The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-20 00:00:00

Alleged Wilful Destruction of a Ship,

On Saturday Alfred Grayston, late captain of the
ship Earl of Derby, of 1,080 tons register, and James
Anderson, who was carpenter on board the ship,
were brought before Mr. Raffles, on a charge of
having wilfully attempted to cast away and destroy
the ship. The prisoners were brought up under a
warrant by Inspector Carlisle. Mr. MacCulloch,
instructed by Messrs. Lowndes, Bateson, Lowndes,
and Robinson, appeared to prosecute, on behalf of the
underwriters, and Mr. Cobb defended both prisoners.
From the statement of Mr. MacCulloch, it appeared
that on 25th November last the ship Earl of Derby,
owned by Mr. M. J. Wilson, of Liverpool, left
Greenock for Melbourne, and on going down the
Clyde encountered heavy weather, which induced
the captain to put into Lamlash Bay,
where tne vessel lay for a short period
and proceeded on her voyage. On the 29th,
in consequence of making a good deal of water, she
was taken to Rathlin Bay. Here a conversation was
overheard by the mate and more than one of the
crew, between the captain and carpenter, in which
the captain said " It will never do to take this ship
back to Liverpool." The captain, seeing that one of
the crew was within hearing, shifted—and signalled
to the carpenter to do the same—to the other side of
the ship. Soon after this the captain and mate were
in the cabin, and the carpenter was observed to leave
the vicinity of the cabin with an auger, a gouge, and
a hammer in his possession, and go into the fore-
castle. The carpenter was there about two hours,
when he was observed by some of the crew return-
ing and seemingly attempting to conceal the tools.
The captain asked the carpenter, '' Does it run ?',
and The
shipthe latter said, " Yes, fast enough."
was then put into Ennisbeaken Bay,
on the Irish coast, where she was brought to an
anchor. The captain then ordered the whisky in
double rations to be served to the crew, although the
ship was avowedly sailing under total abstinence
principles. The men wished to go to the pumps,
but the captain prevented them from doing so.
Soon after this the captain and all the crew left
the vessel still at anchor in the bay. Next morn-
ing, she was seen drifting out to sea. After-
wards she was picked up by some fisher
a
men, and eventually beached. When examined, a
large hole, such as would be mavdeessbeyl,
justn under augur,
was found in the fore part of the
the water-line. When the ship was o the beach,
and in the absence of the captain andviilaii crew, 'a
fire broke out on board the ship, and she was much
injured, although not so much as to be totally de-
stroyed, as it was at one time feared she would be.
She was afterwards taken round to Liverpool,
where she was repaired. The only witness exa-
mined was Duncan Macmillan, an able-bodied sea-
man, who, in his evidence corroborated the main
features of the above statement. The case was then
adjourned, in order to allow of further evidence
being adduced.

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