TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

NZ Truth, Issue 145, 28 March 1908, Page 8

TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

THE STRATHCLYDE AND FRANCONIA COLLISION.

German Steamer Scoots.

leaviflg the Victims to Drown— Capture of the Spanish Slaver Marinerite— By Brig-of-War Black Jeke— " It was a Glerious Victory."

iflie eddying waves closed o'er. . the wreck, Then rolled on as before ; /And that ship's company. went down, v - fTo sail the sea no more. "•. • — SewelL • A landsman is apt to think that, Ittlien a collision takes place m the Open sea, it must be the result of sheer stupidity or gross carelessness, knd such is generally the case. Yet Some are the result of sheer misunderstandings, as was that between , $he steamships Strathclyde and „ SPfanconia. The Strathclyde sailed from . hon'don for Bombay m February, .1877, •; having on board 25 passengers and a- ; crew of 47 men. She passed quietly j through the 'historic Dowiis and the j Straits, and, haying left her pilot m \ !bhe course of the afternoon, proceed-v fed on her' voyage, steering .onto from] $he land . so as to get sufficient sseta t room,, i By and bye a steamer was noticed; some two miles astern, and coming *ight down Channel. It Was e^identi that the two vessels were moving. a-<---long two "gradually converging lines' that must, finally intersect at Jin a-;, cute angle. The steamer; proved to' fee the . Franconia,,. Captain Keyn, a,; German- vessel • bound for the, West indies. She,.was much larger and fas-0 jfer than the Strathclyde, and .forging- ahead at a rate of speed that brought her' nearer' aiid nearer to : the latter. In these circumstances the rules of the road, by sea as by; fend, requires that the pursuer, the shifter and stronger, will take, such measures as will prevent injury to (the pursued. There > was nothing for the Strathclyde but to hold on her, Course steadily ; and she 1 was further." Justified m doing this by another ■well-known rule, which enjoins thai? when two vessels approach each oth-; ex on the same tack, that which is i.to port, or on the left, shall give toay. ' • :-. ; Half an hour glided by, and tiie iFraiconia and Strathcly-de • were so; close as to be m imminent danger of; •» collision. The captain of the latter then steered more towards the, shore, so that the Qcrman^ vessel ihight pass m a parallel line, or at wdrst sheer off from her side. But it rnHs too late. Owing to the ifian and excitement of the moment, Kip head of the Strathclyde, instead gf being put m the opposite direction, was put inshore. The engines were reversed, but not m time to Jfoieck her headway. On < came the' pcanconda, and struck the unfortu-v li&o Strathclyde twice, nearly amid^ Strips, cutting her down to the wa-, fer's edge, and causing her to siaJs: J - Bo far, this accident, occurring on ' n smooth sea, m open daylight, is."; anJy remarkable as affording a glarfcg instance q! bungling stupidity and tiad seamanship. But the shameful , Mrt of the tale remains to be told. V " pie, people ol the Franconia seemed ■ ■to (have! jbeen seized with -a contempt- . fble terror. As a' fact, they were • ifcyt m any immediate danger, for though their steamer had , suffered 'considerably, she would easily have floated a couple of hours, • A few men scrambled from the sinking ship aboard her destroyer. TJhey implored the captain to lower his boats and hot to desert their j companions now struggling m the water. But Keyp absolutely refused; he steamed away to Dover with all ! the steam possible, leaving the victims of his own mismanagement to their fate. A few were picked up by I some fishing • boats that had witness- \ ed the disaster from a distance, but j the great majority were drowned. 1 •It seemed that. the English pilot on board was as 'bad at the German cap-. i tain. This man, Porter, was not i asjiamed to admit, when lunder exam- i inatibn at the official itrtruiry, that hej never considered the saving of life's from the Strathclyde, his own life/ being as good as those of o>thcr.s ; norj did he look to see if the Stra.'Qsclyde ■ sank. Captain Keyn was tried lor ; manslaughter^- later . on, and found , guilty. . . i ■, The conduct of Keyn forcibly con- ; trasted with that of the master of a collier, the Savernakc, only a few weeks later 1 The ar cident occurred m the same crowded Channel, only some- , what lower down towards the At- • lahtic. A. large Dutch trader, the Ve-' suvius, bound from Odessa with a cargo of wheat, was making hear way up Channel when she was 'run down off Hastings by the Savernake. , The air was hazy at the time, and was further obscured by the smoke from the steamer's funnel, so tiat noitiicr ship was aware of the danger till the moment of collision. Tfcc Vesuvius sank m a few minutes, and the Savernalce was. so damaged that she was only kept afloat by incessant labor at the pumps. But there was no panic, nor cowardly suggestion that one life was as good as another. The Savernake stood, by till 'bhc 32 persons from the Vesuvius were safe on board, then she steamed straigkt for the shore, distant five- miles, and ran upon the open Sussex beach. •.• * • After Britain had given up all participation m the nefarious practice of tradina: m slaves, the greater portion of whom, were seized by the chiefs of savage tribes m the* interior of - Africa, and sold to the unscrupulous European or American agents, by whom they were carried m gangs to '* the coast and there shipped m vessels specially built for conveying the fcoor wretches to the plantations on which they were to be held m slavery for the rest of their days, the British Government tried to makeamends. It endeavored to atone for its past misconduct m this , respect by direetjM- the' commanders _ of its : "'■ ■■■-. "-;■ '*"'?■-""' ' M '- .--' ' - , )"■>.•■ '*j f • ,-$

tish sloop-of-war, of a Spanish sla-ver j carrying double her number of guns, j and a much larger crew, and loaded :with a full cargo of negroes, is taken from the Bristol "Mirror,'i of May 5, 1832 :— .On Friday, April 22, 1831, his Majesty's brig Black Joke, commanded by Lieutenant Ramsay, anchored at Fernando Po. There the lieutenant learnt from one Mather, a captain of a colonial vessel, that he 'had just •left m the old Calabar a large armea , Spanish slave brig, supposed to be almost ready for sea. He described her as the finest slaver that had. been seen on the coast for some 'years, carrying one pivot and four' broadside guns, with a crew of about 70 picked .men, 'some of whom were reported to [be 'English. The vessel herself appeared by her movements to 'be m complete ma/n-o'-f;w,ar order, but as no one was peri lnitted to go on board of her, her interior arrangeanents could not be ascertained exactly. Mather dined on shore ,several times m company with some -of her officers, and he stated 4hat m the course of conversation, they made no secret of their intension of fighting, if necessary. They even laughed at the idea of 1 toeing tak-. en :by the Black Joke, with whose jfbrce tJiey were well acquainted ; and as for the two-gun brigs that were on the, station, they were totally otft of the question on account of their bad sailing. The Black Joke put to sea that evening, proceeding to the Old Calabar, and commenced a strict •blockade of that port, anchoring every night at the mouth of the river, and weighing- anchor before daylight, and running out with the land breeze far enough not to be seen from the shore. On Monday, April 25, about 11 o'clock m the forenoon, a large brig was seen from the masthead, under all sail, standing out of the river. The Black Joke's topsails were immediately lowered, toy which means, the stranger was m sight from the deck before he made out who his antagonist was. He then altered his course. All sail was now made m chase, and every requisite preparation for a severe contest. The Spaniard sailed so well that it was 9 o'clock at night before the Black Joke could get within range. A shot was now fired ahead of him as a sign to bring to. This he at once returned by three of his broadside guns, and the wind fell so light that both vessels had recourse to their sweeps, making m this way a running fight until halfpast 1 on Tuesday morning. The Black Joke was then so near that it tscame evident that a close action must ensue, upon which the Spaniard hauled up his courses, and ;with his sweeps so managed his vessel as to keep up a determined \ fire, falmost every shot telling upon the Sspais, rigging and sails of the Black Joke. Lieutenant Ramsay, m consideration of the superior number of guns carried 'by his adversary, as well as to spare, if possible, the lives of the wretched slaves, resolved upon boarding .without delay. Fortunately a light air favored his intentions, and the helm was put. a-starboard. Meanwhile the men were ordered to lie down, to ( be sheltered from the ■.slaver's fire. Two steady men were ito be ready .to lash the vessels tpT gether. The -two guns were loaded With grape, and their gunners ■ were •told to fire directly the word to "Boaard" was given. •> All 'being prepared, the Black Joke ran alongside the Spaniard, the order to hoard was given, the two guns were fired, and Lieutenant Ramsay, with Bosanquet, a midshipman, and about ten men, leaped on board ; but -from the concussion with which the two vessels met, they unluckily sep-\ arated before the rest of the board(ers could follow. Young Hind, however, a middy of }.5, the only officer/, left on> board, with . extraordinary presence of mind, ordered all hands to the starboard sweeps, pulled alongside, got the vessel lashed, and then boarded, leaving only one or two wounded men behind. With this reinforcement the combat was soon decided.,. Those who continued to resist were quickly cut down ; the rest ran below, and begged for quarter. Peafce, a young midshipman, was pushed . over Do? rd by a Spaniard with a sabre, but succeeded m clambering inboard again by means of the foresheet. The captured vessel proved ,to be the Spanish brig Marinerito, a beautiful new vessel of upwards of 300 tons, armed with one pivot long gun, a Spanish 18-pounder, and' four broadside guns of the same calibre. She had twelve officers and 65 men, of whom 15 were killed or drowned, and several wounded, some very dangerously. , ; . .. • There were found '496 slaves on board, of 1 whom, horrible to say, owing to the necessity of confining them below during the action, 26 were found dead when the hatchways were ■opened, although this was done the instant that complete possession was obtained. Of the remainder of the slaves, 107 were m such a state from want of air during the confinement down below, that it was thought advisable to send them on shore at Fernando Po as the only chance of saving their lives,, and of these about sixty died. • The rest were ultimately landed at. Sierra Leone.- All the slaves appgared-<tobe fully sensible of their deliverance, and upon being released from their irons expressed their gratitude m the most forcible and pleasing manner. The Black Joke carried one pivot long 18-pounder gun, and one . cannonade of the same calibre, with a crew of 38 seamen and marines and six officers. Her loss was one seaman killed, Lieutenant Ramsay severely wounded, Bosanquet (the mate) jlnd five seamen also wounded, runakig and standing rigging much cut, ■Irs considerably damaged, and port Pffoand fluarter stove in.j