Sinking of SS Virago

Date: June 3, 1882 • Location: Beaumont-Hague, France

The British merchant ship Virago sank off Alderney with the loss of 26 crew.

SS Virago was a passenger and cargo ship operated by Thomas Wilson Sons & Co. She was built in 1871 in Hull by Earle's Shipbuilding and operated initially on routes between Britain and India. Virago was later switched to routes to the United States and the Mediterranean. She underwent a refit in 1881 and was lost at sea on 3 June 1882 while en route between Hull and Constantinople. The wreck of Virago was discovered off Alderney by a survey in 2009 but not identified until a series of dives was made on the ship in 2022.