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The ''Rochdale'' and the ''Prince of Wales'' were two troop ships that sank in Dublin Bay in 1807. Dublin Port had long been dangerous because it was accessible only at high tide and was subject to sudden storms. Many ships were lost while waiting for the tide, but little was done until this disaster. The impact of 400 bodies〔Reports of the numbers lost are contradictory. They vary from 380 to 500. Most published reports say 400〕 being washed up on an urban shore had an effect on public and official opinion. This event was the impetus to the building of Dún Laoghaire Harbour.〔Gilligan, H. A., 1980, ''Captain William Hutchison and the early Dublin Bay lifeboats''. Dublin Historical Record, 2: 43.〕 On 19 November 1807 several ships left Dublin carrying troops bound for the Napoleonic war. The next day, two ships, the brig ''Rochdale'' and H.M. Packet ship ''Prince of Wales'', having been caught in gale force winds and heavy snow, were lost. Troops on ''Prince of Wales'' may have been deliberately locked below deck while the ship's captain and crew escaped.〔(AAI | Physical Landscape )〕 No lifeboat was launched. There was looting. ==Maritime background== This tragedy was the impetus to the building of Dún Laoghaire Harbour, which was initially called "Dunleary", then "Kingstown", and now "Dún Laoghaire". Dublin port was hampered by a sandbar, which meant that ships could enter or leave only at high tide. A solution, the building of the North Bull Wall, had been identified by Vice-Admiral William Bligh in 1800. If there was a storm, a ship would have to ride out, waiting for the tide, the storm in the open sea.
A pier had been built at Dún Laoghaire, now known as the "coal harbour", in 1767, but it had rapidly silted up.〔(Dún Laoghaire Library – A history of Dún Laoghaire )〕 The early nineteenth century was unusually stormy.〔John Sweeney,''A three-century storm climatology for Dublin 1715–2000'', Irish Geography, Volume 33(1), 2000, 1–14.〕 Dublin Bay was notoriously treacherous for boats. The remains of at least 600 vessels rest at the bottom of the bay.〔 On 19 November 1807, the sea began to swell. Wind speed increased to hurricane force. Sleet and snow fell to such intensity that visibility was reduced to zero; they may not have realised how close they were to shore. The east wind blew the ships back towards the shore. While the ''Rochdale'' and the ''Prince of Wales'' were lost, another troop transport, the ''Lark'', which left earlier, safely reached Holyhead. Other ships were lost at that time. A collier was lost at the South Bull (outside Dublin Port). The inbound Liverpool packet was lost off Bray. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sinking of the Rochdale and the Prince of Wales」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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