Thousands died at sea

Where the story comes from

Every quote in the video is from the record: Hansard (the official report of Parliament), the Merchant Shipping Acts and the International Convention on Load Lines. Primary records come first; where a claim rests on a single secondary source, we say so in the notes below.

Notes on what is uncertain

• The fist. Newspaper reports said Plimsoll shook his fist in the Commons on 22 July 1875. Hansard records no gesture, so we tell it as a report.
• The Peru. Some of the fifteen sailors jailed in December 1872 said the ship was unseaworthy; the Home Secretary told Parliament their plea was dishonest. The record cannot settle who was right; we give both.
• "Painted on the funnel." A popular story says some owners painted their disc on the funnel. We found no record of it.
• Our title. "Thousands died at sea because of this" echoes Plimsoll's own words in the Commons on 22 July 1875: "Do you know that thousands are dying for this?" (Hansard). The figure we show, 17,829 lives lost in wrecks on and near the coasts of the United Kingdom from 1854 to 1878, comes from the Board of Trade's wreck register. No record tells how many of those deaths came from overloading, and the film says so.
• The thumbnail. It shows a painting of another ship in a storm (Ivan Aivazovsky, 1892), not the Peru. No picture of the Peru is known to us.
• Deaths at sea. The Board of Trade's figures cover wrecks on and near the coasts of the United Kingdom only. Losses stayed high after 1890 (Carter and others, 2023): the line did not end the danger on its own.

Primary sources

• Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO), London conference, International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (text), 1966-04-05, Articles 5, 11, 12; Annex I Regulations 4-9, 27, 40; Annex II. source
• International Maritime Organization, Status of IMO Treaties (summary table), printed 2023-09-05, earlier table printed 2021-08-04: 164 states, 98.87 %. source
• Parliament of the United Kingdom; reprint: New Zealand Government, The Merchant Shipping Act, 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 88), reprinted in the New Zealand Gazette, 1875-08-13 (assent); reprint January 1876, NZ Gazette 1876 No. 3 p. 40 (deck lines, disc 'twelve inches in diameter', 'maximum load-line in salt water to which the owner intends to load the ship for that voyage', dates from 1 Nov 1875) and p. 41 (short title; 'shall continue in force until the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six'): https://gazette.howison.co.nz/nzg/1876/issue/3/page/41. source
• Samuel Plimsoll, Our Seamen: An Appeal (popular edition), 1873, archive.org ourseamenappeal00plim (PDF page 127 = lodging-house passage, checked on the scan); other copies: ourseamenanappe00plimgoog, ourseamenappeal0000unse. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Parliament - Breach of Order (Mr. Plimsoll), 1875-07-22, HC Deb 22 July 1875 vol 225 cc1822-9. source
• Parliament of the United Kingdom, The Merchant Shipping Act, 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 80). An Act to amend the Merchant Shipping Acts, 1876-08-15, archive.org wbsl.18216; ss. 3-6, 11, 13, 25-28. source
• Parliament of the United Kingdom, Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 60), sections 436-440 (as enacted, with annotations), 1894, s. 436 https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1894/en/act/pub/0060/sec0436.html; s. 437 .../sec0437.html; s. 439 .../sec0439.html; s. 440 .../sec0440.html; s. 463 .../sec0463.html. source
• Parliament of the United Kingdom, The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 104), 1854, archive.org dli.bengal.10689.20713; s. 243. source
• House of Lords (Hansard); Earl of Ellenborough, Unseaworthy Vessels (Lords), 1856-02-14, HL Deb 14 February 1856 vol 140 cc706-15. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Merchant Seamen's Act - The Ship 'Peru', 1873-03-06, HC Deb 06 March 1873 vol 214 cc1394-5. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Merchant Shipping Act - The Steamship 'Peru' - Questions, 1873-02-28, HC Deb 28 February 1873 vol 214 cc1099-100. source
• The Life-Boat (journal of the RNLI), from the Board of Trade wreck register, The Wreck Register for 1877-78, 1879-11, The Life-Boat vol. 10 no. 114. source
• Samuel Plimsoll, Our Seamen: An Appeal (large first edition with photographic facsimiles; Wellcome Collection copy), 1873, IIIF manifest https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/presentation/v2/b20406691 ; canvases b20406691_0007 (title page, dated 1873), _0090 (General Wreck Chart of the British Isles for 1869), _0162 (petition text and the list of chambers of commerce), _0168 (heliotype of the Associated Chambers of Commerce report with James Hall and Plimsoll pen notes); also archive.org b20406691. source
• House of Lords (Hansard), Royal Commission - Question (Lords), 1873-03-25, HL Deb 25 March 1873 vol 215 cc94-9. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Mercantile Marine - The Royal Commission - Question, 1873-03-28, HC Deb 28 March 1873 vol 215 cc298-9. source
• The Life-Boat (journal of the RNLI), The Unseaworthy Ships' Commission (preliminary report, reprinted from The Times), 1873-11, The Life-Boat vol. 8 no. 90, Nov 1873. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Merchant Shipping Survey Bill [Bill 11] - Second Reading, 1874-06-24, HC Deb 24 June 1874 vol 220 cc344-84. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Question. Ministerial Statement, 1875-07-22, HC Deb 22 July 1875 vol 225 cc1820-2. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Unseaworthy Ships Bill - Leave. First Reading, 1875-07-28, HC Deb 28 July 1875 vol 226 cc145-62. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Parliament - Breach of Order (Mr. Plimsoll) [adjourned debate], 1875-07-29, HC Deb 29 July 1875 vol 226 cc178-80. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Unseaworthy Ships Bill [Bill 274] - Second Reading, 1875-07-30, HC Deb 30 July 1875 vol 226 cc225-67. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Breach of Order - Mr. Plimsoll and Mr. Bates: Question. Personal Explanation, 1875-07-30, HC Deb 30 July 1875 vol 226 cc224-5. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Unseaworthy Ships Bill [Bill 274] - Consideration, 1875-08-05, HC Deb 05 August 1875 vol 226 cc575-88. source
• US Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, 46 CFR Part 42 - Domestic and Foreign Voyages by Sea (load lines; implements the 1966 Convention), current text, read 2026-10-13, §§42.03-5, 42.07-10, 42.13-15(h), 42.13-20, 42.13-25, 42.13-30, 42.13-35, 42.13-40, 42.20-75, 42.30-1 to 42.30-35. source
• International Maritime Organization, International Convention on Load Lines, page read 2026-10-13. source
• House of Commons (Hansard), Merchant Shipping Bill - Consideration (Clause 22, Marking of load line), 1876-05-22, HC Deb 22 May 1876 vol 229 cc1054-82 (load line at cc1079-81). source
• Nature (unsigned), quoting Prof. F. Elgar and Sir E. J. Reed, The Load-Lines of Ships, 1885-12-24, doi:10.1038/033169a0. source
• Great Britain. Board of Trade. Load Line Committee, Rules for freeboard (Board of Trade, Marine Department: instructions on the Load Line Committee's tables), 1886-01, archive.org cu31924030131852. source
• Parliament of the United Kingdom, Merchant Shipping Act 1894, Twenty-second Schedule (Enactments repealed), as enacted, 1894, lists '53 & 54 Vict. c. 9. The Merchant Shipping Act, 1890. The whole Act.' and '39 & 40 Vict. c. 80. The Merchant Shipping Act, 1876.'. source
• Parliament of the United Kingdom, Merchant Shipping Act, 1906 (6 Edw. 7 c. 48), section 1, 1906-12-21, 6 Edw. 7 c. 48 s. 1. source
• US Department of State, Office of the Historian, International Conference on Load Lines, held at London, May 20-July 5, 1930 (Foreign Relations of the United States, 1930, vol. I, ch. 10), 1930 (published later), FRUS 1930 v01 ch10, docs 246-247 (Treaty Series No. 858). source
• United Nations (registration by IMCO, 30 July 1968), International Convention on Load Lines, 1966 (UN Treaty Series No. 9159), 1968, UNTS vol. 640 p. 133, No. 9159. source

Secondary sources

• National Museums Liverpool, Commemorating an MP's furious outburst on behalf of seafarers, page read 2026-10-13, object 52.111.1 (bronze medallion by Auguste Chevalier). source
• Wikipedia contributors, List of acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1875 (and from 1876, 1890, 1906), read 2026-10-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acts_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom_from_1876 ; .../from_1890 ; .../from_1906. source
• Lloyd's Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre, The Plimsoll line (blog), 2020-04-15, old address hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/whats-on/blogs/the-plimsoll-line. source
• Eliza Orme, Plimsoll, Samuel (Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement), 1901, DNB 1901 supplement vol. 3. source
• Wikipedia contributors, Samuel Plimsoll, read 2026-10-13. source
• Alexander H. Japp, Good Men and True: Biographies of Workers in the Fields of Beneficence and Benevolence (chapter: Samuel Plimsoll), 1890, archive.org goodmenandtrueb00jappgoog (Plimsoll chapter, pp. about 400-424). source
• Auckland Star / Globe (reprinting London reports), London correspondence on the Plimsoll scene (Auckland Star, 25 Sep 1875; similar account in the Globe, 27 Sep 1875), 1875-09-25, AS18750925.2.21; GLOBE18750927.2.13 (pages blocked to our tools; content seen through search summaries only). source
• NASA Glenn Research Center, Buoyancy: Archimedes Principle, page read 2026-10-13. source
• Lloyd's Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre, What is the Plimsoll line? (also 'The Plimsoll line', whats-on/the-plimsoll-line-303), about 2025-2026 (no date given), https://heritage.lrfoundation.org.uk/whats-on/the-plimsoll-line-303. source
• The Victorian Web; Australian National Maritime Museum, Samuel Plimsoll (Victorian Web); Samuel Plimsoll biography (Australian National Maritime Museum), pages read via search 2026-10-13, https://collections.sea.museum/people/2462/samuel-plimsoll. source
• New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, International Load Line Convention (London, 5 July 1930), treaty record M1930/12, record read 2026-10-13 (via search). source
• Wikipedia contributors, Load line (watercraft), read 2026-10-13. source
• Tim Carter, John Williams, Hance D. Smith, Jennifer Protheroe-Jones, Ann John, Stephen Roberts, Loss of life at sea from shipping British coal since 1890, 2023-08-01, doi:10.1177/08438714231181754; repository record https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63929/Details. source
• Royal Museums Greenwich, Samuel Plimsoll memorial, Victoria Embankment (Maritime Memorials record m4614), record read 2026-10-13, m4614. source
• Historic England (via Wikipedia and British Listed Buildings mirrors), Plimsoll Memorial (list entry 1274547), listed 1970-02-05, https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101274547-plimsoll-memorial-st-jamess-ward ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plimsoll_Memorial. source

Pictures

Our animation, maps and diagrams are made by us (map data: Natural Earth, public domain). The historical pictures and pages are in the public domain or released under CC0:

• Samuel Plimsoll, 1876 · Lock & Whitfield · public domain. source
• Samuel Plimsoll, about 1870 · National Library of Wales · public domain. source
• "The Sailor's Champion", Vanity Fair, 15 March 1873 · public domain. source
• Plimsoll with a ship's crew, published 1890 · public domain. source
• Benjamin Disraeli, 1860s · workshop of William Edward Kilburn · Library of Congress · public domain. source
• Edward Bates, Vanity Fair, 12 May 1888 · Leslie Ward ("Spy") · Yale Center for British Art (CC0). source
• "The Coffin-Ships" (detail), Punch, 15 March 1873 · John Tenniel · public domain. source
• Our Seamen: An Appeal, 1873, title page, wreck chart of the British Isles for 1869 and the photographic plates of a holed hull plate and wasted bolts · Wellcome Collection · public domain. source
• Hansard, 6 March 1873 (the Home Secretary on the Peru), vol. 214 · public domain. source
• Hansard, 22 July 1875, vol. 225 · public domain. source
• Hansard, 29 and 30 July 1875 (Plimsoll's apology, Disraeli, Edward Bates), vol. 226 · public domain. source
• Hansard, 22 May 1876, vol. 229 · public domain. source
• Illustrated London News, 24 July 1875, p. 82 · public domain. source
• Illustrated London News, 31 July 1875, p. 102 · public domain. source
• Merchant Shipping Act 1854, s. 243, in A. C. Boyd's edition · public domain. source
• Merchant Shipping Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 88), The Public General Statutes 1875 · public domain. source
• Merchant Shipping Act 1894, s. 438, The Public General Acts 1894 · public domain. source
• Board of Trade freeboard tables, 1886 · public domain. source
• "The Stranded Collier", Ryde · G. W. Wilson · Rijksmuseum (CC0). source
• Thumbnail: Ivan Aivazovsky, The Ship Maria in a Storm, 1892 · public domain. source

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Corrections

None so far. If you spot a mistake, please tell us at hello@talecules.com and we'll correct it here, under the video and in the pinned comment.