When the SS Stella sailed from Southampton in 1899 and struck rocks at high speed off the Channel Islands, up to 100 lives were lost in a tragedy that pre-empted Titanic’s disaster just 13 years later. Branded “the Titanic of the English Channel,” it has since been largely forgotten.
Using family history research, this talk uncovers Stella’s drowned crew and bereaved families and asks: had the lessons been learned, could Titanic have been prevented?