Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-11-26 00:00:00

WRECK OF. THE ROYAL CHARTER.

BOARD OF TRADE INQUIRY.—SIXTH DAY.
The inquiry into the circunistances connected with
' the wreck of this vessel was resumed in the Crown
Court, St. George's
-hall, before J. S. Mansfield, Esq ,
S.M., and Capt. Harris, R.N., assessor to the Board of
Trade.

Mr. Smith, receiver of wrecks, who has been attend-
ing the inquiry from the beginning, received the follow-
ing letter yesterday from Mr. John Pritchard, tide-
waiter, who is in charge of the wreck :

"MenraatA, Nov. 24, 1859.
"On the last body that came ashore yesterday were
found Bs. 6d, in a bag, in his pocket £6 10s. in gold,
bills of exchange on the Bank of Australia to the amount
of £96, .payable to Robert Evans. This day a male
body, about 5 feet. 9 inches :high, having a grey coat,
plaid waistcoat, cotton drawers, and sort of duck trousers,
and" Blucher hoots, gold Albert chain and key, a gold ring;
• marked F. S., with the name Alexander Maule,
Hampton, Middlesex, written in a paper memorandum
book, identified by Gapper as John Maule. Another
body, about 5 feet 9 inches .in height, with red shirt,.
white flannel waistcoat, and worsted drawers, 'Wel-
lington boots, and the body Much disfigured. A third
male body, with Guernsey shirt, short knee boots, grey
flannel shirt, and a striped one, a gold ring, marked
' Ballarat,' and a full-rigged ship, a knife, a key, and
2s 6d. in silver. It blows very fresh, with a heavy
- sm."

Foster, the carpenter, was re-called, and stated, in,
reply to the court, that he sounded the pumps about ten
minutes after she struck on the sand. He found about
six inches of water in her, and the pumps generally
sucked at about six or seven inches. In point of fact,
she had made no water up to that time. After that he
asked the engineer if all was right, and received an
answer of " yes." The engines were stopped at the
time. When she was on the reeks he did not
get any order to sound, but he could have sounded
her then. The cargo was hides and - copper ingots.
• He heard there were about forty7five tons of copper,
The ship drew eighteen feet five inches forward andl
twenty, feet six inches aft when we left Melbourne.
They did not take the draft of water when they entered
the Channel. •
To 'Arr. Aspicall.—l was not here when Comae gave
his evidence, I was down town with a gentleinan.
.Captain Wm. Martin was next called, he said :7-I am
the marine superintendent under Messrs. Gibbs, liright,
and Co., and to the Liverpool and Australian Navigation
Company. In that capacity it was•my duty to look after
the Royal Charter when she was in port. During the
time she was building I was engaged to see that the
materials were good. The putting in of the masts, &c.,
was done under my control at Liverpool. When
the ship was building, I was there as a kind of
check on all parties, I confirm what Mr. Patterson has
said with respect to the quality of the materials. There
were three best bower—Trottam's—anchors, Weighing
• 50 cwt. 0 qrs.. 24 lbs., 50 cwt. 2 qrs. 16 lbs., and. 51
cwt. 0 qr. 18 lbs. There were 300*.fathoms of 21 inch
fall of bower cables. They were proved at 72 tons
each. Henry Wood & Co., of Liverpool, supplied them,
and 'proved them at Chester to bear 72 tons, each. I
was not present at the proof. The builder's test is the
only one we are bound to.. The stream anchor weighed
15 cwt. 1 qr. 10 lbs. We had our full complement of
kedge anchors, and our stream-cable was 110 fathomi
inch and a quarter, and was proved by Messrs.
Wood 'at twenty-five tons tension. The

bower anchors were 455. per cwt. The spare sower
anchor was also 455. per cwt. The stream anchor was
365. per cwt. The kedges were also 365. The bower
cables were 13s. 6d. per cwt. The stream cable was
13s. 6d. per cwt. These chains were all stud links.
The one cable was shackled on to the other. The spare
bower was stowed in the square of the fore hatchway
with the ring up, as the most convenient place to get it
up. It was not the practice to carry a sheet
anchor on the gunwale. It would be almost impos-
sible to do so coming in and out of dock as the
Royal Charter was. The carpenter I heard saying
that there were thifty men employed for a
length of time, but • that was, only for about

a couple of days for caulking bet Ween decks. I have
seen the Royal Charter stay when I was on board in a
topgallant breeze, going at about ten and a quarter
knots. I never saw her wear, but the log-books show
that she did 'wear. She was a large clipper ship, with
auxiliary power. We thought she would be crank, but
her stiffness or crankness depended on her loading. We
,considered that she would want more ballast. When
,the ballast was taken out at Plymouth, as stated yester-
day, she done first-rate. We had 210 patent brass
scuttles, out of which a great quantity of water passed. All
the heavy sails throughout the ship, to the upper topsails,
were number one canvas. She would have lain to
under a lower maintopsail. We done away with trisails
in the Royal Charter, because we found that in heavy
weather she done better under lower topsails than she
would do under trisails. This has been done with all
ships of her class. The masts were nicely proportioned
and balanced, so as to make the ship efficient. The
Royal Charter, when under sail on a wind, would go
along for a quarter of an hour without moving her
helm. The ship was well found in every way. I have
been .nineteen years at sea, and during that time I
have been in ,both, large and small vessels. What I
think might have guided Captain Taylor is, that
when you cast away the masts there is danger of
fouling the screw, and render it useless.
Captain Harris—What is your opinion as regards
cutting away the masts. Do you. think that when the
ship held for four hours, it would not have been
better if Captain Taylor had cut them away ?
Captain Martin—lt is a very difficult thing for a man
to determine what he should do. If the mast went over
the side in a heavy sea, and a large piece of iron were to
be dashed against one of the plates, it is more than
likely it would go through the vessel.

•
Captain Harris—Tke masts could have been no use
to the vessel, and if they had been cut away, it would
have been a relief, and in all human probability, the ship
would have been saved. I only mention this to know
your opinion as a nautical man. I know that the engi-
neer could have feathered the screw, though the engines
must have been stopped, and, no doubt, were stopped
when the masts were cut away. I only wish to know
if you consider it a prudent or an imprudent thing to
cut away the masts.
Captain Martin—l think myself that, under the cir-
cumstances, a shipmaster Would think a good deal be-
fore he would cut away his masts, if he was depending
on his screw. It does appear that the engineer had re-
ceived orders to go a little slower ahead, that the
ship should ride easier. I dare say the reason of that
was, that she may have forged a little ahead in a lull,
and then come back with great force, causing great
strain on the anchors. I think that Captain Taylor
was depending more on his anchors than on the
screw. I have no doubt that Captain Taylor wished to
ilirn as much ahead as would assist his anchors. If she
lad been a ship, it l'srelx!ent of the screw, then I would
say, cut away the masts by all means.
Captain Harris—We know that there are lulls when
a ship will go ahead with her screw working, and then
with the full force of the gale will come back with a
surge which is liable to snap the chains.
Captain Martin—lf the vessel had been propelled at
the rate of four knots an hour, it would have been of
great advantage.
Captain Harris—You cannot regulate at what speed
the engine should be driven in a gale of wind.
Mr. Aspinall.—l am not aware that the ship was
brought up at all, or that she got her head properly to
the wind.
Captain Harris.—l think that she must have held for
me time, for, looking at the distance, she must have