- You may wish to consult
Elysium (disambiguation)for other, similarly-named pages.
The Crash of the Elysium was the name given by the North West Historical Society (PROSE: The North West Historical Society [+]Unknown, North West Historical Society (Punchdrunk and BBC, 2011).) to refer to the crash of the steamer Elysium on 17 July 1888. (PROSE: Pride of Mayfield Star Lines Beached in Devastating Storm [+]North West Historical Society (BBC, 2011).) The society would describe the events as one of the "region's most famous maritime disasters". (PROSE: The North West Historical Society [+]Unknown, North West Historical Society (Punchdrunk and BBC, 2011).)
History[]
On 17 July 1888, the commercial steamer Elysium, carrying a cargo of precious metals including over £1000 worth of gold ingots and industrial machine parts for the cotton trade, catastrophically grounded herself "on rocks one half mile away from the extremities of the South Coast". Captain T. A. Solomon and the rest of the eight man crew were reported missing to the coastguard's office in the early hours of the morning.
According to an article about the crash published in The Manchester Guardian on 18 July 1888, there had been a storm that measured a force 12 on the Beaufort scale, with winds over ninety knots, on the day the steamer sank. (PROSE: Pride of Mayfield Star Lines Beached in Devastating Storm [+]North West Historical Society (BBC, 2011).)
Aftermath[]
The crash became well known in the diving community and the existence of the gold ingots was contested by some as they believed it was fabricated as part of an insurance scam. (PROSE: Enthusiastic Amateur Diver Shares His Discoveries With You! [+]Daryl the Diver (Punchdrunk and BBC, 2011).)
It appeared as if, since the initial beaching of the Elysium in 1888, (PROSE: Pride of Mayfield Star Lines Beached in Devastating Storm [+]North West Historical Society (BBC, 2011).) the Elysium later sank. (PROSE: Enthusiastic Amateur Diver Shares His Discoveries With You! [+]Daryl the Diver (Punchdrunk and BBC, 2011).)
After beginning their research into the crash of the Elysium, (PROSE: The North West Historical Society [+]Unknown, North West Historical Society (Punchdrunk and BBC, 2011).) the North West Historical Society transcribed the article from The Manchester Guardian and published it on their website, which curiously differed from the original; they instead claimed that, in addition to the cargo of precious metals and machinery, there was a piece of confidential cargo transported under government warrant, and that there was no storm in that sector at the time of the crash. They further elaborated that Whitehall had been recorded as not commenting on the cargo, that crew records at left at Mortimer House imply that the secret cargo was a valuable statue, and that eyewitness saw an angelic woman emerge from the wreckage, but officials dismissed the claims as "wild fancy". (PROSE: Pride of Mayfield Star Lines Beached in Devastating Storm [+]North West Historical Society (BBC, 2011).)
Amateur diver Daryl Christofi also took interest in the Elysium, citing it as his latest diving project. (PROSE: Daryl Christofi [+]Daryl the Diver (Punchdrunk and BBC, 2011).) Documenting his efforts on his website, he explained he had obtained salvage rights to the ship; his efforts were focused on retrieving the ingots of gold, which were, by the 2010s, worth over £10000000. His first dive prioritised on locating the ship, whereupon he noted the ship's good condition despite the surrounding area being silty; he also managed to retrieve some pottery on this dive, which he leant to a touring exhibition about the Elysium. Daryl planned another dive to the Elysium for the next month. (PROSE: Enthusiastic Amateur Diver Shares His Discoveries With You! [+]Daryl the Diver (Punchdrunk and BBC, 2011).)
Behind the scenes[]
- The Crash of the Elysium shares its name with the 2011 immersive experience The Crash of the Elysium in Manchester, as all the stories that feature the crash were created as part of the marketing campaign for the experience.
- There are some discrepancies with the crash of the Elysium in 1888, some more explicit than others.
- The North West Historical Society's transcript of The Manchester Guardian is left unexplained.
- The location of the crash also seems to differ, as the faux The Manchester Guardian article claims that the steamer sunk off the South Coast despite the North West Historical Society only covering history in the North West region of England (although this is potentially explainable as the steamer did originate in Manchester). Further complications arise with the 2012 rerelease of The Crash of the Elysium, which was moved from Manchester to Ipswich, in Eastern England; this change of location was diegetic in the experience, as it was retconned that the Elysium originated from and crashed in the Eastern region of England.
- The fate of the Weeping Angel and Daryl Christofi's subsequent return trips to the site of the sunken Elysium are left unresolved as no follow up stories were released.
- The mini-episode Analysis Lessons is, in-universe, a message the Eleventh Doctor recorded for the visitors of the Elysium exhibition from The Crash of the Elysium, which was briefly mentioned in the short story Enthusiastic Amateur Diver Shares His Discoveries With You!.
Information from invalid sources[]
A group of humans visited the exhibition about the Elysium in either Manchester 2011 or Ipswich 2011, depending on the variation of the source, where a curator told them about the history of the Elysium while showing them a slideshow of old photographs of the steamer. However, the army soon burst in, and escorted the curator and the group separately as a matter of national security, as a spaceship also called Elysium had crashed nearby. (STAGE: The Crash of the Elysium [+]Tom MacRae, Doctor Who immersive experiences (2011).)
