On the night of 20 June 1838, following a gale from the SSW, an Italian barque, believed to be the "Silius" (or "Silio"), Captain Paturzo, carrying 300 tons of salt was carried into Mullion Cove and went aground at night in fog at Carrag Luz. When located the following morning there were no crew aboard, and no cargo. Of the 15 crew who were all believed to have drowned a total of 11 were buried in Mullion Churchyard. It was known locally as the "dead wreck" During a gale on the night of Thursday 11 April 1839 a large number of ships, about 40 in number, anchored for safety near Mullion Island. As the weather worsened several ships slipped their anchors. Having lost their anchors some ships were driven as far north as Porthleven. Some managed to get safely to sea but others were driven ashore between Carrag Luz, Pedn-y-ke and Meres Ledges. These were the schooner "Penrice Castle", carrying coal from Swansea to Falmouth, the schooner "William and Catherine" of Padstow and the smack "Laura" from Porthmadoc to King's Lynn. The last two were carrying slate. Being no Lifeboat at hand many crew took to small boats and reached the safety of nearby ships still at anchor, however these three soon became a total loss. Another ship, a large barque carrying oil was saved after almost being driven ashore. Other ships either fouled anchors or their anchors were totally lost. The "Penrice Castle" was a brand new schooner belonging to C.R.M. Talbot, the MP for Glamorganshire. The sale of the remains of the three wrecked ships only made 30 pounds. The confusion created by such a situation, which occurred in almost total darkness is highlighted by the fact that the owner of the "Penrice Castle" attempted to take a court action at the Admiralty Court against the owner of the "Benjamin", another of the 40 ships who he believed was responsible for the damage, in order to recover his losses. However this action failed through lack of evidence. Such confusing situations occurred regularly around Mullion Cove and highlighted the reasons for the regular loss of ships and crew.