The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-21 00:00:00

The Loss of the Ship Volunteer,

OFFICIAL REPORT.
The following report has jut been received by the
Board of Trage

l‘lauritius, Dec. 26, 1863,

The Volunteer, from Mauritius for Calcutta, wrecked
Dec. 8 onUargudos Shoals, appears to have been lost by
the want of experience and presumption of the master. He
went out of his way for no purpose connected with the
voyage. He neglected the most ordinary precautions. He
lost his vessel on a weather shore. There are no extenuat-
ing circumstancees, unless inexperience can be considered in
that light ; and had may life been lost his position would
have been a very serious one indeed. The Board beg to
draw attention to the circumstance of there not having been
a second observer, or any check whatever on the sights of
the master. It is impossible now to determine whether the
vessel's position at noon, on Dec. 6 was rightly laid down
on the chart or not. The navigation of the vessel was in the
captain's hands alone. There might have been an error in
the watch, in the sights, in the working, or in the ,taking
the time. This reprehensible system of not seeking the co-
operation of one of the officers appears not confined to the
Volunteer. The master states in his evidence that the same
plan was followed by the former master of that vessel
(under whom he served), and that is he was taught so he
acted. If the first mate had been admitted to the confidence
of the captain in the way the Board think he ought to have
been, there appears reason to believe, from his evidence,
that the Volunteer would not have been lost. An error of
30 minutes in the vessel's position by observation, by the
effect of an easterly current, was more than sufficient to
produce disastrous consequences ; but setting aside this
particular case, such a system seems fraught with danger
to every ship where it is practised. The captain may
fall sick, or die suddenly, and he alone knows the error
and rates of the chronometer and other matters con-
nected with the navigation of his ship, the vessel's
position, the dangers that lie in her track, &c. ; and
an cafficer suddenly finds himself in command, and, at the
same time, in the most complete ignorance of what it is of
the highest importance he should be intimately acquainted
with. Besides, men's faculties rust from want of use. and
what guarantee is there that an officer who has been syste-
matically prevented from working the time, taking inners,
&c., should be ready at that sort of work when required of
him at a moment's notice. The Board trust that this perni •
cious system is confined to but fewships, and that measures
may be taken to do away with it once. Most commanders
are glad to have officers who are good hands at observation
and calculation, and encourage the taking sights of all kinds;
and the feelings of a commander suddenly struck down by
sickness or accident when in charge of a valuable ship, in
perhaps a critical position, with many lives entrusted to his
care, troops or emigrants, or even his own officers and crew
alone, cannot be very enviable when he reflects that, so far
as he knows, he has not an officer fit to replace him as a
navigator, having never tested their qualifications in that
respect, but even carefully excluded them from participat-
ing in that duty beyond the working of the dead reckon-
ing. If the first mate is not the confidant of the captain in
these matters, he ought to be, and the Board trust that
these remarks on this important subject, whether as re-
gards life, property, insurers, or commerce generally, will
not be lost sight of. There are no other charges against
Mr. Todhunter than want of experience, consequent ne-
glect of precaution, and a careless sort of presumption too
common to youth. Thesis have led to the loss of his ship,
but he deserves credit for the manner in which he be-
haved after that unfortunate event. There appears to have
been no disorder. Proper and reasonable efforts were made
to get the ship afloat. The preparations for abandon.
ment were made without harry or confusion, the boats were
fitted and victualled, and the officers and crew were
brought in safety to the Mauritius; and it would be unjust
to Mr. Todhunter not to piing these favourable circum-
stances to notice, and it would be equally unjust to his offi
cers to suppose that they tree not entitled to their full share
of commendation in carrying out the commander's orders
with zeal and intelligence in effecting these objects.
D. \VALLs, Harbour-Master, President of the Board.
H. J. BELL, President of the Chamber of Commerce.
JAMES FRASER, Agent for Lloyd's.
THOS. H. Munencs, Surveyor to the Mauritius
Marine Insurance Company,
JoiiN S. ELnas, Surveyor for the Melbourne Vic-
toria Insurance Company.
Proceedings confirmed.
iimix BARKLEY,

The Ship John Linn,
OFFICIAL REPORT.
The following is the official report of Mr. Raffles, o'
Liverpool, who was deputed by the Board of Trade to in-
quire into the circumstances attending the abandonment of
the ship John Linn :
TO THE RIGHT HONOURAILE THE LORDS OF THE COM •
HITTER OF PRIVY COUNCIL FOR TRADE.
My Lords,—ln pursuance of your directions, I have held
an official investigation into the circumstances attending
the abandonment of the ship John Linn, of Liverpool,
which occurred on the evening of the let January last, in
about latl2o 30 N., and long 37 57 W. In this inquiry I have
been assisted by Captains Harris and Cew, as Nautical
Assessors, and now tog to report ;—That the John Linn was
built at St. John, N9W Brunswick, in the year 1854, and
registered at Liverpol in the year 1858, of the burthen of
1,590 10-100 tons. Her length was 205 feet, her breadth
39 8-10, and the death of her hold from the tonnage deck
was 22 feet 4-10. Iltr original tonnage appears to have been
1,17157-100 tons,bat having been subsequently raised upon,
her gross tonnage lecame 1,596 10.100, as stated in her
register. The John Linn was owned by Mr. David Fernie,
merchant, of Liverpool, and was commanded by Mr. Thos.
Browning, who holds a certificate of competency as master,
dated the 4th of June, 1860. She had a crew of 30
hands, all told, at the time of her abandonment. The
John Linn left Liverpool, on the outward voyage, in Dec.,
1862, bound to Bcmbay, and arrived there on the Ist of
May, 1863. While at Bombay she was thoroughly caulked
from the copper upwards to the gunwale, and does not ap-
pear to have mace any water as she took in her cargo.
Having completed her loading, which was of great value,
consisting of seeds, spices, dyes, and cotton, which was in-
sured in Liverpool alone at £120,000, she sailed from Bom-
bay, staunch and in good condition, on Sept. 16 last, draw-
ing 22 feet 5 inches aft, and 20 feet 8 inches forward. Dur-
ing her passage home the ship encountered some heavy
weather ofi the Cape of Good Hope, but does not appear to
have strained or to have made any water. On Dec. 7,
being then in 1 35 N, and 29 39 W, a leak was discovered,
which continued to increase till the evening of Jan, I,when
the ship was abandoned. During these 21 days every effort
was made to contend against the leak, but to no purpose,
and the captain appears to have altered his course first for
the West Indies, subsequently for the Cape deVerd Islands,
the then nearest land, on both of which occasions he was
baffled by head winds. From Dec. 30 to Jan. 2 very bad
weather prevailed, a gale blowing from the S.S.W., which,
however unusual in that latitude, was singularly confirmed
by a reference to the log of the Deogaum, the vessel which
fell in with the John Linn after her abandonment. On
Dec. 31 all the pumps got hopelessly choked with seed, and
they commenced to throw cargo overboard, making a well
in the afterhold for the purpose of baling, which was con-
tinued till the Felix Bernabo was sighted. The crew were
by this time exhausted, the weather continued threatening,
night was coming on, and the master of the John Linn,
finding the water within 4 feet or 42 feet of her lower hold
beams, embraced the offer of the master of the Felix Bel,•
nabo, to take himself and crew on board, and they left
their vessel, and were carried into Martinique. It nay
hero be added that the captain of the Felix Bernabo, in a
letter addressed to the Commissary of Marine at Martinique,
asserted that the John Linn appeared to him to be unman-
ageable and in a sinking state when he took her master and
crew on board. Within 24 hours of the abandonment the
Deogaum, commanded by Captain Beaglehole, bound from
Callao to Antwerp, fell in with the derelict, but no one
boarded her till Sunday morning, at 7 o'clock. The chief
mate then went on board in the first boat, and he hailed the
Deogaum, reporting the John Linn to bo half full of water,
which ha estimated at 11 feet. Immediately afterwards Capt.
Beaglehole and his second mate went on board, and stand-
ing on the cargo in the lower hold, sounded with a capstan
bar and found, as he stated, 3ft. 6in. of water. As the cargo
consisted of nine tiers of bags below the cotton, and only
three had been removed, it is obvious that he could not have
reached the skin of the ship by many feet. In fact, the
second mate admitted that when he sounded he struck on
something which ho took to be a bag. No other soundings
were taken, and no attempt was made to sound the well,
although a 7 feet sounding rod was lying on the deck be-
side the pump. The Deogaum remained by the ship till 2
p.m. on Tuesday the sth, during which time they made no
attempt to sail her, but occupied themselves in removing the
ship's sails, stores, and furniture. Upon leaving her the
chief mate, believing that there was no chance of saving
the vessel, upon his sole responsibility set her on fire—an
act which, under the circumstances, was not justifiable, and
certainly not without consulting his master. The Deogaum
sailed slowly away, and the last that was seen of the burn-
ing vessel was about 11 p.m., her mainmast having previ-
ously fallen over the side. After hearing the evidence of
Capt. Beaglehole and such of his officers and crew as were
called, I was clearly of opinion that the evidence failed to
substantiate the serious charge which had been mad 9 against
the master and crew of the John Linn, the gist of which
was:that the ship has been abandoned with 3 feet 6 inches
of water only in her hold, whereas it was obvious that
in a ship of her size they never touched the bottom
in sounding. On the other hand, the evidence of
the chief effacer and other of the crew of the John Linn,
confirmed as it was by the examination of a carefully kept
logbook, satisfied me that the master and his crew used
every exertion to get his ship home, or into a port of safety,
and only abandoned her in extremity, and when he consi-
dered it necessary to save life, and after 21 days of unre-
mitting exertion. Under these circumstances, I have had
certi-
ficate.--I tpleashuarveei,ns:7:urning to Captain Browning his
J. S. RAFFLES, Pollee Magistrate.
Liverpool, March 15, 1864.
We concur in the obove report,
Nautical Assessors.
Hj
0. HARRIS,c,,oI