Loss of yacht Mignonette, 1884

1. the dinghy in which the survivors spent 24 days at sea;
2. lid of chronometer with the captain's letter to his wife;
3. quadrant, with writing on the lid;
4. chronometer
The English yacht Mignonette set sail for Sydney, Australia, from Southampton on 19th May 1884. During the journey, the yacht got into difficulties and sank with the four-man crew abandoning ship for the lifeboat with little food and no fresh water. Towards mid-July they started discussions about sacrificing one of them for the others to eat. Towards the end of July, Richard Parker, the cabin boy, had fallen ill and while in a coma was killed by Tom Dudley and Edwin Stephens and cannibalised. The three survivors were subsequently picked up and taken to Falmouth; Dudley and Stephens were later tried for murder and convicted in a landmark ruling

Cannibalism Dinghy Loss Mignonette Shipwreck Shipwrecks

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