Ablaze Gallery

The Vinh-Long, French naval vessel (a 5500-ton screw steamship, which was built in 1881) - on 16 November 1922, while carrying 495 persons, including civilians as well as military and naval personnel, the vessel caught fire in the Sea of Marmara

The Vinh-Long, French naval vessel (a 5500-ton screw steamship, which was built in 1881) - on 16 November 1922, while carrying 495 persons, including civilians as well as military and naval personnel, the vessel caught fire in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey. Despite the efforts of her crew, the fire reached her after magazines, causing explosions that rapidly spread the conflagration throughout the ship. Despite the severity of the blaze, 482 of her passengers and crew were rescued by USS Bainbridge (DD-246) and British Destroyer HMS Sepoy. Thirteen people, among them two women and four children, lost their lives in the fire and subsequent efforts to abandon ship, while another man died of exposure on board Bainbridge. Date: 1922

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection

The Temporary London Bridge on fire

The Temporary London Bridge on fire on the night of 11th April 1758. Intended improvements to the main medieval stone bridge didnt go down too well with the ferrymen who made their living transporting people across the river and there is every indication that it was a disgruntled river worker who set fire to the temporary structure. Date: 1758

© London Fire Brigade / Mary Evans

THE KENT ABLAZE

East Indiaman Kent, bound for Bombay, weathers storm in the Bay of Biscay but catches fire ; luckily the Cambria passes near and rescues nearly all before she blows up

© Mary Evans Picture Library

1825, 29, Ablaze, Bay, Biscay, Blows, Bombay, Bound, Catches, East, February, Fire, Historical, History, Indiaman, Luckily, Passes, Rescues, Storm, Transport, Weathers