with her sails torn to shreds. The crew mistook

Blackpool Tower Blackpool Tower is a tourist attraction in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which was opened to the public on 14 May 1894. When it opened, Blackpool Tower was the tallest man-made structure in the British Empire. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in P ...

for a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

and the ship was first spotted foundering at North Pier, and ended up drifting north and was wrecked off Little Bispham at 5 pm.

Flares A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illuminatio ...

were fired and the lifeboat was called out. The alarm was raised by the landlord of the Cleveleys Hotel. Due to the weather conditions, the Blackpool lifeboat ''Samuel Fletcher'' had to be taken some overland to Bispham before it could be launched. The lifeboat had a crew of 16, and the ''Abana'' had a crew of 17, all of whom were taken on board along with the ship's

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

, which belonged to Captain Adolph B. Danielsen. The lifeboat grounded on a sandbank whilst returning to shore, but some of the crew members pushed the boat afloat and they managed to reach shore safely. All were taken to the Red Lion Inn to recover from their ordeal. The ship's bell and dog were given to the landlord of the Cleveleys Hotel, who had raised the alarm. The remains of the ''Abana'' can still be seen at low tide at Little Bispham and the ship's bell hangs in St. Andrew's Church in

Cleveleys Cleveleys is a town on the Fylde Coast of Lancashire, England, about north of Blackpool and south of Fleetwood. It is part of the Borough of Wyre. With its neighbouring settlement of Thornton, Cleveleys was part of the former urban distric ...

. On 31 January 2008, the ''Riverdance'' beached within sight of the remains of the ''Abana''.

References

1894 in the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1894 History of Blackpool Shipwrecks in the Irish Sea Sailing ships of Canada Victorian-era merchant ships of Canada Ships built in Saint John, New Brunswick Merchant ships of Canada Merchant ships of Norway 1874 ships Tall ships of Norway Windjammers {{Merchantship-stub