Loss of a Norwegian Brigantine (1811)

Another of the earlier newspaper accounts of a tragedy on our coasts related to the brigantine “Catharina” which was loaded with a cargo of timber and was sailing from her home port of Kristiansand in Norway to Leith in Scotland and ended up being wrecked just south of Portlethen. Out of a crew of twelve, ten seamen perished. 

In respect to this tragedy, which occurred in April, it’s interesting to note that more newspaper column inches were dedicated to the cargo of timber that was lost rather than the loss of so many crew members. The Aberdeen Journal makes reference to the cargo that was strewn around the coastline and the potential salvage of part of the vessel and its cargo, the fact that ten men died appears to have been secondary.