The ''Jamestown'' was a large sailing ship which was abandoned and ran aground near the

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic village of

Hafnir Hafnir () is a town in southwestern Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and p ...

on 26 June 1881.

History

The keel was laid in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. She was registered there in 1880 after having been launched in November 1879.

Abandonment

The ''Jamestown'' left

on 10 November, 1880, bound for

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 ...

carrying a cargo of high-quality lumber. No sooner was the ship out of port than four of the crew jumped ship, and Captain William E. Whitmore had to find replacements. Then a

windlass The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound arou ...

broke and the ship had to stop in

Eastport, Maine Eastport is a city and archipelago in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making Eastport the least-populous city in Maine. The principal island is Moose Island, Maine, ...

for repairs. Finally underway across the Atlantic in early December, the ship encountered heavy seas and the rudder was torn away. After being battered by the seas for several weeks, the captain and crew were rescued by the Anchor Line steamer ''Ethiopia'' and left the ''Jamestown'' to drift at . In total, 27 people were rescued, including the captain's wife and child. (Apparently also published in Skjoeldur Issue No. 34. Vol. 10. No. 4, 2001.) The crew arrived safely in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 16 February 1881, but their ship didn't reach its final resting place for another four months. On the morning of 26 June, residents of Hafnir woke to find that the enormous vessel had run aground the night before. The cargo of timber was particularly valuable in Iceland, which suffered almost complete deforestation in the several hundred years following the initial Viking settlement in 874. As such, the cargo was unloaded and one third of it was reserved for those who had participated in the salvage operation. The rest was auctioned off, bringing in about DKK 10,000. This is equivalent to US$62,000 in 2012 dollars.Take DKK 10,000 and divide by 3.73 based on the DKK/US
exchange rate in 1881.
Then calculate the equivalent in 2012 dollars using th
Measuring Worth
website.

Aftermath

In October 1881, the wreck of the ''Jamestown'' was visited by George H. Wadleigh, Commander of the . He wrote a report to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

explaining the ship's location and condition. The ''Alliance'' was passing through Iceland on its way to look for survivors from the ill-fated ''Jeannette'' expedition which had also been wrecked that June.

References

{{coord, 63.935261, -22.692497, display=title Maritime incidents in January 1881 Shipwrecks of Iceland 1879 ships Ships built in Maine