PS Normandy was a British paddle-wheel mail steamer operating on the Southampton - Guernsey - Jersey route which, on a night of dense fog, sank 20 miles from The Needles in the English Channel in the early morning of 17 March 1870 after colliding at around 03:30 with steamship Mary, a propeller steamer carrying 500 tons of maize from Odessa to London via Gibraltar.

[3] The PS Normandy, built in 1863, was operated by the Steam Packet Company, at the time a subsidiary of the London and South-West Railway Co. On the night of 16 March 1870, she left Southampton for St. Peter Port, Guernsey, and then onwards to Jersey, being due there within twelve hours.

The ship was operating under an agreement between the Steam Packet Company and the British government for the carriage of Her Majesty’s mail to the Channel Isles.

[3] Although the ruling of the official enquiry was that the Normandy was at fault, the actions and the heroism of Captain Harvey, who died after having ensured that the passengers would be first to abandon the ship, was strenuously defended and praised by Victor Hugo,[2] who also recommended that London and South Western Railway equip its ships with watertight bulkheads, sufficient life jackets, and floating lights.

H. B. Harvey - Commander J. Ockleford - Chief Mate R. Cocks C. Marsham - Engineers P. Richardson - Carpenter J. Coleman H. Hoskins J. Wadmore - Seamen A. Clement - Boy J. Allen G. Cadick J.