TOTAL LOSS OF THIS ROYAL CHARTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 753, 25 January 1860, Page 3

TOTAL LOSS OF THIS ROYAL CHARTER.

(From the ' European Times,' Nov. 18.) FOUB HUNDRED AND.FIFTY PERSONS, DEOWNED,

It is our .painful duty, to. record the total loss of: the magnificent screw steam-ship Royal Charter, • and of 450 of her passengers and crew. The Royal Charter was well known as one of Messrs. Gibbs, Bright and Co.'s fleet of Australian clippers, and famed for tlio regularity and speed of her voyage to Australia.

This lamentable event occurred during the gale on the. morning of Wednesday,,the 20th October, in tted Wharf Bay, .which is,.situated.about three miles to the westward of Puffin Island, Menai Straits, ; and six or seven to the north-west of Beaumaris, on the coast of Wales, some four hours' sail from Liverpool. This catastrophe has in a marked manner cast a gloom over this town; and in London a painful sensation was experienced on tlie distressing occurrence becoming known there. ; „ The following is a detailed report of the wreck:— . , ■ . , ;, , After a splendid passage from Melbourne, accomplished in about fifty-six days, and having landed seventeen passengers at Queenstown, and telegraphed her safe arrival to the owners, she made tor Liverpool on Tuesday last. At half-past four p.m. she passed Holyhead, when a strong breeze from the E.N.E. sprung .up. At forty-five minutes' past seven she.passed the Skerries, and the wind.began to veer more to the north, and increase in strength. At ten o'clock, being near high water, and the atmosphere thick with rain, the wind blew a hurricane from N.E., and the vessel wa3 put under all staam and left with share poles, steering, S.E. by E. a,quarter E. Finding, that the ship had got near the shore, an effort was made to put her about, but the gale was so furious that the small strength of the screw, compared with the size of the ship and the height of her masts and upper gear, was of little avail, and they could not get her round. Captain Taylor came on deck at nine o'clock, and a lead was kept constantly going. Finding that they were Hearing and nearing the shore, the port anchor was let gojn 16 fathoms, with about 75.fathoms of chain paid out... They 'next let go the starboard anchor, the wind still i blowing a perfect hurricane, and the weather so ! thick and dark tint nothing could be seen. Before i this rockets, and gun firing, and blue lights had | been sent up in the hope of attracting a pilot, but ; all in vain, not a living; thing was.to be seen. At two o'clock on Wednesday morning .she. parted'her, : anchor chain, and the stream anchor was not got over the how. Tlie ship having now got entangled with the land, and: struck stern on, the mainmast was cut away at half-past two, and in going over the side it carried away the mizon top along with it : with a fearful crash. It is said that an axe for the I purpose was not readily found in the excitement, j but that one was not: necessary, for on cutting the I stays, so strong was the gale, that it toppled over |at once. At 345 a.m. they cut away the foremast, < !but the remedy Avas too late. Still she kept beating ion the rocks, and heeling at the stern, she swung '■■ with her broadside to the land. About daylight, ! six o'clock, a Portuguese seaman, named Joseph ißodgerson, tied a cord round his waist and jumped I overboard. The land was not more than ten yards away; but the sea was so tremendously high that every wave beat over the ship like a cataract, and i rendered every attempt at safety dangerous. The ; seaman, however, got a firm footing, and by means ;of the cord a hawser was got ashore and fastened to ; the rocks. On this a boatswain's chair was fixed, which could he hauled to and from the ship by men at each end; A few of the islanders came promptly to render assistance, and in the chair about a dozen seamen were hauled ashore. When daylight was ; dawning, this, process, it was supposed, would be .sufficient to land the passengers—or at least to land them until daylight revealed some better opportunity. At about 7 -'o'clock,; the waves beating against her broadside with continued violence, she suddenly ;snapped asunder amidships, and tumbled in.pieces ; like a house of cards. All the passengers had kept bel ow —chiefly in the saloons—as they had been repeatedly assured by some : of the more active parties, and by Captain Taylor and his officers, that there was no immediate danger. The falling ; machinery and lumber seemed to bury 400 of the ; wretched people. It is believed that large numbers ; were actually killed by the crashing debris, but soon i afterwards the whole ship was broken up like a shattered bottle. The scenes on board during the last hour were painful beyond description. Wives and husbands, children and parents, lovers and friends, were embracing each other with the con- ' seiousness that they were about to meet inevitable death. The Rev.; Mr. Hodge, a clergyman from j New Zealand, before this had commenced a prayermeeting in the saloon, which was earnestly participated in by most until, the crash and ruin, and the flooding of water rendered a panic universal. About twenty-six persons managed to pet ashore, ,but it. was more through Providence ;than design or ability, for they were all washed ion the shelving rocks, and as narrowly escaped ibeing washed back. Indeed, many were'washed on land off several times, and many who thought they Iliad secured land, or held fast by a jutting rock, were hurled back again to a watery grave. On the vessel breaking;up, numbers of people were to be ;seen floating about for a few minutes, but what i with.the strength of the waves, the masses of debris which thickly covered the sea, and struck many a < ■ brave and struggling man's brains out, few were ;able to gain a firm hold, of land., At eight o'clock in the morning,, nothing but the wreck scattered about, and corpses left on the strand, revealed the. terrible catastrophe that had befallen nearly 500' human beings, a few hours before glowing with joy iat once again sighting the shores of Old England, ;for which they had toiled and saved, and ,satisfled that now the voyage in which they had almost ciricumnavigated the globe was safely ended, for they . [were in the bosom of their country. Indeed, so imuch. had they satisfied themselves that the voyage , iwas ended, that on the day before they presented 1 the captain with a piece of plate, for his uniform 'kindness and "attention, and in the,congratulatory |speeches which followed, the captain pleasantly I assured them that within twenty-four hours he expected to be on the lee side of Mrs. Taylor. The 1 captain, however, succumbed to a sailor's fate. He jwas seen giving orders on deck with a spar lashed ito him, so that he might be prepared to float. He. :waß again seen struggling in the water, laying hold of a yardarm, and St every now, and then being ! washed from his grip. On recovering his spar, by ja determined effort, he on two occasions cried out !cheerfully, "There is hope yet." After this he [and Mr. Cowie, the second officer, were seen on the ilee side of .the ship struggling to reach the shore, iwhen a boat fell from the davits and struck then* jboth on the head, after which they were seen no jmorev. One incident is related,"that when tho'cap-' jtaih had been struck prostrate on the deck, exhausted, he saw the water steal a child from its mother's arms—a Jewess—and dash it about the deck. He

criedbut to the chief officer, Mr. Stevens, to give a hand there, and to lush the child by rope—no doubt expecting at that time that help would he soon available. Not it superior officer was saved, neither a female or 'child.

William Barton, a rigger of Liverpool, uivos tho following account of the wreck, lie said that he and ten others having taken the Typhoon round to Cardiff, went", on board tho United Kingdom, tug steamer. Meeting tho Royal Charter going towards Liverpool, they got on board to work their passages homo, at eleven o'clock on Tuesday morning, when off Ikrdsay Island. As tho evening came on, a strong gale from the N.N.E. sprang up. They fetched Point Lynass.about nine o'clock, and hove to for a.pilot. They fired rockets and guns, hut no pilot came. About twelve o'clock they found themselves on the lee shore, off Mai very, and still no pilot, when thoy let go the port anchor in fifteen fathoms water. The anchor parted about two o'clock, when the second anchor was sent down with 110 fathoms, the, port one haying used 80 fathoms on the starboard, Tlie steam was up, and the vessel was then turned with her head to the wind; but she continued to drag stern in ashore, with Point Lynass on right side. The ship struck on an iron point bound coast, in Mai very,-not far from Amlwich. She beat against the rocks very heavily, and after striking and dragging half an hour, she parted her starboard anchor, and she fell right foul close into the land, in four fathoriis. The tide was ebbing about the last quarter at this time. It -was as dark as pitch ; they could not see their hands before theni; The boats were all in readiness, but they were in total ignorance as to what sort of a coast it was, and the sea was so rough that; no boat could have lived five minutes in it. Under, these circumstances the boats were given up. They made up a tar-barrel, ready to set fire to as a torch, to send ashore, to light the coast and let them know what kind of a place it was; but the ship thumped so heavily, and danger was so imminent that the idea was not carried out. About six o'clock, the dawn of light they saw a man on the shore, to whom they called. He seemed quite bewildered at what he saw, and ran to fetch assistance. He brought five or six men to the shore. In the mean time the ship was rapidly giving way, and a Portuguese sailor, Joseph llogers, tied a rope round his waist, and swam ashore. By this means a hawser was run and fastened to the rocks, on which a boatswain's chair was fastened so that it could be hauled to and from the ship and shore. The crew got into it, one by one, and were hauled to land. They commenced landing parties in this way at half-past six o'clock, and got about a dozen ashore, when the ship suddenly parted in two, giving way amidships. The whole of the passengers had been kept below, by the captain and officers' counsel; and on the vessel breaking up they were instantly swallowed up along with the iron machinery. As soon as the ship struck,"the masts were cut away, the fore-top going with the mainmast. He.last saw the captain holding by the rigging on deck, giving orders, with a spar lashed to him. The riggers had recommended tlie cutting away the masts at ten o'clock on the Tuesday night, hut it was not then done. The ship broke up at a quarter to seven, and not a vestigeTwas left above water. The greatest order "and discipline prevailed on board. ' '. ' :

Mr. Gardiner described the voyage as one of the most delightful up -to Queenstown. The captain and officers converted all the passengers into one happy family. The cabin passengers as they approached the Irish coast, presented Captain Taylor with a heavy purse, to purchase a testimonial; and a similar compliment was paid to the Rev. Mr. Hodge.

Of the persons on hoard 63 were cabin passengers, 325 other passengers, 11 were riggers, and 112 were the crew. At Queenstown 17 persons, including children, were landed. This gives 494 souls on hoard at the time of the catastrophe; of these 39 were saved; so the loss is 4551 '''*'■■

• With regard.to the precise cause of the wreck it is clearly in the hurricane that prevailed at the time: but it is believed that had she kept clearer of the coast, been able to get a pilot, had run into Holyhead, or had sooner cut away the masts, the fate might have been different. These, however, are matters of speculation, and opinions are freely expressed on every side.

With regard to the complete nature of the destruction, Commander M'Gregor, of the Coast Guard, said he had seen many wrecks, but never one so complete before.

Pieces of sheet iron, doubled up like tin, and fragments of machinery strewed the beach. At low water some of the remnants of the engine room could be discerned, and an irregular mass of sheet iron, said to be the stern. About one hundred yards south of this was what might possibly be the bow. Captain Martin, the indefatigable manager of Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co., proceeded to the scene early on Thursday morning, information of the disaster having been telegraphed by Commander M'Gregor, of the Coast Guard, to Captain Mends, of 11. M. S. Hastings, on Wednesday afternoon, but' Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co. had no intimation until halfpast nine on Wednesday night. He gave orders for every care to be taken of .tlie survivors, sick and wounded, and sent as many as could leave by one of the steam-tugs of the New Steam Tug Company to Liverpool. On surveying the few vestiges of the wreck, he was of opinion that the gold might possibly be recovered from the safes by di ving bells, though he admitted that, the fact of a box which contained gold, and which was addressed, "To the Union Bank, London;" being picked up on shore, seemed to indicate that the safe, though of great strength, had been smashed up with the other parts of the vessel.

On hearing of the disaster on Wednesday afternoon, Captain Mends immediately dispatched a party of man-of-war's men in the steam tender to render every assistance in guarding the wreck, though a furious gale was blowing at the time. The Coast Guard, with a party of Anglesea Militia, from Beaumaris, were also at the scene, to prevent plunder, if such a disposition should be shown. To the credit of the Anglesea peasantry, most of-whom could not understand English, the precautions were not required, and the survivors speak with unmeasured gratitude of the hearty generosity manifested hy the people. .They saved many lives by grasping at men as they were thrown on shore, and for this purpose they had to hold each other's hands; and next took them to their houses, put them into warm beds, and gave them the best they could afford,

All Anglesea seems to have turned out to witness the scene. There was also a large sprinkling of the neighbouring gentry, many of whom manifested great interest in the welfare of the sufferers. On Wednesday evening the wife of Captain Taylor and his two daughters, were on the North Landing stage in the hope of meeting him. Last evening, on the arrival of tlie survivors in Liverpool, the outbursts of grief at not beholding husbands or relatives were most heart-rending.

The Royal Charter was an auxiliary screw clipper, built of iron in 1855, and 0f>2749 tons register. Her engines were by Messrs. Perm, of Greenwich, and were about 303 horse power. She was originally built as. a sailing vessel, by Mr. Henry Cram, of Queensferry, Cheshire, under specifications for Mr. : Jonathan Grindrod, of Liverpool. Beforejier completion, however,'.she" was purchased by Messrs. : Gibbs, Bright, and Co.. and under the inspection of i Mr. Patterson, of Bristol, transformed into a steam f vessel. Her length was 320 feet, and breadth of beam 41 feet six inches. The first attempt to launoh her was made on the 31st of July, 1855, which, proving unsuccessful, she was not actually launched' until the 30th of August following. With regard to i her strength, there existed considerable difference of j opinion amongst .nautical men ; and on\her'last • homeward voyage she is believed to have been con-" ', siderably strained. The Royal Charter was valued at £120,000, and was insured at Lloyd's, Liverpool, and Glasgow. The {.London; underwriters are said to have accepted about £70,000 insurances upon the vessel. She had on board 79,000 ounces of gold, which it is thought may be recovered by divers, and underthis impression insurances have been effected .in a few cases at £35 per cent on salvage. The event has created the deepest sensation oven in London. ,,, As to the amount of gold on board it was im-; possible to ascertain. The estimates vary from i,£500,000 to £800,000. -It is said that one of the saloon passengers, who is lost, had himself £10,000 on board.