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What is recorded here

The roughly 300-ton steamship Hazard ran at full speed onto rocks off Port Eynon Point in thick weather on 11 January 1872 and became a total loss. Everyone aboard reached shore. Rope, sail and chain salvaged from the wreck were sold through a locally owned oyster skiff, leaving an unusually clear link between a coastal disaster and the small working economy of Port Eynon.

The vessel and voyage

Hazard was a steamship of about 300 tons. A separate local maritime list says it was in ballast from Rouen to Swansea, while the national record focuses on its size and loss. The ship approached Gower in thick weather on 11 January 1872. The quick sources do not give its builder, owner, crew number or cargo beyond the useful report that it was travelling without a commercial load.

How it was lost

Hazard struck rocks off Port Eynon Point at full speed in poor visibility and was a total loss. The wording suggests the land was not seen in time, but the checked sources do not provide an inquiry that assigns blame to the master or lookout. Thick weather and an unbroken approach to the rocks are established; a precise navigation error or machinery failure is not.

Deaths and survival

All hands got ashore. No death is recorded, although the accessible accounts do not say whether they used boats, climbed from the wreck or were helped from land. This successful escape matters on a coast where other wrecks later killed entire crews. The absence of names means the group should be remembered collectively rather than supplied with guessed identities.

What remains

Hazard was described as a total loss, and local accounts show that useful gear was quickly salvaged. Chain, sail and rope were sold in 1872 for two pounds and five shillings through the accounts of the oyster skiff Industry. The national point records the rocks off Port Eynon, but the quick public sources do not describe a modern measured wreck or promise visible hull remains.

Why it mattered

The account shows two sides of a wrecking place: the danger of running blind onto Gower rocks and the practical reuse of whatever a coastal community could recover. Reverend William Melland's share in the oyster skiff Industry preserved the sale in local accounts. That small sum and list of gear make Hazard more than a dot, connecting the wreck directly to Port Eynon's boats and households.