Sail plan Barque | ||
Fate Foundered December 1887 | ||
Renown was a German barque used as a sailing cargo ship built prior to 1873, when she made her first voyage.
Contents
The storm and sinking
In December 1887, the Renown sank during a storm in the North Sea off Den Helder in the Netherlands. The survivors climbed up the mizzen-mast and were eventually rescued by a small lifeboat that approached the sinking ship. The lifeboat, captained by Dorus Rijkers, approached Renown, and Rijkers jumped out of the boat and climbed the mast. He and his crew helped the endangered men from the mast to the lifeboat, and brought them to dry land. Of the ship's total crew of 30, approximately five died in the shipwreck and the remainder were rescued between 9 and 11 December.
Aftermath
The heroic rescue ended successfully, and Dorus Rijkers was later awarded with a gold medal for valour. All of the surviving crew members received a small stipend from the court of The Hague after it was decided that they earned it because Renown was in bad condition when she left the harbor at Hamburg, Germany, one week before the accident.