WRECK OF AN OCEAN LINER. LOSS OF 35 LIVES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6051, 9 April 1881, Page 7

WRECK OF AN OCEAN LINER. LOSS OF 35 LIVES.

Intelligence has been received in Cork of the loss of the steamer Bohemian,... of F. Leyland and Co.'a line, on February 7, ;in Dunlough Bay, near Crookhaven. The vessel was bound from Boston for Liverpool with a general cargo, composed of cotton, pork, &o. There was a number of live cattle also on board. Her crew consisted of about fifty, all told; but there were four other persons on board,- who Jiad.charge of the cattle. Twenty-one, including- second officer, have been saved, and thirty-five are supposed to be .lost.. On Mondays- man was seen on a roclc Some distance from the shore. Two beats which were sent to rescue him were capsized without loss of life, and the efforts hac to bo abandoned. It is now ascertained that 35 persons belonging to the Bohemian perished, and another victim was added to the death-roll : —a man named Sheehan. who while, engaged in catching up waifs from the ill-fated ship, was drawn;in by a sea and drowned in the presence of a| number of persons who were unable to reuder I assistance. The crew consisted of 49, all | told; but there w*ere, in addition, four men engaged in the refrigerators on board, one cattle driver, the two .invalids, and one stowaway—in all 57 souls. The circumstances which' led up to the disaster are clearly related by the survivors, and leave ; no doul«t as to the.cause. Robert Stringer, able seaman, native of Dublin, states that the Bohemian left Boston ten days before the occurrence. "Nothing remarkable occurred on the passage.- - We had easterly winds, but of a moderate. description, j I was on the look-out on this night; we passed the Calf Light about eight'o'clock. It was then calm, and I distinctly saw the three rocks which mark • the' Calf Light. There could be no mistake as to tliat. After we .passed the Calf the weather got very thick, and the next thing I heard was a telegraph signal to the engineer'to stand by. ; About ten minutesf.after that I reported brefikprs ahead and sung out 4 Hard-a-port, full speed astern.' The mate on the bridge heard the call and the order was executed. About five minutes afterwards the steamer struck. The whistle was going previous to that on account of the fog. Y/lien the steamer struck I came down towards the bridge. The crew were rushing about. The captain, who was perfectly cool, told them to be quiet and prepare the boats. We all made for the two starboard boat 3 and got them swung. Five. or six got into the first boat, but it wasstove. Tlie second boat was also damaged, owing to,the rolling of. the vessel on .the rocks. We succeeded in launching the port lifeboat. There were four-of us in the boat, including Mr. MTsaacs. -We got a line and liauled the boat aft. The captaiu said ;iiobody was to get into the boat before the two sick men, but when they were looked-for they could not be found. • The boy was put in and the others followed, making eighteen. The engineers were waiting to go in, but at this moment the line broke adrift, andjwe drifted astern. We were pulling back to the ship when she heeled over and sank stern foremost. We subsequently heard men crj-ing for assistance, and we found five men in a damaged boat, two of whom died before we reached land." The steward, Clancey, makes an important statement, to the effect that when the captain found the fog setting in he gave the third ofiicer instructions to keep her two points off. He then proceeded to consult the chart, and on going on deck and looking at the ship's course, he exclaimed, "-Good God, wliatiare ;you doing? : Hard-a-port!" She : struck very soon afterwards. The second officer, who w r as below at tlie time the disaster occurred, attributes the accident to a mistake on the part of the third officer in carrying out the captain's instructions. He thinks it possible that as the wind was blowing on the starboard bow at the time the third officer misinterpreted the captain's orders and kept two points off the wind instead of two points off the shore.