Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a ship which has foundered near or close to shore. In some cases this was deliberate; for example by faking the signals from lighthouses, so that the ship was wrecked and the cargo could be plundered. Wrecking is no longer economically significant, however as recently as the 19th century in some parts of the world it was the mainstay of many otherwise economically marginal coastal communities. The Peggys Point lighthouse in Nova Scotia, Canada An aid for navigation and pilotage at sea, a lighthouse is a tower building or framework sending out light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...
This was particularly true for Cornwall where the rocky coastline and (sometimes) the display of false lights led many ships to disaster. The sailors were often murdered and stripped of their possessions, the ships themselves were looted for their cargoes. Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow or occasionally Curnow) is a county of England, the part of Great Britains south-west peninsula that is west of the River Tamar, often known as the Cornish peninsula or plateau. ...
Wrecking is the subject of Daphne du Maurier's novel Jamaica Inn. Dame Daphne du Maurier ( May 13, 1907 – April 19, 1989) was one of the most successful Cornish novelists of all time. ... The Jamaica Inn is a Free House on the borders of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. ...
There have been some deep-water wrecking operations in the past. Perhaps the most famous example is that of the Central Intelligence Agency-Howard HughesGlomar Explorer, which successfully brought portions of a sunken Soviet Unionsubmarine back to the ocean surface. The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is one of the American foreign intelligence agencies, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. ... USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193) is a large ship currently being used as a deep-sea drilling platform. ... USS Los Angeles A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate underwater. ... Ocean (from Okeanos, a Greek god of sea and water; Greek ωκεανός) covers almost three quarters (71%) of the surface of the Earth. ...
But undoubtedly for centuries wrecked vessels were considered to be 'God given' and the goods and materials they provided viewed as a very precious and necessary bounty to alleviate the harsh and meagre existence of the coast dwellers.
Whilst certainly not provoking wrecks by the use of false lights they nevertheless viewed stormy weather with a certain anticipatory pleasure; indeed Falkner, the author of Moonfleet maintained that the children of the Fleet were taught an old rhyme 'Blow wind, rise storm.
In 1702 the Catherine, a French vessel, was wrecked at Portland with a cargo of chestnuts.
Wrecking is no longer economically significant, however as recently as the 19th century in some parts of the world it was the mainstay of many otherwise economically marginal coastal communities.
Wrecking was well known in Cornwall, where the rocky coastline, strong prevailing onshore winds and (sometimes) the display of false lights led many ships to disaster (this is also true in other parts of the celtic seaboard, such as South-west Ireland, the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales and Finistere in Brittany).
Wrecking was a major industry in the Florida Keys for much of the 19th Century.
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