Bermuda Shipwrecks Pollock Shields Gold Proof

On 22 August 1915 the Pollockshields departed Cardiff, Wales. Reports differ regarding the ship’s true destination, purpose, cargo and crew. She was caring live ammunition but it was unclear whether or not she was also carrying shells, gunpowder and provisions for Bermuda. On 2 September 1915, when she was about eighty miles off the coast of Bermuda, The ship sailed into dense fog and hurricane force seas. When, after five days, the storm subsided and the fog lifted, the crew realized that they were in trouble. The ship was in very shallow water and, shortly afterwards , struck a reef near Elbow Beach. They sent out a distress signal, which awoke the guest at the South Shore Hotel (now the Elbow Beach Hotel). News of the accident soon spread the people from all over the island came in view that stricken vessel. The captain, Earnest Boothe, was swept overboard and drowned but, thanks to the heroic efforts of rescuers on the beach, all the members of the crew were saved. The central section of the wreck remained visible above the water for many years. However, this proved to be a dangerous lure to swimmers, many of whom injured themselves on the coral covered wreckage and, as a result, in 1960, the protruding section was demolished. Tales of the heroic rescues, the prominent visibility of the wreck and stories about her cargo of live ammunition have made the Pollockshields one of the most intriguing wrecks in Bermuda’s recent history.​