Plimsoll, the Seaman’s Friend, Campaigned Against ‘Coffin Ships’

In the mid-1800s working as a seaman in Great Britain was a dangerous job. Shady ship owners tried to maximize profits by overloading their ships. These ships often sank in bad weather, allowing the ship owners to make an even greater profit on the over-insured ships. In the year 1873-74 around the coastline of the United Kingdom 411 ships sank and 506 people died. Overloading ...