The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-23 00:00:00

The Loss of the Ship San Miguel, of

Liverpool.

OFFICIAL REPORT.

The following is a report of an inquiry held atPort Ade
laide into the loss of the ship San Miguel, of Liverpool
" The San Miguel is an iron barque of 535 tons register,
registered at Liverpool, built in 1864 et Woodside, Liver-
pool, owned by Messrs. Bromham and Lewis,. of Liver-
pool, and was commanded by Mr. John G. Moore, holding a
Board of Trade certificate of oompetency as ordinary master
dated Ist of August, 1859, No. 10,972. The master states
he is of opinion the ship was insured in Liverpool for her
full value, £lO,OOO. She left Liverpool on the 9th Decem-
ber, 1864, with a general cargo for this port, and arrived
here on the 15th March, 1865. After discharging her cargo
she was chartered to proceed to Port Wallaroo, and left
this port on the 6th May, with a cargo consisting of about
80 tons of copper ore, besides hay, timber, bricks, and ma-
chinery. The crew consisted of the master, two mates, and
14 others, inclusive of seamen. The ship drew lift. 6in. aft,
and 10ft. Bin. forward. It appears from evidence and the
sailing directions placed before me, that a temporary light-
ship had been established near the south-western extremity
of the Tipara Reef on the Ist of April. This reef, which
stretches across Tipara, Bay, a deep indentation of the coast
to the southward of Wallaroo Bay, forms the most import-
ant impediment to the navigation of that part of the coast.
Its character, position, and extent are indicated in the sail-
ing directions attached to this report. Having made a
favourable passage, the San Miguel arrived in sight of the
lightship at 4 a.m., when it bore N. a E., distant five or six
miles. At this time the San Miguel was making a N. 4 E
Corrected compass course, under all plain sail, with the
exception of the foretopgallant-sail and small staysails.
The wind was W., and the ship going about five knots.
The course was altered to N. W. Sounding of 13 fathoms
were attained 20 minutes after the light was seen, and the
lead appears to have been kept going until the ship struck.
From an inspection of the chart, the rate of sailing of ship,
and the master's own admission, I am of opinion the lead
was considerably overhove, and that, had more care been
exercised in getting soundings, the rapid shoaling of the
water towards the lightship would have warned Captain
Moore that he was approaching danger. It appears that
although the master was aware a lightship had been very
recently placed on the Tipara Shoal, the harbour-master,
Mr. Quin, having told him so the day before the San Miguel
sailed, in answer to an inquiry made, no application was
made by Captain lloore at the Marine Board offices for
the sailing directions, which were published by the Marine
Bopoianridoneatrlllye
liinoliitaltv-cahs, and copies of which could be pro-
cured by any ono asking for them. He states he was of
north-westernmay be
part of
the shoal, outside the
ad-
mitted as a general principle that, where practicable, a
light should be placed outside the danger it indicated, it
placed on
the
Although it
must be remembered that several causes may justify, and
often necessitate, a departure from this rule. The Tipara
lightship is one in question, as the light was placed
on the site selected by Commander Hutchinson, R.N., and
myself, as being the most eligible for the safe mooring of
the vessel,
and as a guide for the excellent passage inside
the reef ; indeed, had a site been erected outside the reef,
the present small temporary light-vessel could not have
been moored there with safety, exposed as she would be
to the heavy sea coming up the g,ulf. Referring back to
the position of the ship, it appears she struck on the outer
edge of the rocky patch about 5 a.m. Bth instant, and from
appears
position. have
the evidence of the master, first officer, and Mr. Halliburton,
and the harbour-master of Port Adelaide, Mr. Quin, every
effort
beenn fort umn
aa
tdeel
yto7 bad
extricate
w eweather
eherr
setfr
in,m and
hazardous
the ship having bilged, the master, officers, and crow aban-
doned her on the 11th, .when she was full of water. From
the evidence before me, it appears the master very carefully
navigated the ship up to the time of sighting the light. I
would now remark that it is the duty of every master of a ship
proceeding to any strange place to make himself acquainted,
by personal inquiry, of the position, character, and changes
in the lights on the coast. In this instance the master
was aware that a light had been recently established, but
he neglected to provide himself with the official notice,
which he could have obtained on application at the Marine
Board offices, the recognised place for seeking such informa-
tion. It may or may not be tho custom in England to
hand those notices to masters of ships on their clearing at
the custom and harbour offices, but it is evident that such
a system cannot obviate the necessity which exists for the
commander of a ship seeking the information himself. In
this port ships frequently clear for ports they do not call
at, and as frequently touch at ports for which they do not
clear. The master is the responsible person, and though
it may be convenient to have sailing directions handed to
him, still nothing can remove from him the responsibility
which he is invested with. In this case Capt. Moore admits
the loss of the fine ship under his command to have been
solely occasioned by his ignorance of the position of tho
lightship. Having taken all the circumstances into conside-
ration, I find-1. That the San Miguel was stranded on the
Tipara Reef on the Bth of May in consequence of the master,
Mr. John Grant Moore, having neglected to provide himself
before leaving Port Adelaide with sailing directions indi-
cating the position of the lightship recently established on
the Tipara Reef. 2. That sufficient care was not exorcised in
obtaining correct soundings when approaching the light-
a! the master of the San Miguel
was,ship hnto: mawoarree eosfpethciaalposition of the light. 3. That the
certificate of Mr. John Grant Moore, late master of the
San Miguel, should bo suspended for six months from the
date of the loss of the ship.
" Enclosed herewith is Captain Moore's certificate of
competency. " B. Ponca, As,
" May 26, 1865." Stipendiary Magistrate.

" Marine Board-office, Port Adelaide,
June 14, 1865.
" B. Douglas, Esq., stipendiary Magistrate,
Port Adelaide.

" Sir,—l have the honour to inform you that your deci-
sion on the investigation of the circumstances connected
with the wreck of the San Miguel has been laid before the
board together with a copy of the evidence; and I am
now instructed to state that the board consider the
sentence very lenient, and that the suspension of the
master's certificate for twelve months would not have
been too severe a punishment.—l have, &c.,
" GEORGE E. DE URDLE, Secretary."