''Agnes Blaikie'' was a merchant ship chartered by the British government during the

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for delivery of military cargoes and equipment to the army which was based in

Balaklava Balaklava ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklavsky District that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevast ...

. The vessel was presumably named in honour of the wife of the

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of Sir Thomas Blaikie. The ''Agnes Blaikie'' was first registered in

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in 1841, owned by George Thompson Jr. of the Aberdeen Line and commanded by Alex Duthie. Her maiden voyage took her to

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. It was named after Agnes Blaikie, wife of Thomas Blaikie, In 1849 she was registered in

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, Wales, under the ownership of W. Jenkins and Company. On 30 June 1852 she was bought by John Crow Richardson, and commanded by Thomas Thomas. However she soon changed hands again (perhaps twice), being bought by Henry Dobson, of 81 Princess Street, Bristol, England on 5 February 1853 (That purchase date may be a bit off as Dobson was advertising her voyage from Bristol direct to Melbourne, Port Philip, departure 10 February 1853, in ''The Times'' of 22 January 1853). In 1855, now registered in

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, she was owned by Jordison, and commanded on her final voyage by Henry Hamden. ''Agnes Blaikie'' sailed from the

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on 22 January 1855 with a cargo consisting of 180 tons of

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and 250 tons of coke. On 5 May 1855 the barque was sunk off Balaklava, after a collision with the paddle steamer ''HMS Medina''. All of the crew were saved, but it was reported that the petty officer of the watch aboard ''Medina'' committed suicide by cutting his throat immediately afterwards. The wreck of the ''Agnes Blaikie'' was discovered lying in of water in September 2003, and was formally identified on 13 September 2006.

References

Extracts from ''The Times''

An article about the discovering of the wreck
{{1855 shipwrecks Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships built by Walter Hood & Company Shipwrecks in the Black Sea Maritime incidents in May 1855 1841 ships Ships sunk in collisions