Postcard of the Month: April 2023
/Zebrina: Mystery becomes Legend.
Although this photograph was not taken locally, Zebrina visited Littlehampton on a number of occasions and is featured in our website. She is seen here unloading with the help of a crane at a jetty in Sheerness, some time before 1906 when the card was posted. The dock workers on the jetty give a good appreciation of the relatively small size of the craft, despite her three masts.
The ship is well known for the mystery of the crew of five’s disappearance in October 1917, when she was found abandoned aground on the French coast with some sails still set. A number of books, and recently websites, have included her story alongside other unexplained maritime events. She has been referred to as the ‘Marie Celeste of WW1’ but some of the recent accounts have called her a ‘Ghost Ship’. Sadly, it was the crew who might be regarded as the ghosts.
As the story evolved, Zebrina became something of a legend. It also seems to have acquired some doubtful claims. For instance, that the crew numbered twenty three (rather than the five who were recorded as being aboard) which suggests that she was a secret ‘Q’ ship for submarine hunting, manned by the Navy. It is also suggested that she fell prey to a German U-Boat which removed the crew, but left her to sail on. These suppositions are not supported by the log book which was still aboard the derelict vessel when found. The most likely explanation is probably given by the author, David Masters, who investigated the case for his book When Ships Go Down, published in 1932. He suggests that the crew were overwhelmed and swept overboard in a storm, leaving the craft to drift ashore.
More details of the fateful voyage can be seen here.