Historic Feature: The British Sailing Vessel Dunnottar Castle

Brenda Altmeier swims above the wreckage of the Dunnottar Castle. Photo Credit: NOAA/ONMS/Bob Schwemmer

The three-masted 258-foot British iron-hulled ship Dunnottar Castle was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1874. She was lost at Kure Atoll on July 15th, 1886 while bound for Wilmington, California from Sydney, Australia with a cargo of coal. A malfunctioning chronometer put the ship off course and onto the reef. Though efforts were made to jettison the cargo and repair the damaged hull, the stricken vessel could not be refloated, and the crew abandoned ship for the nearby deserted island. The castaways would have to take charge of their own rescue. The remains of the vessel were not recorded again until 2006 when the Kure Atoll State Seabird Sanctuary staff (State of Hawaiʻi Division of Forestry and Wildlife) came across the wreckage by accident while transiting through the lagoon.

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