SOME FAMOUS SHIPWRECKS.

NZ Truth, Issue 107, 6 July 1907, Page 8

SOME FAMOUS SHIPWRECKS.

THE ItL'FATED DUNBAR. "Breakers Ahead!" cried the Mate. HER AWFUb DASH IN THE DARK. TBe Passengers' Last Shrieks Louder than the Roaring Surf. ■. / '

'' fTKes. -tragic ending ©ii^h'e Kunbar, IwMch, after a prosperous .voyage,: *earinß youth and "beauty from the old3an4'to the new,, struck "the rocks at South Head on wild night of August 28; 18$7, touched! the heartstrings of. all /Australians. The following poem. in§rpired byh the; mclanoholy, disaster, as taken from a Sydney} newspaper current at the 'date :—» : •/ . thp toPntr THE .WRECK^ rYe Ocean. - Waves !. What 'dreadful tales, .ye tell , " fTo tJiDse. Who watch' thy, angry, bilswell; * Eong will the sound .with anguish >• fill the heart, v i- :.i: : ■■_■> 'And saddest music to the soul im- - : part. " fA" noble vessel bounded o'er tfie main> ■From Britain's Isle, our Port .to. ;see again— . • ■ . 4 1 Where, friends awaitedf loving hearts to meet— ■A few short hours wouldt make their bliss complete. ./., regarded not Ocean harsM and Nor listen'd-for, their hearts,.were on the shore -;■ ; , A With those they lov'd-rb.ut should behold no more. f ■".':'. -/■•.-■'.■ '■ '.The aged Parent, worn witU many, a i * care— ;.•. ! Hoped once again his children's joys ' '■• to share, . In the fair land that brought him' wealth and-peace, • And where he deem'd his Earthly : toil would cease. . . .The Lover's heart, intent onr future^ .'"■ bliss, - •-.-"■ ' \ Would wile his hour with! 'dreams happiness, .. ■■' 'And the fair maid, with" glist'ning ■ eye of joy, ' y Sgji^'d tne waves hasten—hasten to .' W"' h- . . (Avj?joiment oame of Horror and .'d©-< - spair— 'Both old and young, the same sad w fate must sliare—•'... „ JTihat awful night was wrapp'tf m %■deepest gloom, v.: But morning light reveals ifcheir hap-; Ik less doom. %.'• ■', ■'!' ; " Gan a,ny think" upon tfia^ scene so dr6ar, fAnd,vstill withhold the sympatfiising, *'/^ar.?', V..T;"'.;';:■."■.''.;'•"■■■..,.-,...•''■.■ (AqV no, Austfaliait. Kearts aria- it'rue . -and warm, A~-i^feiftg-jobff will £^fi^!&M"SGfFe&rJi£^ thal|i-4stormv ' .'

;No human eye beheld the sufferers' grief-r- , . . No. human aid- could bring to them relicf — But heaven, who sent the storm with' ' all its woes, i !And oft, m darkness, richest mercy,., shows. . The silent tear now steals from many. an eye— From the heart's depths is felt ,thV> heaving sigh, ■ .. For living sufferers— loving hearts now, chilL'd ' >• With scenes of horror— late with^pleasure fill'-d^ It ;seems m vain to speak" to them " of calm K J " What mortal aid can bring such grief a balm-T Yet may. tfchey see b'ey.oad- ttie present ; gloom, Scenes bright and lasting-,, far beyond' th© tomb., Parramatta, Aug. 22, 1857 E.S.-.;;, , On. Monday, August 24, 1857,- at--9 a.m.,' Captain McLerie, attended by several inspectors and a body, of v men, commenced the task,, of identifying tne bodies picked up from the Dunbar.. A' large crowd surrounded THE DEAD-HOUSE at" Circular, Quay, and sympathised deeply, with, the mourners, who sought among l the mutilated! re.mains inside for their relatives and friends. . &t il o'clock all that it 1 was possible to identify were marked off, and m some cases given to •' their friends. The remainder, with <the unknown and unrecognisable, (were placed m shells and viewed by the jury, who afterwards assembled .m the' large. room of the King's * -Arms, Lower G-eorgo Street, kept -by Mrs. Stone, for., th© purpose of in- [ Mr. Parker w,as the coroner, and .the jurors were: J. iV\ Gorman, Walter Hamilton, 'J. G-. Raphael^ Henry Ferris, Joseph- Marchant, Henry Doyle, Alexander Small, ■John G-lassbn, John Spearih, Howard Capper, 'John* Hampton, James N. < Fbrbes, and Alexander Dickson. The fixsti .witness called was James Uohnson, the sole survivor, who stated : , The Dunbar was a first- < ctass i sbip,- under the command of Captain Greenii and left Plymouth 'bn May 31, with general cargo, and he couldn't .say how many passengers. There \? ere 59 seamen all told ;on the ship's articles! arid Mr. Struthers was- the mate. We liad a , prosperous voyage till ; the coas^,. of . .Australia Was ■ reached. ' We made '■■ 'Kiiig's Island on Sunday, August 16, the wind fresh and blowing from the We had been looking out for land,

and Blade it out according to the captain's calculation. A ' watch was kept on deck, and time called every, baTf-hour,, and King's Island was the landi we first- expected to make. ; We then shaped otir course for the Straits, the weather being thick, wet, and hazy. Sail was here shortened, the reefs and topsails being taken m- The Straits were fetched the same night, the 16th. We saw a light about 2 a.m. on the 17th; said to be uponthe satad'in the' middle of the Straits. The course was not altered, and no change took place till next day, when the wind came ahead, anil the ship -made two boards 1 which carried us CLEAR OF, THE ISLANDS.' I am an able seaman, have been at sea 11 years, and was never m Sydney, before, though I have visited Melbourne. I served my time on the coast of England*, trading principally between' Lancashire and Ireland. After the Dunbar passed Kent's Group the next land saw was Cape Howe; we made the light m the evening, under double-reefed topsails, with the yards braced sharp up. •There was no great stress of weather at the time, though it was thick and hazy, and no heavy sea was on. A correct look-out was kept from the time we made the land, a person being stationed for'ard. There was no look-out aloft ; I have never seen loolc-outs aloft m ships I've sailed m.- The same short sail was carried until -the land, at Botany Bay was ma-dc •c 4 . the Thursday evening, when all hands saw the land distinctly^ Captain Gieen otdered the topsails fto b>e close-reefed, and we were close-hauled .to the wind, which was then about E. by, S. We were' close to. the wind, and lying about N.E. by N., along the coast. At the time we made this mmy opinion we were tan or twelve miles off, and the ship had her starboard ,tacks aboard, being under cas/ sail. ; We had no top-gallant' sails, and had three reefs, m the main, and four m the foretopsail. The mizzen • topsail was stowed, and the spanker brailed up. The inner jib and the maintop-mast-staysail were taken m. After making the land at Botany we kept on our course/ the weather being squally with thick rain. This was about between . 6 and 7, and ' shortly afterwards we saw the Sydney light. The Dunbar was then lying her course, had plenty of room, and was not laboring • with the sail she carried* But she was making heavy leeway, ; she had not got enough sail on her to prevent this. Captain ■Green was on deck v but not conning the ship, and the mate was on the po.op. They, were not shaking the ship_ up into the wind, but keeping her full clear. The watch on deck was relieved at 8 o'clock, ACCORDING TO CUSTOM. It being raining hard, the Sydney head light was seen only at intervals, yet distinctly. I was m the mate's watch that came on at 8, and the captain remained on deck, giving orders as usual, whicli were i nunctually obeyed, there being no an- ' noyance of any; kind. We. stood „-' long the coast till we fetched the light up. to the lee mizzen rigging. The vessel was not laboring, and came to the helm wiiJihgly, one man only being at ' the wheel. 1 When we began..4;f~s(iuare the yards,' two men were sent to the wheel. Th© b'oaJsi?ai;i piped all haiwis, and ■ saner-out, (< AII hands to wear ship." Jitter a while the captain ordered to haul up and reef the topsail, and the | ship was kept before the wind. The } vessel was rumanc; m a -heavy .sea-, blowing m squalls, with thick drizzly rain. It was -a-bout 11 o'clock then. Two man were on jM*s forecastle with the ttrird mate, on the look-out, and the second mate was a'ffcerw&Tjds sent there also. The captain sang out, "Dp you see anything of the North Head?" and the mate- answered, "No, I ' see nothing of it." I was on the poop then standing by the braces, and she had the light on her port bow. The captain sang out to the man -at the (wheel to keep his luff; and the course of the ship was changed ■a little. Shortly, after this,, the second mate sang out. "Breakers a•head!" -The captain sang out to the helmsman to. port, and told us to haul m the port braces', bracing the yards .up sharp.' It was dono, and "done quickly, there being no want of 'hands, as there -were 13 able seamen w rach watch. The light, appeared it'o ba right over us, and' l heard no* further orders' given, 'About two minutes after we> hauled yards round, the Bunbar went side on to the rocks. She was trying to stretch out to the eastward, her head lying along -the land to the north.. Then we struck, and the screaming began, the passengers running about the deck screaming for mercy. The captain was on the poop, cool amid collected, and there was great confusion and uproar on the deck with the shrieks of the passengers. With the first bump the THREE TOP-MASTS FELL*, and the first sea that came over us stove m the-quarter boats, none being lowered. The mizzen-mast went first, then the matin, 'but the foremast stood longer .j It was not more 'that five minutes after the Dunbar struck" that she began to break up. I was on the poop 'at the time, and caught hold of a stanchion, and then the mizzen chains. When these gave way I made for the cabin, but the sea was 1 coming down there enough to smother one. I want below and got out of the caibrni skylight to leeward', and 'got up the side of the chainplates of the fore-rigging. This broke up. at last, and I was thrown . over, still holding, by the chain-plates, which held some four planks together, and I was thrown upon the rooks m a heap of timber and rubbish. Before we struck we made one signal ; the steward burned a blue light over the port side for three or four minutes, the captain having, given him orders. No one was near me wtoon I was washed away. The vessel kept brea)ki i ng up from aft, and I kept going forward until I reached the chain plates of the fore-rigging. I was washed away with planks and broken timber upon a shelf of rock, . but immediately on the sea receding I got up a bit higher out of reach of the back current. We saw no vessel and could not stand off the land more than we were doing,- and the captain did all he could to keep off the land.. I expected when we squared away, that we were goings into the entrance to ■the harbor.. Nobody' said -they j saw the No.ij>lr, Head, and there was rp.^iw^^"^^^'^ would lead anyone sgg-?— . . „.'.,, . .. ........ .-^re going into port. ipht, and was not Wng., , as % thought.

all was right, until the second mate gave the alarm . : . Shte struck the submerged rocks port bow on, ; and then bumped heavily over them- The vessel herself- could not .-have formed a breakwater- for lowering boats to leeward-; besides,! the boats had gone with -the first sea.. The sea did* not break right over her, and eveta. when the wea<fcher side broke up the lea offered some, shelter.; We had a glass of grog at 12 o'clock, but there had been no drinking aboard. The men were all very steady, good men, and many of them- were working their passage ou-t at Is a month,, intending 'to stop m the country.' When I got ashore; I could see nothing for the rain and fobo darkness, and- could hear nothing- but the roaring of the surf. The first thing I saw m the, morning was THE DEAD BODIES brought m by .the sea, and carried out by the undertow., The ship was completely broken up, and I could see no person., I was about .'lO yards above the sea, anid the spray. , came over me as the seas broke below. Underneath me, on the lower ledge, one oould go a long way m- under the rock, ibiut! I liked to giot higfoe-r up. I had on a blue shirt, singlet and' drawers, as .when the first alarm was given I hove everything off— (boots, trousers and pea coat. No soundings 'had been taken-; no lead. was cast. To the Foreman : The ship was never tacked after sighting Botany, but' was kept as close to the rocks as she could lay, closely hauled, and was going about "three or four knots. The mgjht was vary/dark ; we could not see a hand before our face. From thetime of squaring, away until the cry of "Breakers ahead -l" was shouted, •was abou-b 25 or 30 minutes. Both anchors were ready at the bows ; if they fed been lowered when th« ship broached to on boim.2; luffed up, I donot thank tbsv would have held. After we srjuar'sd away she was going .6 .or 7 loiots. I onily knew it was •the Sydney light from what the men on board the ship said ;'. they had been -her-e before. We expeoted to go m at daylight, and nobody thought the captain would have tried to get m that night. On the passage wo spoke the American ship Aetos, but there was no racing to make a quick trip. When th ( e cry arose there was no time to let go the anchors ; neither would they have -held ihad they been lot go. The anchors were bent before we made King's Island. .Johnson -he-re gave the names of the parties he had known on. fooard : Mr Williams, a midshipman ; Charles Sappy, .formerly a Sydney water policeman, the boatswain ; Mr Waller's, two daughters ajscl-' servant girl ; Mr Downey, ' Mr Pock, two Misses Logan ; 65 passengers, including the' cabin, and steerage. There were two Misses Hurt't, two Misses Milne, Mr Myers, wife and family ; Isaac Simmons, Miss Cuhnac and young Mr Cuhnac, Mr Clark,- wife and. two children ; Mr. Milne, Captain Stsine, R.N., and a fam ; l./ named Hely (3), Mrs Bro^-i ' and ehi'ld, Mr Byiwn, Miss OVcftiam,. Mr and Mrs Saint.' Messrs froughton, Ward, and Master Weiss. No minister \vas aboard, but PRAYERS WERE READ every Sunday by Mr Waller- Dr. Bain was the surgeon ; chief mate, Struthers ; second mate, Spenoc ; third mate, Pascoo ; niidshipanan, Duverde ; and Sam, a steward. Three Finlanders were among the crew, besides Luke Mum-roe, William Miller, John Lewis, Tom Chapman,- John Douglass, John Coulston', George Leinar, Harry Cummins, John Guy, William Horn, David Kinox, and apprentices named Hordcrn, McGuffey, and Al-" Icn. When the vessel struck I did nob see any of the passengers throwing off, 'their clothing, but saw some Of ilia young ladies, when going into y 6bo cabin, running about m their chemises 1 , screaming, screeching, and crying, and calling on Speaoe to know jif there was any possibility of being saved, but m five minutes the Vessel started to 'breakup, awl m an hour's tdiine nothing remained of her. -As she struck, tho captain, seaman, arid pass&ngers were all on deck. The vesselwas very deep,. 'drawing 18ft., of water, and- ibadf a full, cargo, but the deck was hot Jiamipered.- Thero was no sickness, no deaths, or biriths ,on board:. Mv own impression was that iin/vgpMiK along- the coast we carried too little canvas, and .that the ship made too much leeway. The next witness was Captain Wiseman, of the steamer Graf ton, trading to the Clarence. "On the night of August 20, I was at sea, coming from the Clarence, the weather was thick and the wiiwl BLEW IN SQUALLS, dead on the land. On 'entering the Heads, at 9.30 a.m. on Friday, I noticed portions of wreck floating -albout and knew at once that some large vessel had been wrecked close at band." The' witness was then examined as to the course that a captain of a. large vessel approaching the Heads from the southward on. such a night ought to have adopted. Witness replied that if be knew his position, and knowing the harbor as he did, ho would certainly have preferred running, mto risking any danger of such a gale, especially on a lee coast.. He nad heard the evidence as to .the position of the Dunbar, and under the circumstances he would not have 'hesitated- m endieavorinir to run into the harbor. A vessel of the dimensions of the Dunbar, with the wind as described, dead on land,, could ba run clear, of all danger if sufficient offing was kept. He believed that Captain Green was perfectly justified m trying to bring the ship m, and no blame was attachable to him for so doing ; but unfortunately, when the order to port the helm and brace the yards was given, it was too late to . haul off. There was no doubt that, the Gap was taken for the' entrance into the harbor. The master of the steamer Nora Creina, Archibald Fletcher, trading to Shoalhavem, said-he was coming from that port on the 20th, and when off "the -Heads afcjo'ut 10 o'clock, ho saw a large ship about two miles off the Heads.; She had her head to the north'ard, and \ras going dead slow. 'He saw, the lights through her stern windows, which appeared very large- As he came abreast of her, he saw the lights fore and aft, and they must have seen Iran from the ship, bu>t no signals passed- He considered the ship perfectly safe, though it was blowing heavy squalls, with rain m torrents, arid a very heavy sea on. The vessel was 1 on the staiv board tack, and clear of all danger. "If a signal had"boen made to me. I would have piloted the vessel into port," said Captain Fletcher. After other evidence bad been adduced,: the following verdict was re-

turned :— "Tine jury find that the bodies viewed are those of some of the passengers and crew of the ship D'unbar, out of London, commanded by Captain Green, amd bound to ftbis port ; and that th'e ship Dinnbar was wrecked outside the Sydney Heads, CLOSE TO THE GAP, on the night of Thursday, the 2O.tH of August last ; causing the death of .I>he said parties ; there may have been an error -of judgment m the vessel being so close to the shore at night in.' such bad weather,' but the jury do not attach any blame to Captain Green or his officers for the loss of the Dunbar. The jury consider it? tbeir duty to put on record their opinion that; the present, pilot arrangements for this port are most inadoriwate, and desire to draw; the attention of the Government to :fcae matter^- 3 ; ' '