The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-07-31 00:00:00

THE BOATING ACCIDENT AT PORT

ROYAL.
Details of the catastrophe briefly telegraphed from
jaintOca on the 13th inst. have now been received at
Plymouth. Her Majesty's ship Goshawk was, it ap-
pears, anchored off Port Royal, Jamaica, within 150
yards of the shore when a storm set in. At tiiat time
fourteen men of the ship were on shore upon leave.
During a lull at about nine o'clock the ship's gig was
sent on shore to bring the men off, and succeeded in
doing so, although the boat, being somewhat heavily
laden, and the sea rough, she shipped a considerable
amount of water before reaching the stern of the
Goshawk. The men in the boat got hold of the counter
of the ship with the intention of hauling the gig up
on the lee side. Some little excitement appears to
have at this moment occurred among the occupants,
end the boat was let go from the ship. The wind,
catching her bows, drove her head away, and being
so deep in the water she became unmanageable,
and a wave taking her she swamped and capsized,
all except one being thrown into the water. Five
men immediately scrambled on to the keel of the
boat, which was floating bottom upwards. One of
these exclaimed, "Lord have mercy upon my soul !"
and jumped into the sea and disappeared. Another
followed his foolish example. The three remaining
on the boat were saved. One of them, a signalman,
got his thumb fixed in the hole out of which one of
the rowlocks of the boat had fallen, and he was
unable to withdraw it, but with one hand fixed in the
side of the boat and the other free to paddle he man-
aged thus to keep afloat, aithough the boat rolled
over several times like a barrel, the other two men
clambering from keel to gunwale and from gunwale
to keel as the boat rolled. Thus they drifted towards
the opposite shore of the harbour for five and a half
hours, during which a melancholy incident occurred.
A dead body floated out from underneath the
boat. The signalman with his one hand free
grasped the collar of his shipmate's jumper, when
the boat gave another roll over, and he was
forced to let go his hold, and the body disappeared.
At length the three sailors found themselves near-
ing the opposite shore, fast driving on some
rocks, where they would have been dashed to pieces,
but fortunately they were swept by a current to a spot
where they could land in safety, and they were hos-
pitably received. Two other men were saved. The
quartermaster and another succeeded, when the boat
was swamped, in swimming to one of the buoys to
which the ship was moored. A flash of lightning
revealed their position to those on board the Goshawk,
who succeeded in rescuing them after three-quarters
of an hour. At that time it was believed no others
were saved. Two of the officers went out in a boat,
searching for any survivers or bodies, but none were
found for ten days. Two of the bcdies had been
shockingly mutilated by sharks. The names of those
lost were George Miles, gunner's mate; Walter
Hayes, ship's cook; Philip Devereux, leading sea-
man: Wm. Nicholls, leading stoker; James Kvnnett,
stoker; Henry Myers, Wm. Wedge, Wm. Hewett,
Richard Anderson, seamen; Pimcorn, Roper, Royal
Marines; Joseph Green and Thomas Carnes. The
saved were the boatswain's mate, who had charge of
the boat, the signalman, and two ordinary seamen—
five only out of a total of 19 on board. A court of
inquiry as to the cause has been held.