The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-03 00:00:00

EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE ABBOTTS

READING, AND LOSS OF LIFE.

Captain Halsted, R.N., secretary to Lloyd's, has ri;
ctived the following communication from the Admiralty,
reporting a shocking catastrophe on board the English
ship Abbotts Reading, of Liverpool, while lying in Val-
paraiso Harbour, on the 12th of Sept. last, accompanied
with loss of life, as briefly noticed in our shipping news
of Wednesday :
" Her Majesty's ship Nereus, Valparaiso,
Sept. 13, 1855.
" Sir,—ln the absence of the Commander-in-Chief, I
beg to report, for the information of my Lords Commis-
sioners of the Admiralty, the result of a frightful explo-
sion by gunpowder which took place on board the Bri-
tish ship Abbott& Reading, of Liverpool, John Walsh
master, in this port, on the afternoon of yesterday, the
12th inst. ; and that you will be pleased to point out to
their lordships the careless manner in which gunpowder
is put on board and stowed in merchant vessels trading
to this coast.
"It appears from authentic sources which I have
ascertained, that the said ship had on board, on her ar-
rival, 1,315 kegs of gunpowder, each keg containing 251 b.,
and that these were stored not only on the top, but in-
discriminately among the general cargo, which was com-
posed of iron, paint, pitch, hardware, &c. These kegs
are all of light construction, being wooden hooped and
liable to sustain damage easily by the or4nary working
of a ship at sea. I have Sound by inquirhat the whole
contents of eight of these kegs bad been strewn amongst
the cargo, and that twenty others had been landed half
empty, with the heads out of some and hoops wanting
on others ; that on discharging the cargo, and when re-
moving f ome casks on the iron bars, the friction caused
the wasted powder to explode, thereby blowing up the
entire of the upper deck, and inflicting dreadful injury
to some and loss of life of two of the ship's crew, four
others being at this moment in a very precarious state.
This is by no means a solitary instance, but is the in-
v mode in which gunpowder is stowed on board
merchant ships arriving at this port.
" I beg that you will be pleased further to inform
their lordships that I have just received per barque
Mary Ann Johnstone a supply of gunpowder and shells
and other ordnance stores for the use of the Pacific
squadron, the powder being somewhat about 50 tons
weight, and that the Board of Ordnance had caused a pro-
per magazine to be constructed in the hold of the vessel
for its reception. So far the Government powder and
combustibles were in a comparative state of security ;
but, in addition to this, the ship had on board 400 kegs
of gunpowder of the same description I have named,
which was stowed in the same indiscriminate manner
above described, among casks, iron bars, and jars of
naphtha, and, from an inspection of the vessel, I am
only surprised she escaped without accident.
" In conclusion, I have deemed it my imperative duty
to make this communication, in order, if their lordships
think fit, to draw the attention of the Board of Trade
and that of the Committee of Lloyd's to the subject, so
that some regulations may be made, compulsory on mas-
ters and owners of ships conveying gunpowder, to have
proper magazines constructed for its reception, so as to
avert if possible a recurrence of the sad catastrophe we
were witnesses of yesterday.—l am, sir, &c.'
(Signed) " ALEXANDER MACKEY,
Master Commander.
(To the Secretary of the Admiralty."