Maritime record 8618 - ESRA: CAMAS NA CLIBHE, BHALTOS, UIG, LEWIS, ATLANTIC

NB03NE 8003 c. 080 370
N58 13.5 W6 58.5

NLO: Bhaltos [name: NB 092 370]
Camas na Clibhe [name centred NB 080 370]
Cliobh [name: NB 082 359].

3 November 1898 ESRA, 24 years, of Norway, wood barque, 412 ton, 10 men, Master A. Andersen, Owner N. Olssen, Arendal, Norway. Sandavall to Belfast. Timber + 1 passenger. Wind NW0. Valtas, Uig, Island of Lewis. Casualties involving total loss of vessel during year end 30 June 1899.
Source: PP Abstracts of Shipping Casualties on Coasts, or in Rivers and Harbours, of UK July 1898-99 (1900 [Cd. 318] LXXVII.531).
NMRS, MS/829/67 (no. 729).

(Classified as wooden barque, with cargo of timber: date of loss cited as 3 Novmber 1898). This vessel stranded at Camas na Clibhe, Valta, Uig.
I G Whittaker 1998.

A location for this loss may be suggested on the sands (centred NB 084 366) at the SE end of Camas na Clibhe, close to the village of Cliobh.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 16 September 2003.

REPORT DATE: 16/09/2003

The recent ferocious weather which battered the island has revealed the wreck of a boat which ran aground in Uig 102 years ago.
The Esra, a three-masted sailing vessel, was travelling from Sunsvall in Norway, to Belfast when she ran aground at Cliff Beach on November 3 1898. The coat has since been covered by sand and was last seen 30 years ago.
The 11 people on board th Esra were saved as a result of the bravery of local man, Malcolm Smith, who swam 600 yards in freezing water to attach a rope to the boat. Villagers from Cliff and Valtos then pulled the crew to shore in a makeshift lifeboat.
The wooden frame of the ship has been preserved by the sand which covered it for the last three decades, and now the wooden hull, metal anchor chain and tackle are visible.
Malcolm Smith, then 37 years old, was given th ship's shotgun as a gift for saving the crew's lives, and other artefacts from the Esra can be seen at the Uig museum.
Stornoway Gazette, Thursday November 16, 2000, p3

The shifting beach sand have revealed parts of the wreck of the Ezra. There are two discrete concentrations of material, that lie close to each other. The bigger part comprises of large timber elements, knees & similar framing with possible hull planking & decking; there is evidence of treenails in parts of the construction. The larger framing elements appear to lie at odds (90 degrees)with the smaller knee elements. All elements are overlain with large deposits of corroded anchor chain and rigging. One piece of iron hull framing is present and represents the highest part of the wreck, by approx 1m. On the west side of this deposit is a large metal object mostly buried, its shape indicates the possible capstan. The second concentration to the north, comprises of a tangle of corroded metal cable with one wooden triple deadeye block visible and attached. The visible area of this wreck is approximatley 10 x 8m. The wrecks wooden elements look in the same good condition as it did in when the sand shifted in 2016.
K.Murphy (Archaeologist CnES) 28/02/2021