32943: Esra – WRECK (Post Medieval – 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Summary:

WRECK (Post Medieval – 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Wreck of Esra, 1898

Location:

NB 08199 36720

Full description:

The recent ferocious weather which battered the island has revealed the wreck of a boat which ran aground in Uig 102 years ago.
The Esra, a three-masted sailing vessel, was travelling from Sunsvall in Norway, to Belfast when she ran aground at Cliff Beach on November 3 1898. The boat has since been covered by sand and was last seen 30 years ago.
The 11 people on board the Esra were saved as a result of the bravery of local man, Malcolm Smith, who swam 600 yards in freezing water to attach a rope to the boat. Villagers from Cliff and Valtos then pulled the crew to shore in a makeshift lifeboat.
The wooden frame of the ship has been preserved by the sand which covered it for the last three decades, and now the wooden hull, metal anchor chain and tackle are visible.
Malcolm Smith, then 37 years old, was given the ship’s shotgun as a gift for saving the crew’s lives, and other artefacts from the Esra can be seen at the Uig museum.

Stornoway Gazette, Thursday November 16, 2000, p3

Acknowledgement:

Information provided by Western Isles Council Sites & Monuments Record, January 2006.