PS Rothsay Castle (1816)

She was shipwrecked on the Lavan Sands (Welsh: Traeth Lafan) at the eastern end of the Menai Strait, North Wales, in 1831, with the loss of 130 lives.

The pumps were found not to work, there was not even a bucket available for bailing, and the single lifeboat (shipboard) had a hole in the bottom and had no oars.

At around 1 am on 18 August the Rothsay Castle ran aground on Dutchman Bank and after a while broke up, the captain and the two mates were swept to their death when the funnel collapsed.

had the Rothsay Castle been a seaworthy vessel and properly manned, this awful calamity might have been averted.

They therefore cannot disguise their indignation at the conduct of those who could place such a vessel on this station ...As a result of this man-made disaster, a lifeboat was established at Penmon on the south-east tip of Anglesey in 1832 and Trwyn Du Lighthouse built there in 1837.