WRECK OF THE IRON SHIP "TAYLEUR" WITH LOSS OF 400 LIVES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 180, 17 June 1854, Page 5

WRECK OF THE IRON SHIP "TAYLEUR" WITH LOSS OF 400 LIVES.

It is with the deepest regret that we have to announce the total loss of the magnificent new iron ship " Tayleur," together with 400 passengers and. several of the crew, on her way from this port to Melbourne. The "Tayleur" sailed from the Mersey at noon on Thursday, the 19th, with a mixed crew of English arid foreigners, in tow of the steam-tug f Victory," and was left by the steamer at 7, p.m., about 6 miles E.S.E. of the Skerries. She had about six hundred passengers, and a crew, including officers, stewards, &c, numbering upwards of 55 ; stowaways were also found after the tug left. During the whole of Friday, until the ship struck, the wind was from W.S.W. to S.W., and very little progress was made, and about noon she struck the " Nose" of Lambay Island, and soon sunk. We are indebted to Thomas Kemp, one of the surviving passengers of the Tayleyf for the following particulars:—The Tayleur left Liverpool at noon in tow of the steam-tug Victory, with a fine breeze from the S.E., and had on board as near as I could learn 670 passengers, including- the crew. All went on well, until noon on Saturday ; at that time one of the passengers came running into my cabin, arid said there was land on the lee bow. I asked him how far off? He replied he believed about

three or four miles. I immediately went on deck, and saw the land distinctly, which appeared to me to be about three-quarters of a mile distant. From the progress the ship was making towards the land I saw there was no hope, and I prepared for the worst. The wind was blowing fresh from the S.W., the ship being under topsails; as soon as it was known;to ; the passengers that the land was so close they all crowded on deck, and caused such confusion i that the crew were prevented from obeying any orders that might have been conveyed to them by the officers. Both anchors were let go, but either the cables broke or the heavy sea caused them to drag, for they did not stay the progress of the ship, and she soon struck on the rock, which I afterwards learned was called the " nose" of Lambay Island. After striking, she turned broadside on to the rock, and many of the passengers jumped on shore. She remained in this position only a few minutes, slid off, 'filled, and went down stern foremost, with only the tops of the mast visible above water. The survivors were mustered and counted, and it was found that there were about 250 saved; the number that perished will therefore be 420. The captain, and Ist and 3rd mates, were saved. The second mate, surgeon, his wife and child, were drowned. Only three women and two children were saved. * The Tayleur was a ship of 2200 tons register. She was built at Warrington, and commanded by Captain Noble. The following statement by the pilot who took the Tayleur out to sea is of considerable importance, as shewing the state of the compasses when she took her departure .—I took the Tayleur to sea on Thursday last, the ship being in tow of the steam-tug Victory. While the wind was light, the steamer continued towing her, but as soon as the breeze sprung up, the steamer was obliged to drop astern, as such were the sailing qualities of the ship that she would have run over the steamer. During the passage down, I had full opportunity to examine the compasses, and found balf-a-point difference between the compasses below, and those upon deck. The ship answered her helm and steered like a fish ; and I do not hesitate to state, that I believed her to be the fastest ship afloat. When a breeze sprung up, and the sails were set, by the steam-tug's capacity, which I knew to be ten knots an hour, I found that the ship was leaving her at the rate of three or four miles an hour, thus making the speed of the ship from 13 to 14 knots an hour. The Wakefield Journal publishes the narrative of one of the passengers, Mr. Edward Tew, jun., son of a banker in that town. Mr. Tew says—" Just as I came on deck,_a lady came up to me and asked me if I could swim. I told her I could. (She was the same lady who afterwards offered £3000 for her life.) She said she would keep near me; she, however, went away. I had been actively engaged from the time we first saw land. I had no time to be frightened. I was one of the few who kept their senses to the last. I went to the larboard side of the vessel—-that is to say, the side furthest from the shore. I sat down for about half a minute, and made up my mind to swim rather in a different direction in order to avoid the dead bodies. I then dropped quietly down a chain into the water, and had not swam above a couple of yards when I saw a boy, about ten years old, clinging to a piece of wood. I immediately made to him; he was crying, and told me his mother was drowned. He said it was no use in me trying to save him, for he should be drowned. However, I was determined to try, and accordingly took him by the collar, and placed him on the top of a large spar, and made him take hold of a piece of iron which was standing out. I still had hold of his collar with my right hand, and kept the broken pieces of wood and spars off with my left hand. It was then that I experienced difficulties which required almost superhuman efforts to overcome. A heavy sea was rolling over us every moment, large spars threatening to crush us, and almost perpendicular rocks, as black as death, staring us in the face. Well, I was determined not to have our heads dashed against the rocks as had beeu the fate of so many of my fellow-passengers. As we neared the rocks, the boy was washed off the'spar, but still had hold of him. I put out my hand to save our heads and received a cut in the hand, but I felt the land, and told the boy we were saved. But not so, we were washed back again. I made to land a second time, and was washed back again. I {tried a third time, and was treated in the same way. I was making toward

the rock a fourth time, determined to save the lad or die with him, when a spar struck him on the right side of the head-r-the side I had no control over—rand entered his skull; it knocked me under at the same time, but I rose again, and a rope was thrown me, which I twisted round my arm twenty times at least, and with the assistance of a sailor clambered up the rock. I just got there in time to see the whole ship go down. I found the captain had arrived before me. He had swam ashore, and the two passengers who assisted him out of the water were both washed back again into the sea and drowned. The captain said he could feel the dead bodies under his feet as he swam. Several other people were washed back again into the sea in the attempt to save life, " A Frenchman saved a child in the following manner : —He had undressed to his shirt, intending to swim, but seeing so many die in the attempt, he chose rather to try the rope: he saw a child sprawling upon the deck, he snatched it up, took hold of its back with his teeth, and carried it safely to shore. The child is unowned. I believe I was the last man who left the ship, and the last who arrived safely on shore. There were only two persons who saved themselves by swimming, besides myself, the captain and a passenger sailor. I found we were upon Lambay island, about three miles from Bush, and about thirteen from Dublin. Here you would see some limping with their legs sprained; one man had a broken arm, another man had only a shirt on, and another had only got a pair of trousers, while others were without shoes or stockings. Jt was here that I heard the most heartrending tales. One man had lost six sisters, four brothers and a mother; a German had lost a whole family. Another man had lost his brother, his brother's wife, her three sisters, and four children; others had lost their wives and children. The loss of property was [immense, and no. one seemed to have insured. One man told me he had about |g750 worth of goods on board ; they were not insured, but he had insured his life for £1000. " The night was dreadful; we were almost starving; many of us were nearly naked and wet through. We had straw given us to lie down upon. In this state we passed the night. The next day was as bad as the day before. When we went to the wreck we found bodies piled over each other, all naked, and mangled in such a manner that no one could tell who they were. I helped some of the sailors down the rocks by a rope which was fastened round my waist. I then sat down and fixed my feet against a projecting piece of rock. In this way I could have supported a bullock, and of course the rope could not slip from my hold. I was obliged to remain in this way for an hour, every one declining to take my post; but one man was good enough to cover my feet with sods, to keep the cold off. There was only one lady brought up the cliff; she was naked all but hexStays, and had two diamond rings on her fingers. I was told about two hours after that some inhuman monster cut her finger off for the rings." The following is a correct copy of the finding of the Coroner's jury :—" We find that Edward Kewley, second mate, and Henry H. Cunning- | ham, a passenger on board the ship Tayleur, I were drowned by the sinking of the said ship, off Lambay island, on Saturday, the 21st day of January, 1854, and that this deplorable accident occurred in consequence of the highly culpable Degleet of the owners in permittingthe vessel to leave port without her compasses being properly adjusted, or a sufficient trial having taken place to learn whether she was under the control of her helm or not; and we find that Captain Noble did not take sufficient precaution to insure the safety of thejvessel, by sounding, after he found that his compasses were in error; but we consider, from the time the vessel came in sight of land, he acted with coolness and courage, and used every exertion in his power to save the lives of the passengers, not having left the ship until she was completely under water. We are of opinion that the authorities should insist on some precautions beingadopted, and the same number of men required in emigrant ships as are required in vessels chartered by the Government for the purposes of emigration, or the conveyance of the Government stores." From late accounts we find that, from the report of the divers, the timbers of the " Tayleur " have parted at her stern, and the decks abaft burst up, the cargo being strewn about the bottom.