Cemiterio dos Ingleses
The Cemiterio dos Ingleses ( Galician ) or Cementerio de los Ingleses ( Spanish ) is a cemetery and a memorial for victims of marine disasters on the Costa da Morte in northwest Galicia . The memorial is located in the municipality of Camariñas , in the bay east of the Punta do Boi headland , where the English warship HMS Serpent failed in 1890 .
The HMS Serpent
On November 8, 1890, the Serpent ran from the port of Plymouth , with the destination Sierra Leone . It drifted land in heavy weather, and the dim light from the Cabo Vilán lighthouse misled the crew. At around 11 p.m. on November 10, the serpent ran onto the cliffs at Punta do Boi. The site of the accident is now called Baixo do Serpent . The captain ordered the cannon to be used to shoot ropes, but these ricocheted off the rocks. The crew got into the boats, but the surf smashed the boats on the cliffs. Three sailors were driven east to the sandy beach of Trece. They were the only survivors of the disaster.
The 172 dead drifted ashore in the next few days. The pastor of the nearby town of Xaviña mobilized the inhabitants to build a tomb. The ship's command found their dead rest inside the facility, and the crew in the surrounding enclosure.
The English Admiralty presented the residents of Camariñas with a barometer as a thank you; the parish priest of Xaviña received a shotgun and the mayor a watch. In the first few years after the disaster, an English warship drove near the site of the accident to throw a wreath of flowers into the sea. Every English warship that came near the site of the accident shot a salute in honor of the casualties.
More ship accidents
The Serpent included, there were eight shipwrecks with a total of 245 deaths in the area. A memorial stone in the complex commemorates all castaways on the Costa da Morte.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Website of the municipality of Camariñas -> Turismo -> Citios a visitar -> Cemiterio dos Ingleses ; Retrieved November 29, 2014
Web links
Coordinates: 43 ° 11 '9.3 " N , 9 ° 10' 12.2" W.