Incident of the Russian Ship Dmitry

Date: October 24, 1885 • Location: London, United Kingdom

The Russian ship Dmitry ran aground in Whitby, an incident that inspired the arrival of Count Dracula to England in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel (cover pictured).

Dmitry was a Russian cargo ship that was wrecked at Whitby, England, in 1885. The vessel had been travelling from Antwerp, Belgium, to Newcastle upon Tyne, England, when she sought safe harbour in Whitby during a gale on 24 October. She escaped rocks outside the harbour but drifted onto a sand bar and was wrecked there the following day. The wreck came to the attention of author Bram Stoker during a visit to the town in 1890 and served as the inspiration for the Demeter in his gothic horror novel Dracula.