A French brig, the CHARLOTTE, in Ballast from the English Channel to Cardiff, struck the sand dunes near Harlech on Christmas Eve 1855 - a remarkable example of hit and miss navigation in the days when a ship was entirely dependant upon winds. Having negotiated Land's End, she missed the the 100 mile wide mouth of the Bristol Channel and then swept the full length of Cardigan Bay. As soon as she struck the beach the crew of eight put off in the ship's boat leaving the captain behind. However the boat overturned, plunging the ment in to the pounding surf. The drama had been witnessed by John Roberts, of Clogwyn, Harlech, who arrived on the beach in time to rescue four men - an act of bravery for which he was awarded the silver medal of the RNLI. Shortly before the CHARLOTTE began to break up the master was taken off by the Criccieth lifeboat.

This account is from the book "Shipwrecks of North Wales" by Ivor Wyn Jones.