Low tide reveals three shipwrecks on Carbis Bay following storms in Cornwall

The remains of the ships have been uncovered Credit: Tristan CorkSenior & Greg Martin

Winter storms and unusually low tides have exposed the remains of three ships wrecked on a Cornish beach.The iron steamships Cintra, Vulture and Bessie were also left exposed at Carbis Bay in January 2021 but to a lesser extent.The jagged fragments of the steam collier Bessie are a familiar sight on the beach between St Ives and Hayle, but locals say they have never seen so much of the wreck.

All three ships sank on the same night 130 years ago during a violent storm.The storm which hit the coast on 18 November 1893 came to be known as the ‘Cintra Gale’, named after the first ship to crash into the beach.

Locals say they have never seem this much of the wrecks Credit: Tristan CorkSenior & Greg Martin

Five of the Cintra’s crew were rescued from the crashing waves, but seven others on board drowned.Twelve people on board the Vulture, a steamer with a cargo of coal, also made it ashore when it sank off the coast.

The wrecks were soon covered in sand but after a couple of big winter storms last Christmas, are now visible at low tide.

Part of the shipwreck sticking out of the sand Credit: Tristan CorkSenior & Greg Martin

Greg Martin, who has been to the beach, said: “Many locals have commented in the last few days that they cannot remember ever seeing so much of the wreck exposed, as well as the skeletal remains of the Vulture alongside it.“Further along the beach at Carbis Bay, on the days when the spring tides dropped to their lowest, the wreck of the third ship, Cintra, could also be seen up close.

"The last time any significant remains of these shipwrecks were exposed was two years ago in January 2021, but not nearly to the extent that has been seen over the last week,” he added.