The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-15 00:00:00

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS OF THE PRIVY

COUNCIL FOR TRADE.

My Lords,—ln pursuance of orders received from your
lordships, I have, in conjunction with Captains Harris and
Baker, as nautical assessors, held an inquiry into the cir-
cumstances attending the loss of the Norwegian on St. Paul's
Island, at the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in June
last, The Norwegian was an iron screw steamer, built at
Dumbarton in 1861, of 2,449 gross and 1,888 registered ton-
nage with two engines of 450 horse power, owned by Messrs
Allan Brothers of Liverpool, Glasgow, and Montreal, and
forming one of their line trading between this country and
Canada. She was under the command of Mr. A. M‘Master,
who held a certificate of competency, dated Feb. 23, 1854,
and had a crew of 88 hands. The Norwegian, in all respects
well found and equipped, left Liverpool on June 4 last with
50 cabin and 267 steerage passengers, and a general cargo.
Nothing occurred to call for comment until the 10th, when
they encountered fogs on the banks of Newfoundland,which
continued occasionally for three days, during which time
every precaution was taken by sounding, slowing, and stop-
ping the engines. Upon Saturday, the 13th, the fog cleared
off, and the engines were put on full speed, and at noon a
good observation was obtained, which placed the ship in
lat. 45 54 N, long. 54 54 W. From this position a course
was steered to make the Island of St. Pierre, which was
passed about 6 p.m., at a distance of from 15 to 20 miles.
This point was subsequently slightly altered for the pas-
sage between Cape Bay and the Island of St, Paul. About
2 a.m. on the 14th, land was supposed to have been seen by
the master and mate, which they took for the land to the
eastward of Cape Ray, and the ship's course was accord-
ingly kept a little more to the westward off the land. The
weather up to 4 a.m. had been modez ate and fine. At that
hour a dense fog set in, when all sail was taken off the ship,
but the vessel continued her course at full speed, going 12
to 13 knots an hour. At 6.45 a.m. breakers were reported
a-head, The master, who had been on deck from 2 a.m.,
immediately ordered the helm to be put hard a-port, and
the engines to be stopped and reversed, but before this
order could be effectually carried out the ship ran upon the
rocks, and ultimately became a total loss. Such are,
briefly, the facts of this disaster. Everything that could
possibly be done to save life and property was at once
carried out, and all the passengers,
crew, and mails were
saved. Great credit is due to Mr. Campbell, the president
of the island, whose kindness and humanity to the
shipwrecked passengers and crew was very conspicuous.
In commenting upon the loss of this fine and valuable ves-
sel I have a most disagreeable duty to perform. The long
services of the master, who, up to this fatal occurrence ap-
pears to have enjoyed and deserved the confidence of his
owners and the public for a long series of years, during
which he never met with an accident, cannot but enlist the
sympathy of the Court in his behalf. But so frequent of
late have disasters occurred in this particular navigation,
that it is imperative upon those charged with the conduct
of such an inquiry as this not to shrink from the conclu-
sion, however painful, clearly points out by the evidence.
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