Arratoon Apcar
Steamship · Lost 1878 · The Florida Keys
The iron steamship Arratoon Apcar grounded on Fowey Rocks off Key Biscayne on February 17, 1878; all 25 aboard were rescued.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
Built at Renfrew, Scotland, in 1861 for Apcar and Company of Bombay, the 262-foot iron steamship Arratoon Apcar was carrying coal from Liverpool to Havana when, in February 1878 she grounded on Fowey Rocks through Captain Pottinger's miscalculation, stopping just 200 yards from workers building the Fowey Rocks Light. After three days of pumping, the crew abandoned her; Tappahannock rescued all 25 men. Heavy seas broke her up on the reef, now a shallow dive.
Vessel
- 1861
- UK official number 43924
- James Henderson & Son
- Renfrew, Scotland
- Iron
- 261.7 ft
- 35.1 ft
- Not established
- Steam and sail
- Not established
Loss
- February 17, 1878
- Grounding
- Fowey Rocks, off Hawk Channel
- Atlantic Ocean
- Liverpool, England → Havana, Cuba
- Coal
- Not established
- 0
- Pottinger
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Key Biscayne, Florida
No pin: no surveyed wreck position in the sources used.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Sparsely documented (50/100)
Based on a published secondary account; original records were not independently inspected.
Article narrative of construction, voyage and loss (secondary summary of cited books and newspapers).
National Park Service — Biscayne National Park, Arratoon Apcar
Builder, dimensions, grounding at Fowey Rocks, rescue of captain and 24 crew by Tappahannock, total loss by 12 March 1878.
