A hithau bron â chyrraedd pen ei thaith ar ôl mordaith hir o Melbourne, Awstralia, fe hwyliodd y Royal Charter, â 452 o deithwyr a chriw a gwerth £320,000 o aur o fwyngloddiau Awstralia, i ganol storm enbyd wrth droi am Fôn
Suddodd y llong stêm, Royal Charter, ar 25 Hydref 1859 ger pentref Moelfre, Ynys Môn ar ei thaith olaf adref i Lerpwl.
Ar ôl brwydro trwy Fôr Iwerddon, galwodd y Capten am gymorth peilot Lerpwl ger Pwynt Leinws, ond roedd y môr yn rhy arw iddo fynd ar fwrdd y Charter. Roedd gan y Capten ddau ddewis – naill ai troi am Lerpwl ond heb gymorth y peilot, neu aros lle’r oedd a chysgodi rhag y tywydd enbyd ym Mae Moelfre.
Dewisodd gysgodi ond fe falodd angor y llong dan y straen gan hyrddio’r Royal Charter ar y creigiau oddi ar Foelfre. Roedd y tonnau mor fawr nes i’r llong hollti’n ddwy ar y creigiau hanner canllath o’r lan.
Taflwyd pawb i’r môr heblaw am 32 o deithwyr a laddwyd wrth iddyn nhw gael eu hyrddio yn erbyn y creigiau. Roedd llawer o’r teithwyr ar eu ffordd yn ôl i Gymru ar ôl bod yn gweithio ym mwyngloddiau aur Awstralia, ac fe geisiodd llawer ohonynt adael y llong a nofio i’r lan a’u pocedi yn llawn aur! Bu farw dros 500 o bobl o ganlyniad i’r llongddrylliad – am wythnosau ar ôl y drasiedi hon roedd trigolion Moelfre yn dal i ddod o hyd i gyrff ar y traethau.
As she was approaching the end of her very long journey from Melbourne, Australia, the Royal Charter with 452 passengers plus crew and £320,000 worth of Australian mined gold sailed in to a dangerous storm as she approached Anglesey.
The steam ship sank on the 25th of October 1859 off the shore of Moelfre, Anglesey on her final journey home to Liverpool.
Following a long battle through the Irish Sea, the Captain called for the assistance of the Liverpool Pilot but the sea was treacherous for him to board the Charter. There were two options remaining for the captain – either turn for Liverpool without the assistance of the Pilot or remain where he was and ride the storm out in the shelter of the bay in Moelfre.
He chose to shelter but the anchor broke under the strain, hurling the ship on to the rocks off Moelfre. The waves were so high that the ship was ripped in half as she was thrown on to the rocks only 50 yards from shore.
32 people died as she was hurled on the rocks and the remaining people were thrown in to the sea. Many of the passengers were returning to Wales having been mining for gold in Australia and they tried to swim ashore with their pockets full of the gold! Over 500 died from this shipwreck and for weeks following this tragedy, the Villagers in Moelfre were still discovering bodies on the shore.