In the early morning hours of May 25, 1915, the French barque Bidart was shipwrecked off the western coast of Flores Island, near the rocks of Cachoeira, in the vicinity of Fajã Grande.

The Bidart, built in Nantes, had a steel hull and measured 84 meters in length. It was a three-masted sailing ship with square sails on the main masts. Launched in 1901, the vessel made several Atlantic crossings before being sold to an owner from Rouen and later incorporated into the Société Anonyme des Voiliers Rouennais.

In 1915, under the command of Captain Jacques Blondel and crewed by 23 men, Bidart set sail from the port of Thio, in the French colony of New Caledonia, carrying a cargo of nickel ore bound for the port of Glasgow, Scotland.

Nearly four months into this long voyage from the South Pacific, the crew began to suffer from scurvy due to food shortages. One sailor died on May 24, and most of the crew had already been rendered unfit for duty by the disease, leaving very few able to operate the vessel.

After several days of dense fog and overcast skies, which made it impossible to observe the sun and determine the ship’s latitude, Captain Blondel spotted what appeared to be surf through the mist. In an emergency maneuver, he tried to redirect the ship, but due to the lack of able crew—or perhaps due to the wind and sea conditions—Bidart continued drifting toward the breakers and ultimately ran aground about fifty meters from shore.

The ship quickly began to break apart under the pounding surf, and the crew found themselves in grave danger. With no available lifeboats, four sailors threw themselves into the sea in a desperate attempt to seek help from shore. Only one managed to reach land; the others were overwhelmed by the rough waters and jagged rocks.

It was then that António Luís de Fraga, a local resident and, as accounts say,

"the only courageous man who dared to face the rough sea,"
succeeded in carrying a rope out to the stranded vessel. This heroic act established a lifeline between the ship and the shore, enabling the rescue of 14 of the crew members.

Horta, May 28 – The French barque Bidart from Bayonne, coming from New Caledonia and bound for Glasgow with a cargo of nickel, ran aground at Fajã Grande, on the island of Flores, and was completely destroyed. Of the crew of 22 men, 14 were saved, while 8 perished. — (Correspondent, A Capital)

Contemporary accounts note that the bodies washed ashore were buried with dignity in the local cemetery, while the survivors—some of them injured—were treated at the Santa Cruz das Flores hospital.

I am sharing photos of landscapes, moments and experiences. Nature and sea are the most visited themes in my photo collection, but any attention-grabbing aspect can be photographed. Hope you enjoy it...