A Dutch registered vessel of 499 tons Hendrika was on passage from Bayonne to Aberdeen with a cargo of maize. She stranded on Salt Scar rocks Redcar on 4th May 1973 and became a total loss. Information from ”Shipwrecks of North East Coast” by Ron Young. Fred Brunskill tells us: ”Full of grain and bound for Aberdeen she came ashore with very little warning. Although crew were able to get off, the Sir James Knott lifeboat( now at Kirkleatham Museum ) and the inshore inflatable lifeboat were both in attendance.”
Pete Dale has told the Archive: “I was heading to work in Redcar from Upleatham that evening when noticed this coaster heading along at a great rate of knots in bright sunlight but too close-in, for my liking. On getting to work I found a high point to find the Hendrika ashore on the Salt Scar. I remember someone trying to salvage the vessel after she rolled over, by placing two old (I assume) petrol tanks into the hold, but this failed. Some time later the propeller was found behind Welford’s Garage, located off Fisherman’s Square; between the garage and William Street.”
Image courtesy of Mike Holliday and thanks to Fred Brunskill and Pete Dale for the updates.
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