The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-29 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE ELIZA BENCKE,

The following is the official report of the Lords of
the Committee of Privy Council for Trade relative
to the loss of this vessel :
My Lords,—l have the honour to report the result
of the inquiry which, in conjunction with Capts,
Harris and Baker, as nautical assessors, I have held
into the circumstances attending the damage caused
by the stranding of the ship Eliza Bencke, of Liver-
pool; on her recent voyage from this port. The Eliza
llencke was a full-rigged ship, built at St. John,
New Brunswick, in the present year, of 983 tons,
classed A 1 for seven years, and owned by Mr. J.
A. Bencke and others, of Liverpool. She was com-
manded by Mr. Alexander Glendinning, who has
held a certificate of competency as master for ten
years, and had a crew of 20 men. The Eliza Bencke
left Liverpool on 27th Nov. last, bound for Bombay
with a cargo consisting mainly of railway plant.
She was towed out by a tug, which was cast off on
the following morning in Caernarvon Bay. During
that and the following days the ship was beating
about the Irish Channel. About 10 p.m. on Satur-
day the Arklow Light was seen, and on Sunday
morning, Nov. 30, it was again in sight, bearing
N.W., at a distance of seven miles. During that day
the ship was still beating down the Channel, and at
midnight Blackwater Light was sighted, and this
and the Arklow Light continued in sight, according
to the most reliable evidence given in the case, till
4 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 1. At that hour the ship
was hove to in 22 fathoms, with her head to the
westward. At 7 30 a.m. all hands were called to
make sail and to wear to the eastward, land being
then plainly visible, but in the act of wearing the
ship struck on the Glassgorman Bank. Every effort
was made, but without success, to get the vessel off.
Ultimately the masts were cut away to lighten her,
and shortly afterwards she came off into deep water.
The starboard anchor had been previously let go on
the bank, and the port anchor was dropped to pre-
vent her being again set upon it. Up to this time
she had not made much water. Assistance having
been sent for, on the following morning, December
2, the Lioness steam tug arrived and took her in tow.
Upon being taken in tow, in the attempt to weigh
the starboard anchor the ship grounded the second
time, and eventually she slipped the chain and got
off the bank. Thence she was towed towards Dublin,
but at 5 a.m. on the 3d the tug towed them on shore
on the south tail of the Kish Bank. Here she un-
doubtedly received very material damage, having
remained aground thumping heavily for about an
hour and a half, for on getting off it was found she
was making water fast, and on reaching Kingstown
there was not less than sft. of water in the hold. It
appears, from the evidence of the carpenter, that the
pumps had been disabled by the fall of the masts,
so that they could not be used till after they were
repaired at Kingstown. She was subsequently
towed round to Liverpool, when it was ascertained
that she had received material damage, but fortu-
nately the cargo does not scem to have been much
injured. It appears that at 4 a.m. on Dec. 1, the
morning of the casualty, the Blackwater Light was
in sight, and they sounded in 22 fathoms. These
soundings, if obtained, must have indicated a dan-
gerous proximity to the coast, and should have
warned the master that they were inside the line of
sounding between the Arklow and the Blackwater
Lights. It then became his bounden duty to have
wore the ship to the eastward, instead of which it
would appear that ho hove the ship to on the port
tack, and drifted with her head to the westward on
a flood tide till 7.30 a.m., when the hands were
called out to wear the ship to the eastward,
sound-
ings having just previously been taken showing
20
fathoms, according to the evidejnaeme fhothweev firster ,em om-
ate
and the master's statement.
pelled to conclude, from the casualty which almost
immediately befel the ship, that such soundings
were incorrect, and that she must have shoaled her
water to a much greater extent. Be this as it may,
I must pronounce the master in default, as the
slightest reference to his chart, or the least attention
to the bearing of the lights after 4 a.m. would have
convinced him that he should have stood out to the
which he might easily have done, the
wind being
favourable.
eastward,
The subsequent conduct of
the captain appears to have been judicious, and I
am disposed to give him credit for the same. For