The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-23 00:00:00

STRANDING OF A STEAMER.

Yesterday an inquiry, directed by the Board of
Trade, was concluded at the Greenwich Police-
court, before Mr. Trail, the magistrate, and Cap- '
tain Harris and Captain Domett, nautical assessors,
into the circumstances attending the stranding of
the screw steamer Regina, Captain James Bowen,
off Dungeness, on the morning of the 16th of De-
cember last. Mr. O'Dowd attended to conduct the
case on behalf of the Board of Trade, and Mr. R. N.
Howard, solicitor, of Weymouth, appeared for Cap-
tain Bowen. Mr. O'Dowd, :n opening the case, said
that the inquiry was inattuted by the Board of
Trade under the Ist article of the 4321 section of
the
and w
Merchant
a s the
property
Shippingo ert Act, 1854. The Regina
was a screw steamer, belonging to the port of Lon-
don,f Messrs. Pickernell, of
Fenchurch.street, City. She was built in 1862, and
was registered as of 497 tons burden, and having
engines of 90-horse power, At the time of the
stranding she was under tte command of Captain
Bowen, who held a certificate of competency frOm
the Board of Trade, and had had the command of
different vessels for 22 years, including the Great
that period he (Mr.
t, Easternp
o w steamship.o
felttho
tie
befallen dutyvessel
During
sst
e :
state that no accident
or casualty him. The crew consisted
of 23 Was on her homeward
general cargo. At 10
voyage
from hands, b
and
Naples,ad with. 4
Dungeness Light bore
Ep N!l*
E.
December
leagues, the vessel at this
time of
;proceeding the
rate of nine knots an
hour, weather cloudy, and wind W. by S. At
midnight a light was placed over the ship's
distantlsth s
° at Dt seven
e n
the
pilot, the vessel then
going
Dungeness distant about two
miles. No pilot, however, came on board, and
bluelights were burnt, and the vessel was hauled off.
At 1 a.m. Dungeness Light bore W.N.W. At that
time the engines were workin—
asbr a
eassitgua of l for
a
g at quarter speed,
the helm was ported. Shortly afterwards Dunge-
ness
ou r miles. Light
was again
Passed, distant about three or
f
Captain Bowen
was on deck during the
whole of this time, and soundings were twice taken,
and
the ship's helm
the second between
cis
e first
and
seven giving
was ported to avoid two vessels, and this bringing
her to the northward her helm Was
l 7
fathoms. fathoms,
om At
put hard star-
board, and about eight minutes afterwards the
vessel struck on the beach. Orders were then given
for the engines to be worked astern at full speed,
but this failed to bring her off, and she remained
fixed for 22 days, daring which time her cargo was
discharged, and she was then brought into a dock
on the Thames for repair. The first officer, the
chief engineer, and an able seaman were examined
at great length, as also Captain Bowen, who said
at the time the ship went aground Dungeness light
bore by the bridge compass, B. by N. 4 N., and
afterwards Captain Fenwick, who was sent down to
ascertain the exact position of the ship, made it E. by
N. 4 N., when he remarked that the ship's compasses
must be incorrect. The spot where she struck was
only three-quarters of a mile from the light. Captain
Harris, in expressing his opinion upon the case,
strongly condemned an entry made in the log-book
of eight fathoms of water being obtained as sound-
' inga just previous to the stranding. The entry, he
said, appeared to have been made for the purpose of
misleading the owners, but it was not likely profes-
sional men would be misled. With regard to 17
fathoms soundings being obtained, he (Captain
Bowen) knew as well as that Court did it was next
to an impossibility to obtain such soundings with
the vessel going at four knots an hour. The general
navigation of the ship appeared to have been very
good, and reflected great credit upon the captain.
His opinion, however, was that Captain Bowen had
trusted more to his eye than the compasses as re-
garded the light. Taking into consideration his
high professional character, he was not inclined to
visit him with any severe punishment, and he should
therefore recommend that his certificate be returned
to him with an admonition from the Court. Capt.
Domett and Mr. Traill concurred in this suggestion,
and the certificate having been acordingly returned
to Captain Bowen, the proceedings terminated.

It was rumoured a short time since that the oonvict pri-
son adjoining the dockyard at Portsmouth was about to be
abolished, and the work in the dockyard, which had been
hitherto done by convicts, to be performed in future by
ordinary hired labourers in the employ of the authorities or
by contract. Since the appointment of the present superin-
tendent of the yard, however, these rumours have died away,
the numbers of convicts in the prison have been increased,
they have been employed in the dockyard more freely than
ever, and have certainly, under the rigid superintendence to
which they have been subjected, done a large amount of
work, the benefits of which will be felt for many years to
come. In the days of wooden shipbuilding the convict
could always be fully employed in transporting timbor and
in setting up the ship's framing as required by the skilled
workmen of the yard. Now, however, that no ships are
being built in the yard it was necessary, if the convicts were
to retain their position as part of the available labour of the
yard, that some other kind of work should be found for them,
and this Rear-Admiral Elliot found without difficulty on
assuming his command of the yard. For many years past
the roads in Portsmouth dockyard have been so rough and
uneven that the general work of the establishment has been
much delayed, owing to the great difficulty and loss of time
attending the transport of material from one part of it to
another. In a very short time, however, a fathom of un-
even paving or of mud or water in roadway or footway will
not be found throughout the yard,and all the improvements
will be accomplished by the convicts. The whole of the
paving has been taken up and relaid, and tramways of old
iron ballast have been laid down the centre of each, owing
to which measures material may now be transported from
one part of the yard to another in one-half the time and with
one-half the labour expended formerly. In addition to this
a party of convicts are now engaged in the yard manufac-
turing for their own use, when on labourers' work in the
yard or outside their prison walls, carts, wheelbarrows,
picks, spades, &c. The work those men aro now engaged
upon will, however, soon be completed, and it will be neces-
sary to find them other employment. It is believed that
they will be employed on some part of the work com-
prised in the extension of Portsmouth dockyard and
the creation of the new docks and basins which are about to
be commenced under the direction of Mr. Scamp, C.E., the
assistant director of engineering works to the Admiralty,
Her Majesty's iron store steamship Industry, Master
Commander Edward C. T. Youel, from Rio de Janeiro,
yosterday arrived off Woolwich Arsenal, and discharged
her powder at the floating magazine. She will go up to
Deptford this morning and unship her cargo of damaged
victualling stores, &c., and reload for the same destination.
The following appointments and promotions were made
yesterday at the Admiralty :—Robert Brown, master, ad-
ditional, to the Indus, for the Research; and WM. J.
Brown, engineer, qualified for special charge, to the Vic-
toria and Albert, for the Elfin.