At 11.45 P.M. on the 12th September the steamer Cape Colonna was seen to bs out of control when entering the river, owing to the strong N.E. wind, heavy sea and tide. She shortly afterwards grounded on the " Black Middens," and the motor Life-boat Henry Vernon was promptly despatched to her assistance and went alongside. The tide was flowing, and at high water several tugs managed to haul the steamer off, but she was holed and leaking badly, and it was necessary to run her on to the Herd Sands to prevent her foundering.

The Captain and some of the crew elected to remain on board, but twelve of the men were taken into the boat and landed, together with the ship's important papers. The Gape Colonna, which belongs to Whitby, is a large steamer of 3000 tons, and was bound from Smyrna to Leith with a cargo of barley..