The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-27 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE TAYLEUR.

The loss of the unfortunate ship Tayleur may yet be
turned to the benefit of future navigators if the evidence
taken before the Liverpool Marine Board and the report
of the meeting be duly considered. Much of that evi-
dence turns upon points of a far too technical character
to be intelligible to the general reader, but of the genera
results we may fairly speak. Time was when the boldest
of the old Greek mariners—the men with heart of oak
encased in triple brass—never ventured to leave the
coast for one moment. The simple practice of these
primitive sailors was the direct opposite of our own in
more modern times— they ever bugged the shore.
Whether the shore was a lee one or not mattered little
to them, for they took excellent care to keep so close
that even in the presence of an approaching squall they
could beach their little craft, and haul her up high and
dry, ere the force of the gale was felt. An iron-bound
coast they would only pass in settled weather, and even
then the bold manoeuvre was executed with fear and
trembling, and with many a sly promise to Poseidon if he
would get his servants out of the scrape. So it happened
that Ulysses spent ten years on the accomplishment of a
distance which even the Austrian Lloyd's boats now per-
form in as many days. So the Phoenician merchant bound
for Gades would follow the windings of the Mediter-
ranean seaboard on either side, never venturing to
stretch across a bay, or let go of the land even for a
moment. Other nations followed the same principle,
and with the same results. At length a time came
when the surface of the untried and pathless waters was
reclaimed to the use of man. A little instrument was
formed, which, with a certain degree of accuracy, indi-
cated the position of the ship--or, at least, the direction
to which her head was pointed, even whoa the great
heavenly luminaries were obscured. Doubtless, great
errors prevailed. The nice calculations of variation
were reserved for more modern times, and even now
remain most imperfect. Still men were scarcely aware
of the full extent of their own ignorance, and were
therefore bold. They rushed into danger, and his com-
pass bore the mariner safe to his destination. 'Wrecks,
no doubt, occurred to a most lamentable extent, but
these calamities were not registered, then as carefully as
they are now. Enough, however, was gained to increase
the audacity and stimulate the ingenuity of mankind.
Each year has brought its contribution to the sum
of scientific knowledge in this matter. Now the
variations have been registered—now a plan has been
devised for correcting the errors of the magnetic telltale,
as it was affected by the iron which entered into the
ship's construction. Men who were not called by their
especial vocation to "go down to the sea in ships, or
follow -their business on the great waters," wore left to
the pleasing illusion that far more had been gained
than the circumstances of the case would appear to
justify. When the sun or moon, or certain stars are
visible, what with his sextants and chronometers, a
modern navigator should be able to prick down his
exact position on the surface of the vast ocean with as
great certainty as a London cabman might feel with re-
gard to his whereabouts when urging his impetuous
Hansom along Piccadilly. But, even when all these
aids are useless or paralysed by surrounding darkness
and storm, and the seaman is left to his dead reckoning
and his compass, with but a few helps to calculation
from one or two other primitive contrivances, we
could scarce have imagined that he could have been
so completely betrayed to his own ruin by his own
compass as appears to have been the case with Captain
Noble, of the Tayleur, when that unfortunate ship
was cast away in the Irish Channel a short while back.
This officer, by the unanimous verdict of the Liver-
pool Marine Board, appears to have been free from blame
in the entire transaction. He was, they tell us, a man
who had passed his examinations with the most distin-
guished success ; in point of fact, a man remarkable
among his class for superior dexterity in handling a ship
under trying circumstances. The suggestion that the
Tayleur was short-handed appears to be negatived by
the evidence taken before the Board. The people were
a little clumsy, and did not work well together at first
—the well nigh invariable case of a crew when picked
up from all quarters and just thrown together. Captain
Noble says, emphatically, that he considers them to
have been " efficient." The report of the action of the
vessel herself is not quite so satisfactory ; it does not
seem that in any instance they succeeded in getting her
fairly about by tacking, but were always compelled to
adopt the alternative of wearing her in order to get her
round. Still, when the most is made of the deficiencies
of the Tayleur in such respects, they are not sufficient
to account for her loss. The real cause of the calamity
was the condition of her compasses. So says Captain
Noble, and the Marine Board of Liverpool endorse his
explanation to its fullest extent. With regard to his
compasses, again, Captain Noble, before starting ex-
ceeded the bounds of the caution usual among profes-
sional men. lie confided all the arrangements to the
man of most note in the port of Liverpool ; he endea-
voured to check the results at which this person had
arrived by independent means. He got compasses from
other makers. He tried to find out if there was any
spot on board his ship where the deviation could
not be felt. When his ship was being swung by
the tide in the river Captain Noble was always
busy with his compasses ; when he got to sea
he steadily observed the bearings of headlands
and lights to test their accuracy. All this, and much
more than this to the same purpose, will be found in the
report of the Liverpool Board of Inquiry. Now, what
was the result on the morning of the wreck i The steer-
ing compass, and a compass which had been placed in
front of the poop, differed from each other by two points.
When the captain came to look into the matter he came
to the conclusion that the compass in front of the poop
had been thrown into error by the proximity of the mizen-
topsail sheets, which contained more than two hundred
weight of iron chain, and which had been displaced when
the sail was sheeted home. It should be added, in fairness
to Captain Noble, that the weather was so overcast with
haze that he had no chance of getting an observation,
and so was left to his guess. The result of it all was,
that he fell foul of Lambay island at a time when he
thought he was running freely down mid-channel.
Here follows the extraordinary part of the report :
"This Board would call particular attention to the fact
that numerous instances have been brought under their
consideration of compasses having proved greatly in error
on board of both wood and iron ships while navigating the
Irish Channel, and which deviation is not accounted for by
any theory at present."
noted
This is strange enough, but other instances ar
a eq
wooden
of the like kind. On board of the Niagara,
steamship, a change of four degrees occurred. The
home
Teneriffe changed her magnetism in comingof this
a point and a-half. Neither the principleseceviaatniodnosf
important science, nor the details ofpracti
mechanical arrangement to provide against deviations,
are at all fixed. There can be no reason for supp,osing,
nbeers
result occur
iscaant
that such irregularities are confined to the Irish Chan-
nel. If there, no doubt, thseumrsfaaince.e.
other portions of the earth's
mariner s compass a
be stated in a few words—the
most uncertain guide. We do not wish in these re•
marks to enter into the case of the Tayleur. We are
prepared for the moment to believe that the ship was
good,
the crew bettor, the captain best of all. The
compasses were of the kind and quality supplied to the
Queen's yacht—still, scarce had the Tayleur left port
when she blundered upon an island on one side of a
wide channel. Cannot our scientific men suggest a
remedy.—Tinter.
'ad, ---- —

THE FIRST OF THE ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON YOU
THE BALTIC.—The first of the Royal Yacht Squadro*
for a cruise in the Baltic is the Shark, schooner, W.
Curling, Esq. She has arrived at Ramsgate, and will
be off' in a few days, Other yachts, we hear, will
follow.