SS Malabar (1858) explained

-- commercial vessels -->	+SS Malabar Ship Owner: P & O Ship Launched: 1858 Ship Fate: Wrecked 1860 Ship Type: Steamship Ship Tonnage: 917 tons

SS Malabar was a P & O mail steamship of 917 tons launched in 1858 that was wrecked in Point de Galle harbor on 22 May 1860.^[1]

The passengers had embarked on Malabar when a gale from the northeast drove the vessel's stern on to a reef. The water began to rise in the ship's stern section and the captain opted to beach the ship in a sandy bay on the opposite side of the harbor. However, the sand turned out to be loose and almost like quicksand, and it was decided to give the order to abandon ship. There was no loss of life.^[2]

The passengers included James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros, the British and French plenipotentiaries to China, and The Times journalist Thomas William Bowlby, who later published an account of the wreck.^[3]

It was reported that Malabars cargo included 1,080 boxes of bullion, worth nearly £300,000 and 725 chests of opium.^[4]

References

• Web site: Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company / P&O Line . The Fleets . The Ships List . 25 June 2006 . 2008-01-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090501085401/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/pando.html . 1 May 2009 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Mackenzie, Compton . Compton Mackenzie

   . Compton Mackenzie . Realms of Silver . registration . Routledge & Kegan Paul . 1954.

2. Book: Elgin, James Bruce . James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin

   . James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin . Walrond . Theodore . Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin . John Murray . 1872 . 325–328.

3. Web site: A Times man in war-torn China . 2008-01-03 . Bowlby . Ronald . 18 June 2004 . . subscription .
4. Book: Bowlby, Thomas William . Thomas William Bowlby

   . Thomas William Bowlby . Bowlby . C.C. . An Account of the Last Mission and Death of Thomas William Bowlby . Privately printed by C.C. Bowlby . 1906 . 126.