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Marine Heritage Database
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Typical Profile
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Tonnage
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208
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Length(ft)
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Breadth(ft)
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Depth(ft)
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Masts
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Decks
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Hull
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Shipwreck Details
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Description
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FRANCIS was a type of sailing ship called a "snow". This was similar to a brig, but used a small spar rigged behind the main mast to make it easier to handle the spanker sail.
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Story
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Following the sinking, rumours reached Halifax about the looting of bodies and possible murder of survivors from FRANCIS. An officer was sent to Sable Island in the vessel HARRIOT to investigate. He found evidence of wreckers salvaging valuable personal possessions but no evidence of murder. However, these concerns helped build support for a rescue station on the island and a year later Nova Scotia established the Humane Establishment on Sable which went on to save hundreds of lives in the years that followed. The rumours of looting and murder also inspired a fictional ghost story which has remained popular over the years. It holds that a phantom woman haunts Sable's beaches looking for the severed finger of her hand, cut off by the wreckers to remove her wedding ring.
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Vessel Type
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Snow, Transport
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Type of Event
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Loss
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Nature of Event
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Wrecked
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Cause of Event
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Unknown
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Date of Wreck
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1800-01-01
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Location
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Sable Island
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Cargo
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Staff and baggage of Prince Edward, Dukeof Kent
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Lives Lost
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18
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Voyage from
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London, London , England
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Voyage to
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Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Remarks
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All hands lost.
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Ship Construction
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Built at
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Date
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Registered at
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United Kingdom
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Date
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Propulsion
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Sail
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Rig
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Snow
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Details
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