British built Klioub sank in December 1868 with the loss of 50 lives off the coast of Turkey after a collision with a steamer, and its wreck has now been found after a search
The wreck of a long-lost British ship which sank more than 150 years ago when a steamer hit it and sailed away without offering help has finally been located.
Originally built in Hartlepool, the Kalioub was carrying passengers from Alexandria, Egypt, to Istanbul in Turkey in December 1868. Along the journey it was hit by a steamer known as the Sharkie off the coast of Karaburun,Turkey.
The vessel’s captain refused to stop and steamed away as the Kalioub went into the water, with the loss of around 50 lives – including its captain who refused to board the last lifeboat. Now, 156 years later, the ship has been found, with the hole from the steamer clearly visible at the bottom of the sea.
Turkish shipwreck hunter Selçuk Kolay, who found the ship, said: “Seeing the wreck’s image on my side scan sonar screen I felt quite relieved after some six months of searching. However, I knew I still had quite a long way to go.
“Considering 156 years have passed since the sinking, the wreck is in excellent condition. The people on board were mostly merchants and their families from Egypt, and some from Syria, having trade relations with Izmir and Istanbul.””
Locating the wreck meant scanning an area of approximately 130 sq km. When it was found, confirming its identity proved complicated.
Mr Kolay and his dive partner Kaya Yarar were able to identify the place where the Kalioub had been hit, with its fallen fore-funnel still leaning against its bridge. He later returned with divers Ali Ethem Keskin and Ali Hakan Egilmez to further verify the wreck’s identity, taking measurements and photos.
The final piece of the puzzle came when fate intervened to give Mr Kolay an image of the Kalioub for comparison. While visiting a friend at an Istanbul auction house, he spotted four framed lithographs of Azizieh Company steamships, one of which was the Kalioub.
An account of the sinking from the Glasgow Daily Herald dated January 11, 1869, says the Kalioub was struck “a little forward of midships”. Several passengers on the foredeck are thought to have been killed in the collision, and the Kalioub’s fore-funnel was knocked over.
In the ensuing panic after the collision, only five of the six available lifeboats were lowered, one of which was then crushed when the ship’s foremast also collapsed. Five people were rescued from the stricken lifeboat, but the rest were lost when the sinking steamer dragged it below the waves.
Turkish shipwreck hunter Selçuk Kolay, who located the Kalioub, said the name of the Sharkie’s captain had been lost, but his reputation survived. He added: “He was a notorious person already, having another hit-and-run incident under his belt.
“He was known as a careless captain neglecting navigation rules. Had he remained by Kalioub after the ramming, he might have saved every victim on board.”
The Sharkie, or Charkieh, which also belonged to the Azizieh Company, was built by the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company in 1865. She later collided with the Dutch paddle steamer, Batavier, in the Thames, sinking her, with the loss of two lives.
She ultimately sank on September 22, 1900, and was lost with 39 deaths during a gale off the Greek island of Euboea, near Karystos.
