Wreck of Breadalbane
Canada
- Position
- About 74.7° N, 91.7° W (within about 10 km)
- Sank
- —
- Cause
- —
- Depth
- —
Protection status
Location generalised to protect a protected site
The position shown is generalised to within about 10 km. The exact position is not published.
Officially designated: national historic site of Canada.
Legal basis: national historic site of Canada.
How this was decided: Voydar's protection rules, from the sources we hold, confidence 90%. When in doubt, Voydar generalises the position.
Breadalbane was an 1843 British three-masted merchant barque that was crushed by ice and sank in the Arctic in 1853. Notable as one of the northernmost shipwrecks known, she is also considered one of the best-preserved wooden ships ever found in the sea due to slow deterioration in the cold Arctic water. Historically, Breadalbane is considered to be a time capsule. On 21 August 1853, she became trapped by an ice floe and was crushed. She sank to the bottom of the Northwest Passage near Beechey Island in Lancaster Sound, approximately 500 miles (800 km) north of the Arctic Circle. Her entire crew of 21 abandoned ship in time and were rescued by her companion, HMS Phoenix. In August 1980, the wreck was discovered by a five-man team led by Joe MacInnis working from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Sir John A. McDonald.
History from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA.
About this wreck
Breadalbane is a recorded shipwreck site. Voydar shows wreck locations alongside live ship traffic, free, from Wikidata and public hydrographic records.
Other wrecks named Breadalbane
These wreck sites share the name Breadalbane. Until September 2026 they shared one web address; each now has its own page.
| Wreck | Location | Lost | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breadalbane | United Kingdom | — | 54.9° N, 5.1° W |
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