''Kapunda'' was a British

emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

ship which sank on 20 January 1887 after colliding with the

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 ...

'' Ada Melmoure'' in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

off the coast of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. She was an iron-hulled ship of 1,095 tons, owned by Frinder, Anderson, and Company ''Kapunda'' was in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil heading from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

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, with a crew of 40, carrying 279 emigrants and general cargo, when at 3:20 a.m. on 20 January 1887 she collided with the 549-ton ''Ada Melmoure'', which was bound from

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...

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, to the

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with a cargo of manganese ore. ''Ada Melmoure'' hit ''Kapunda'' near the bow, and ''Kapunda'' sank so quickly that no lifeboats could be launched. Nine people managed to climb aboard ''Ada Melmoure'', six others found a small boat in the water and boarded it, and ''Ada Melmoure'' lowered a boat that picked up one crew member. These 16 were the only survivors; the other 303 aboard ''Kapunda'', including

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

John Masson, lost their lives in the disaster. On 25 January 1887, 14 of ''Kapunda''′s survivors transferred from ''Ada Melmoure'' to the French barque ''Ulysses'', which took them to

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

, Brazil. The other two survivors stayed with ''Ada Melmoure'', landing at

Maceió Maceió (), formerly anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a Spring (hydrology), spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped ...

after ''Ada Melmoure'' also sank.

Footnotes

Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in January 1887 Maritime incidents in Brazil Ships sunk in collisions {{ship-stub According to a Royal Inquiry some months later in London, some of the Survivors spent a considerable amount of time in Shark infested waters prior to being saved after the Shipwreck clinging to anything that would float. Also according to that inquiry, some were killed by Sharks while in the water; per William Norman's (survivor) Great Grandson, footnote author.