On 16 February 1860, an American three-master, the ‘Luna’, set sail from Le Havre bound for New Orleans in the United States, with around a hundred passengers and crew on board. Caught in a storm, she hit the rock at Quilleboeuf on the morning of 17 February and quickly sank. The shipwreck left only two survivors.

Thierry Louise, a maritime history enthusiast and member of Gatteville Héritages, shared the fruits of his research at the conference. He then answered questions from the audience, who were impressed by this account of one of the most terrible civilian maritime disasters to have occurred off the Cotentin coast.