AH-WR-1392

Astrea

Merchant Sailing Ship · United Kingdom · Lost 1834 · Nova Scotia & Sable Island

Carrying Irish families to a new life in Quebec, Astrea struck rocks at Little Lorraine in the dark, leaving only three known survivors.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Astrea was a British merchant sailing ship, launched in 1812, that had traded across the Atlantic and Baltic before being pressed into carrying Irish emigrants to Quebec. Sailing from Limerick with other emigrant ships in April 1834, she struck rocks near Little Lorraine Head on Cape Breton's unlit eastern coast in the early hours of 8 May 1834 and broke apart within minutes. Only three people are recorded as having survived out of a large complement of emigrant families and crew, making it one of the deadliest wrecks in Cape Breton's history.

Vessel

Built: 1812
Builder: Not established
Yard: Stockton, England
Material: Wood
Length: 94 ft
Beam: 26 ft
Tonnage: 273
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: W. Ridley (at loss)

Loss

Date: May 8, 1834
Cause: Grounding
Location: Little Lorraine Head, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
Water: Atlantic Ocean, off Cape Breton
Voyage: Limerick, Ireland → Quebec
Cargo: Emigrant families' possessions
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Widely reported as one of the deadliest emigrant-ship wrecks on the Cape Breton coast, with only three known survivors; a full list of victims was compiled from a survivor account and passenger roll.
Master: Not established