On April 9, 1856 the 232 ton passenger ship Esk sailed from Constantinople, Turkey and somewhere on the Black Sea, for unknown reasons she sank taking all on board with her. Once owned by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company she was built in Leith, Scotland in 1846 and used for a time between Southampton and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her wooden hull could carry 29 passengers at a speed of 8.5 knots, but after only ten months of service it was determined the ship was not large enough to be economic to operate over such long distances and she was sent to St. Thomas and used locally. She was sold in 1854 to Thomas Hill of of Southampton and he sold her in 1855, this time to a Turkish company. It was for this company she was sailing when she was lost. It is still not known exactly when, where or why she went down, another deadly mystery laying somewhere on the bottom of the sea.

© 2008 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com