A museum is launching a project to document the sinking of the Earl of Abergavenny merchant sailing ship more than 200 years ago – one of the nation’s worst ever maritime disasters, which cost the lives of 263 people, including the captain brother of Romantic poet William Wordsworth.

Launched in 1796, the East Indiaman sailing ship named after former Monmouthshire MP Henry Nevill was wrecked on the Shambles sandbank and sank in Weymouth Bay in 1805.

Now Portland Museum is appealing for volunteers for its Earl of Abergavenny project, boosted by a £60,000 National Lottery grant, inviting history buffs to join a digital skills training opportunity to help record the disaster.

The museum owns a collection of finds from the wreck, and now aims to digitalise the artifacts to tell the story online.

One of the largest merchant sailing ships ever built, the Earl of Abergavenny left Portsmouth to sail to Bengal and China on February 1, 1805, under the command of Captain John Wordsworth, Jnr.

Four days later, the ship struck on the Shambles off the Isle of Portland, with Wordsworth among those going down with the ship and only 139 surviving.

The captain and crew managed to refloat the boat after five hours, but it then sank making for port.

As well as the crew, she was carrying 159 troops, from both the British Army and East India Company, and more than 50 passengers.

An investigation found that her loss was due to the pilot’s incompetence.

One of the country’s worst ever maritime disasters, the ship featured in the Channel 4 series Wreck Detectives.

The total loss of Earl of Abergavenny’s cargo was estimated to be £200,000 – nearly £5m by today’s value - consisting of porcelain, 62 chests full of dollar coins and 30 pipes of wine.

Subsequent salvage attempts recovered the cash, and in 1812 the wreck, which lies in 50ft of water two miles offshore, was blown up to prevent her forming a dangerous shoal.

Henry Nevill was the second Earl of Abergavenny and briefly MP for Monmouthshire in the 1780s before vacating the seat to succeed his father.

A Portland Museum spokesperson said the digital project will help share an exceptional story with a wider audience.

The project will involve the 3D scanning/photography of the finds from the Earl of Abergavenny, the cataloguing of information, handling objects and writing condition reports, and populating a new website with the 3D images and interpretation.

Further information can be obtained by emailing [email protected]