Of all the wrecks listed here, the story of the Swedish barque, Hans, is certainly one of the most intriguing. Let's begin with the facts.
On 1 May 1900 the Swedish barque Hans of Landscrona, 1200 tons, with a cargo of rosin worth £4000.00, lost her rudder, wheel and sails in a strong north westerly gale near Dunnet Head. Lifeboats from Thurso (coxs. Brims) and Longhope (coxs. John Swanson) pursued her as she was driven eastwards through the Pentland Firth. Huna lifeboat was taken from its shed but was damaged in the launching and had to be recalled. Ackergill was made ready but was not launched. When clear of Duncansby Head the twelve members of the crew of the Hans were taken aboard the steam liner Celtic after abandoning ship. Two days later Wick lifeboat was launched when the abandoned Hans was driven ashore stern first at Broadhaven Bay just to the north of Wick.
Preparations were immediately made to remove its cargo of rosin, which was contained in hundreds if not thousands of wooden barrels. It was said that Broadhaven Bay was filled with the barrels that had washed overboard and that many barrels lay scattered on the beach there. In any event salvage operations to rescue the cargo proceeded at least into July, with all the barrels being taken to Wick Harbour. Then at a later date (yet to be identified), the Hans simply disappeared and it was presumed that she had sank in Broadhaven Bay, at or near where she had lain. Certainly there have been items recovered from the wreck site, most notably part of a ships keel which was presumed to have been part of the Hans. This piece of keel can now be seen on display in Wick Heritage Centre. Other items recovered included a number of brass and copper pins which are assumed to have been used to fix the keel to the Hans's bottom. There are in fact still pins of this type lying at the wreck site today along with what is thought to be part of a winch or capstan and a large admiralty type anchor, all of which again are assumed to have been part of the Hans. However as the Hans went aground in an area that later became known as Wreckers Alley, a place where ships were broken up for scrap, it is difficult to say for sure if any of these items did in fact belong to the Hans.
What makes the story more of a mystery is the fact that it has been reported that the Hans was in fact refloated and taken to Kirkwall, Orkney, where the vessel was photographed on a sandy beach. This photo was produced for the tourist market and became a postcard titled "A wreck, Orkney". Photographs of the Hans and the picture of the vessel photographed in Orkney are included in the gallery below so the reader can make up their own mind if they are the same vessel or not. If anyone can shed any more light on the mystery then we would be happy to hear from them.
A very large oil painting by former Wick High School art teacher Mr Gordon Ingle, showing the Hans ashore at Broadhaven, can be found in Staxigoe Hall.
On 1 May 1900 the Swedish barque Hans of Landscrona, 1200 tons, with a cargo of rosin worth £4000.00, lost her rudder, wheel and sails in a strong north westerly gale near Dunnet Head. Lifeboats from Thurso (coxs. Brims) and Longhope (coxs. John Swanson) pursued her as she was driven eastwards through the Pentland Firth. Huna lifeboat was taken from its shed but was damaged in the launching and had to be recalled. Ackergill was made ready but was not launched. When clear of Duncansby Head the twelve members of the crew of the Hans were taken aboard the steam liner Celtic after abandoning ship. Two days later Wick lifeboat was launched when the abandoned Hans was driven ashore stern first at Broadhaven Bay just to the north of Wick.
Preparations were immediately made to remove its cargo of rosin, which was contained in hundreds if not thousands of wooden barrels. It was said that Broadhaven Bay was filled with the barrels that had washed overboard and that many barrels lay scattered on the beach there. In any event salvage operations to rescue the cargo proceeded at least into July, with all the barrels being taken to Wick Harbour. Then at a later date (yet to be identified), the Hans simply disappeared and it was presumed that she had sank in Broadhaven Bay, at or near where she had lain. Certainly there have been items recovered from the wreck site, most notably part of a ships keel which was presumed to have been part of the Hans. This piece of keel can now be seen on display in Wick Heritage Centre. Other items recovered included a number of brass and copper pins which are assumed to have been used to fix the keel to the Hans's bottom. There are in fact still pins of this type lying at the wreck site today along with what is thought to be part of a winch or capstan and a large admiralty type anchor, all of which again are assumed to have been part of the Hans. However as the Hans went aground in an area that later became known as Wreckers Alley, a place where ships were broken up for scrap, it is difficult to say for sure if any of these items did in fact belong to the Hans.
What makes the story more of a mystery is the fact that it has been reported that the Hans was in fact refloated and taken to Kirkwall, Orkney, where the vessel was photographed on a sandy beach. This photo was produced for the tourist market and became a postcard titled "A wreck, Orkney". Photographs of the Hans and the picture of the vessel photographed in Orkney are included in the gallery below so the reader can make up their own mind if they are the same vessel or not. If anyone can shed any more light on the mystery then we would be happy to hear from them.
A very large oil painting by former Wick High School art teacher Mr Gordon Ingle, showing the Hans ashore at Broadhaven, can be found in Staxigoe Hall.