Maritime record KSS 186 - Wreck of the Barone Vranyczany

1881 wreck of Austro-Hungarian barque which stranded on Kessingland beach on her passage from Leith for New York in ballast. Her home port of Fiume is now Rijeka in the modern state of Croatia. Constructed of wood in 1867, she was a sailing vessel.
Status: Casualty

Primary Sources:

'The loss is reported of an Austrian barque on Kessingland Beach on Tuesday night. All hands but one perished. The vessel was not ashore more than a quarter of an hour before she went to pieces.' (7)

'BARONE VRANYCZANY (barque) is the name of the barque wrecked at Kessingland.' (4)

Account of inquest relating to a multiple wreck event, including the loss of the BARONE VRANYCZANY:

'The bodies having been viewed by the Jury, the following evidence was taken, with the aid of an interpreter, in regard to the body of the Austrian captain.

'Giovanni Negovich, of Fiume, Austria, master of the ship MARIA, identified one of the bodies as that of Pietro Cumicich, of Fiume, late captain of the barque BRAONE [sic] VRANYCZANY. The ring produced was the property of the captain and was marked "M.L. 10-12-77 and was the initial of his wife. With this, and marks on the clothing of the deceased, witness identified him. His age was about 44.

The interpreter (Mr. Alfred Wilkinson, Austrian consul, of Lowestoft), stated that the Austrian barque referred to was grounded at Kessingland, and out of a crew of 12, only one had been saved.

'Richard Teager, plumber and glazier, Aldeburgh, deposed that he was at work on the North Light, about four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, when he saw a body in the surf, and he immediately, with assistance, brought the body of the deceased to the shore.' (5)

Secondary Sources:

Vessel stranded and lost in wind conditions E force 9. (1)(2)

Classed with Bureau Veritas. (1)(2)

Spelling as BARONE VRANYCZANY and vessel type as barque confirmed. (3)

NB: The vessel's home port of Fiume in the former Austro-Hungarian empire, is now known as Rijeka in the modern state of Croatia, and the nationality of the vessel has therefore been indexed as Austrian, Hungarian, and Croatian. (6)

Built: 1867 (1)(2)
Master: Cumicich (1)(2); Pietro Cumicich (5)
Crew: 12 (1)(2)(5)
Crew Lost: 11 (1)(2)(5)
Passengers: 1 (1)(2)
Passengers Lost: 1 (1)(2)
Owner: A Luppis, Fiume (Rijeka) (1)(2)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
BOT.Wk.Rtn.1881 Appx.Pts.I-IV p121(391)