Ami at Upton Slip Falmouth
by Terri Waters
Title
Ami at Upton Slip Falmouth
Artist
Terri Waters
Medium
Photograph
Description
Ami is the figurehead from reputedly the largest timber steamship ever built, an 1851 Royal Mail paddle steamer named RMS Amazon, which set sail on the 2nd of January 1952 for the Caribbean. After 2 days she caught fire in the Bay of Biscay and five and a half hours later Amazon’s ammunition storage caught alight and exploded. Her deck collapsed and 30 minutes later she sank, her final resting place about 100 miles south-west of the Isles of Scilly. 104 of the 163 people aboard the ship lost their lives. Two months later Ami and a section of Amazon’s timbers drifted ashore at Falmouth on the south coast of Cornwall where she lives today.
Ami has been through a lot over the years, including being vandalised, but she’s still the very same figurehead who sat proudly at the prow of her boat in the 19th century, protecting her ship and crew and sticking with them as the doomed Amazon sank beneath the waves.
Uploaded
September 27th, 2021
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