The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-13 00:00:00

irRECK OF THE SANTIPORE.

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The port of Folkestone has been the scene of much
excitement during the last few days in consequence of
the wreck of the Santipore, a fine ship of 650 tons, the
property of Messrs. Gilmore and Co., of George-yard,
bound for Hobart Town, which, after losing her rudder
on the reef known as the Church Rocks, near this place,
Came broadside on to the beach, and is now lying " high
and dry," at ebb tide, within 150 yards of the Pavilion
Motel, and close to the harbour terminus of the South-
astern Railway. The Santipore left the London Docks
On the 26th ult., with nine first class passengers, and a
ego valued at 50,000/., and after encountering the full
force of the prevalent south-westerly gales, against which
she drove some distance below Dungeness, her comman-
der, Capt. Jewell, ran back into the Downs. On Mon-
th% the 3d inst., the weather having moderated, another
attempt was made to run down channel, and on Tues-
day evening the ship was within six miles of Dungeness,
in mid-channel. As night drew on the weather became
very thick and hazy, with occasional heavy rain, dur-
ing vrhich it was impossible to verify, with any degree
Of certainty, the ship's position. A strong south-wes-
terly gale sprang up at the same time, rendering it im-
Possible to carry more than the storm sails. About
midnight the tide set on to the English coast, and the
ll'urrent and wind together baffled all the attempts of the
leaPtain to keep headway on the ship. There was no
apprehension, however, of the vessel's dangerous prox-
imity to the coast until within five minutes before she
struck. The thick weather and the darkness of the night
prevented the land being sighted until half-past five
o'clock, when the ship was within a cable's length of the
dangerous reef before mentioned. An attempt to wear
her off was made, but proved ineffectual. She struck
I
ra'rilY, and remained fixed on the rocks, rolling fear-
.4lllY with every sea. The captain had not had his
clothes off for four days and nights, and the crew were
in a state of great exhaustion, but there was no lack of
"erg? even at this dreadful moment. An order to
furl the sails, given by the captain, was gallantly re-
aPonded to by half a dozen of the crew, although the
14141t$ Were swinging to and fro with the elasticity of
110rsewhips. The catastrophe was observed by an
43facer of the coast-guard, who immediately ran into Folks-
'done and gave an alarm. Several boats soon put off to
leader assistance, and 40 or 50 boatmen were in the viol-
atitY of the wreck in a very short time. The first care of
ITae captain was to save the lives of his passengers, and
„78Y‘ were sent ashore in charge of one of his officers.
.;JaPtain Jewell then called the boatmen together, and
4d'orreed them that he was fully aware of the dangerous
Position in which his ship was placed ; but that he did
hot intend to give up her command, nor should he leave
her While two planks held together. He added, that ie
20 of those present chose to lend him assistance at the
pumps, he would accept their services and pay them, but
?Under no other circumstances would he allow them to act.
he required number of men responded to the captain's
tation, and consented to work under his command.
'egraph messages were at once dispatched to Dover
"nd Ramsgate for steam-tugs, and Captain Hathorn,
/lava' superintendent of Folkestone Harbour, who was
early on the spot, ordered the Princess Mary, one of
e South-Eastern and Continental Steam-packet Com-
l'arlY's fleet, to proceed to the spot, and render what
D3/4'4440e she could. Nothing could be done except
keep the pumps going until the tide flowed.
inuring the morning the ship was an object of intense
'crest to many thousands of spectators assembled on
t
we„beauh between Folkestone and Sandgate. The force
Toth which she struck on the rocks, and afterwards
le°,lled to and fro, would have broken up any vessel of
018 substantial frame ; but the Santipore, being a teak
i2P, of Calcutta build, and only five years old, main-
-"'lned her first-letter character admirably, and held to-
heer long after old and experienced sailors imagined
3-i Would have been dashed to pieces. At noon, a
ver tug-boat bore down to the spot, and, with the
tince33 Mary, endeavoured to make fast a warp to the
!eraels bows. In consequence of the gale and the
clan-
alnus reef upon which the ship was lying, it was a long
e before this could be accomplished. The Princess
th:r3r first succeeded in making fast, and at flood tide all
floc do being kept hard at the pumps, the Santipore
' and Came off the reef into deep water, with loss
no rudder and false keel, and ten feet water in her hold.
Putoain Goodburn, of the Princess Mary, immediately
bioreut all steam, and made for the harbour, distant not
'warp what'. half a mile. Unfortunately, although the
to perform rra a 110 W one, the service it was required
it snapped was too severe, and at the first strain
thewind ' The ship was now again at the mercy of
eau and waves, without rudder or a stitch of
%t! and
within a few hundred yards of the beach.
moved .. is moment the Merry Andrew tug-boat, ar-
-o_usl from Ramsgate, and her captain, having dexter-
y backed astern under the bows of the Santipore,
succeeded in getting a warp on board. It was, however, too late. Before he could get the full
strainsc ona etdo
thhis:
boat, the ship, drifting rapidly inwards,
ground, and directly afterwards stranded upon
herrp broad-
side on the spot above indicated, heeling over to the sea-
board with a tremendous list, threatening the momen-
tary destruction of the vessel. Captain Jewell instantly
gave orders to cut away the masts, each of which fell in
rapid succession, and the ship, being thus cleared of her
top weight, lay comparatively quiet on the beach. Capt.
Hathorn had been watching the wreck from early morn-
ing, and he now directed all the spare labourers in the
company's service to assist the coast-guard in protecting
the ship. A great deal of anxiety now prevailed as to '
what was best to be done, and it was only through the
presence of Mr. C. M. Soutter, representative of the
underwriters in London, who had been sent down on
telegraphic intelligence of the wreck being received, that
anything could safely be determined upon. Mr. Soutter
Was on the spot when the ship came ashore, and after con-
sulting with Capt. Hathorn, and satisfying himself of the
impossibility of floating the ship in her present state, he at
once directed that the cargo should be removed. About 200
labourers, and all the carts in the port, have been since
engaged in this work. The goods are first hauled up
out of the hold, then lowered into carts, and conveyed
above high water mark, where they are deposited, pre-
viously to being transmitted to London. The labour is
vastly increased owing to the position of the ship, which,
resting on a very steep beach, has a great list towards
the sea, the deck being at an angle of about 75 degrees.
The cargo consists of a general assortment of goods for
the colonies, including a large quantity of silks and
cotton goods, ready-made clothing, boots, shoes, spirits,
beers, wines, some iron, a quantity of malt and oats,
and some sawn deals for building purposes. The ship
has 12 feet water in her hold at every flood tide, and
the work of unloading necessarily only proceeds at low • Water. The ship is underwritten for 8,000/. ; and the
cargo, it is said, will involve a loss of about 30,000/.
to the Royal Exchange and London Assurance Corpo-
rations. Capt. Jewell is an old experienced officer.
The catastrophe is not attributed to any want of skill
On his part, but rather to the terrible weather which has I
Prevailed during the past fortnight. His crew consisted
Of nearly 20, all of whom are said to have behaved with
great gallantry. Among the passengers was a Mr.
Webb, of Sydney, who was on his return to the colony.
14e bad property farthing of whichon board valued at 4,0001., not one •
is insured.

271.8 LATE FATAL COLLISION OFF THE NORE.

yet none of the bodies of theunfoortunoat, whichecrew
'Who perished with the brig Harewood,
of tndi
foundered near the Mouse Light, after being
m.
-with the General Steam Navigation Company's
have
P Trident, Captain Morris,
in
recovered.cosllitesan
io.
The subjoined are the statements
of the two
ohsun i‘rvivroarsso—n,
k Graham, the master of the brig,
and j one of the seamen, who were on thelook-outfsos hrwtaradn,
Which furnish more accurate details of the loss have yet been given :
John Mason says—I was an able seamen on board
the llarewood, of London, Graham master, while on
her last voyage from Cardiff to London, with a cargo of
clais. On Tuesday evening last, about half-past eight
so
o'clock, we weighed anchor from the Oaze-buoy, to the
uthward. of the Mouse. The wind was S.W., strong,
" fl°od, tide. Our vessel was close by the wind on the
1arb.,..-,
k.
In about three quarters of an hour,
N'theti inn early mid-channel, I descried a bright light,
41:id then illlMediately a red (addle-box) one, on our
'Weather bow. I knew at oncpe that they were those
tbf a. steamer, and I reported the instantly to the cap-
tains Who took the signal lantern to the weather gang-
Way, and waved it for the space of three minutes, and
until
011 the such time as it was thought to have been observed.
lantern being removed I missed the red light.
the
It had closed in, and almost immediately afterwards
green
(the other paddle) light appeared. Being
accustomed to the navigation of steamers, I knew
ighe had changed her course. I shouted to the
steamer, as did the other hands, but she came
'ou and struck us.
.A 8 she came in contact
'with the brig I jumped on the rail and rushed
I,IP the rigging, and as the steamer passed, she took our
foremast on the poop rail and broke it in two. I caught
hold of the netting of her poop well aft and got on board,
Z,z.trind then found her to be the Trident, Capt. Morris, be-
ging to the General Steam Navigation Company.
The steamer then passed away clear of the wreck. In a
vra?te or so the brig with her crew disappeared under
"1% MY first impulse after recovering myself was to save
crew if ?my Were clinging to the it
I junaPeci

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