The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-02 00:00:00

THE SUi, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 2, 1866.

AMERICA.

TIMID EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, 7 o'CLocK.

BOMBAY AND MAURITIUS MAILS.

MALTA, Feb. 2.
The Poonah and Euxine, with the above mails,
leave here at 1 a.m. to-day,
The former may be expected at Marseilles on the
4th (letters in London on the 6th), and the latter
at Southampton about the 11th inst.

THE CALCUTTA AND CHINA MAILS.
SOUTHAMPTON, Feb. 2.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Nyana, with the above mails, arrived off the Needles
at 1 50 p.m. to-day.

THE LOES OF THE LuNDON.

m-

OFFICIAL INQUIRY-(TIIIS DAY).

This investigation was resumed this morning at
the Greenwich police-court, before Mr. Traill and
Captains Harris and Baker.
At the request of the Court all the witnesses were
requested to retire and remain in waiting in the
private room.
John Jones was then called. He said—l was the

chief engineer of the London. I held a certificate

of competency from the Board of Trade when I
joined her. It was my first voyage in the vessel.

We left London on the 28th of December last.

Our machinery went without the slightest trouble
as far as Plymouth. We were then in charge
of a Trinity House pilot. Mr. Greenhill and Mr.
Harmer, the second and third officer, the stoker,
storekeeper, six firemen, and three coal-trimmers,
composed the engine-room crew. The second en-
gineer also held a certificate or competency. We
had our fires alight when we left the dock. The en-
gines in going out of the dock were going about 30
revolutions. We went slowly down to Gravesend,
and the rest at full speed. When the weather be-
came rough off Dungeness the engines worked well.
We were then going at six or seven knots
an hour. We keep a log-book in the engine-
room : it was lost. I have nothing particular
to relate relative to the voyage from London to
Plymouth. We arrived at Plymouth at daybreak
on the sth of January, on the Friday morning.
Nothing occurred at Plymouth. There were about
50 tons of coal on deck when we left London, and
we had 5 or 6 tons remaining there when we got to
Plymouth. We left Plymouth just after 12 on
Friday night, having replaced the coal we bad con-
sumed coming from London. It was stowed partly
round the engine room hatch and the steam chest.
It was placed there for immediate use. It is the
usual practice to place it there on the starting of a
steam vessel. I don't think we had 20 tons on the
deck when we met with our misfortune on the 11th.
The weather, when we left Plymouth, was mild. I
think a part of the 20 tons was washed overboard,
the other was lying about the deck.
Mr. O'Dowd—Did any of it come below ?
Witness—No.
Mr. O'Dowd—Did you see any of it near the
scupper ?
Witness—Yes. I saw some knobs of it tumbling
about as the vessel shipped the sea.
Captain Harris—What quantity of coal was on
the deck when it broke loose about the deck ?

Witness—l cannot say.
Captain Harris—Can't you say how much ? It
is a serious thing you know to have coal lying about

in a heavy sea.

Witness—No, I cannot. It was lying about
when we shipped the big sea. I was knocked
against the lee scuppers and hurt my shoulder. After
leaving Plymouth we went at the speed of eight
knots an hour. I can't say what course we were
steering. The weather was then very mild, and it
continued so during the whole of the 6th. It
freshened a little between 6 and 8 in the evening.
It continued to freshen on the 7th (Sunday). It
was not squally. The weather was increasing with
the sea at the time. The vessel was kept to her
course under steam that day. I could only go on
deck when I was off watch.

Mr. O'Dowd—lip to Sunday did the ship make
any water?
Witness—No, not that I am aware of.
Mr. O'Dowd—We now come to the Bth. How
was the weather then?

Witness— It had increased almost to a gale. We
then had orders to put fires out and stop engines.
The captain gave the order. We also lifted the
screw. The weather continued the same all the day
until about five in the evening, when it moderated.
Mr. O'Dowd—Did you get up steam again ?
Witness—Yes, about four o'clock.
Mr. O'Dowd—Did it continue moderate!
Witness—No, it began to increase again about
midnight.
Mr. O'Dowd—Was it as violent as before ?

Witness—Yes. It continued to increase up to
the time she went down. I don't think it lulled
at all.

Mr. O'Dowd—What happened on the 9th ?
Witness—l think one of the lifeboats was carried
away.

Mr. Traill—You were steaming all this time ?
Witness—Yes.
Mr. O'Dowd—You recollect the morning of the
9th ?

Witness—Yes. I saw the wreck after the rig-
ging was down. I cannot say how long it
had occurred. I saw the foretop, topgallant, and
royal masts hanging down. I did not go forward
to observe the jibboom. The masts were hanging
against the big mast.
Capt. Harris—What were the crew doing ?
Witness—l cannot say. They were all busy
securing the wreck.

Mr. O'Dowd—Did you see the spars secured ?
Witness—Not that day ; 1 believe they were the
next. The upper masts were hanging by the cord-
ing. I cannot say how near the deck they were.
The ship was labouring heavily at this time. Her
head was to windward. On the 10th I saw the
rigging secured. No damage had then been done.
They were lashed round the stump of the foremast.
I don't think that any of the other masts were car-
ried away that day. I did not notice the boats.
Captain Harris--Was she taking in sea while
her head was to the sea on the 9th ?

Witness—Yes, but not much.
Mr. O'Dowd—The engine-room was then quite
free of water ?
Witness—Yes.
Mr. O'Dowd—How did the engines work ?
Witness—They worked well till the fires were
put out on the 10th.

, Mr. O'Dowd—Did anything occur before three
o'clock on the morning of the 10th ?
Witness—No, nothing. The engines were then
working well. At that hour orders were given to
go at all speed. Mr. Greenhill gave the order, he
having received it from Capt. Martin. Mr. Green-
hill was on watch at that time. I did not hear
the order given. My watch would commence
at half-past four on the morning of the 10th. When
my last watch terminated I went sometimes to rest
and at other times into the engine room. Up to
that time everything was going well in the engine
room. My watch commenced and continued till
half-past eight, during which time the vessel was
going at full speed. My watch again commenced
at half-past four in the afternoon. I was then re-
lieved by the second engineer. After this I did not
leave the engine room for many minutes together.
I merely went on deck and remained a few minutes.
On the 10th, when I went off watch in the
morning, it was blowing a complete gale. When
I commenced my watch on the evening of
the 10th, I found the things all right in the
engine room. She was then going at full
speed. At half-past eight I went off duty. I was
relieved by the second engineer, where I remained
until half-past ten at night, when the big sea came
9nd washed away the skylight of our engine-room.
I came from toy berth directly, and went into the
engine-room and found the second engineer stand-
ing by the engines. The room was flooded. I did
not remain to see the depth of water there. There
was a great body of water coming down the hatch-

way. I ran on deck and saw the whole of the
skylight gone. I don't know what became of
it. It was a dark, bitter night. I then went
below, and shortly after, in a minute or two, the
engines stopped themselves. The water came down
over the engines, and ran into the stoke-hole.
When I went down the second time the fires were
out. I did not observe how they were when I first
went down.
Captain Harris—Do I understand that all this
occurred very rapidly ?
Witness—Yes, sir, very. Between the shipping
the sea and the stopping of the engine. The cover-
ing of the hatch was made of wood and glass. The
wood appeared to be very thick and stout.
Mr. O'Dowd --When you found the fires were
out and the engines not working, what did you do ?
Witness—Shut the doors of the after bulk head.
That is the door that enters the screw alley. I then
went upon deck. The water was at times stream-
ing down the hatchway every time we shipped a
sea. The vessel was then labouring very heavily,
and constantly shipping seas. Tarpaulings and can-
vas were brought, and they tried to nail them down
over the aperture, but the men dashed into the lee

scuppers and were washed away. All hands were
engaged in efforts to save the ship. The pumps on
deck were all going. The crew behaved very well.
I did not see anything to complain of. The pas-
sengers assisted at the pumps and exerted them-
selves with buckets to bail the water out. Saloon
and cabin passengers all worked together with the
greatest energy. I can't say whether any attempt
was made to relieve the ship by putting on more
canvas. I was going forward on the morning of the
10th to get breakfast when the sea struck the vessel
and I was knocked into the scupper. My shoulder
was hurt ; and I received a blow on the head as I
was getting into the boat, but that was done by
accident. Things continued in the same unhappy
state until the morning of the 11th. I was struck
by the sea before the water carried away the hatch
covering. My accident did not prevent my doing
duty. I went on deck on the morning of the 11th
just before daylight. The ship had been increasing
her water all night. She was in a most disabled
condition, and rolling in the trough of the
sea. I know nothing about the bursting in of
the stern ports. I did not hear personally the
order given to get the boats out. About two
o'clock in the afternoon 1 was on deck. The port

cutter was then ordered to be launched. I did not

see it done. I ran across the deck and got into the
boat. The boat rose with the sea ; I watched my
opportunity, and when she came up I put my foot
on the gunwale, got into her, and she went down
with me. The waves brought the boat up level
with the deck of the London. I was the last man
to get into the boat. I saw the captain in the
saloon before I left, he asked me how I felt, and I
replied " Not well." I suppose he referred to my
hurt. That was the only and the last observation

that I heard from him. I saw the ship go down.

At this time the crew were all engaged in praying
—all hope was gone. There were no loud sounds
that I heard, but a kind of groaning, that was
all. I did not hear the ladies screaming. All
were quiet and resigned. When I got into
the boat I did not notice any other attempts to get
out other boats. I had only left the vessel four or
five minutes before she went down. At that mo-
ment we were about 80 yards from her. A boat is
always allotted to each portion of the crew.
I did not think, when I was jumping into the boat,
to which of the crew it belonged. I saw the bows
of the London rise up in the air ; we in the boat
then went down between two large waves, and
when she rose again the London was gone for ever.
We drifted away with a few biscuits and raw veget-
ables aboard. We had no spirits. We sighted the
vessel that picked us up on Friday morning, the
12th, at about nine in the morning. The sea was
very rough when we left the vessel. We were
enabled to use the five oars, although the sea was
running very high. We did not ship much water
in the boat. When we saw a big sea coming we
gave the boat way and she weathered it. We
hoisted an old shirt on the top of a pole
as a signal to the ship. As soon as the
crew aboard the ship observed us, they
ran to the side, waved their caps, and cheered us on.
I think the log line was the first line thrown to us.
I took hold of it. I felt it was being pulled at the
other end. It was hove to us by one of the crew of
the ship. A large rope was thrown into the boat,
and soon after we were taken on board. There were
19 of us in the boat. She was built, I believe, to
carry 12.

Captain HarAs—Was she steered by any one in
particular ?

Witness—No, sir ; she was steered principally by
those at the oars.

Captain Harris—She was steered, then, by oars,
not the rudder?

Witness—l saw two people had got hold of the
tiller, but the oars were the principal things that
steered us.

Captain Harris—Did any one give orders ?
Witness—No ; no one in particular. Some one
would shout pull one oar and another would call
out pull another, just as the sea was running to-
wards us. The captain of the barque Marianople
behaved with the greatest kindness to us in the
broadest sense of the term. He brought us to Fal-
mouth, where we were landed.

By Captain Harris—Our consumption was about
12 tons of coal a day—l mean 24 hours. We took
in coal at Plymouth. I believe it was 50 ton. We
burnt the coal on deck first. We had not taken any
from our bunkers up to the time of the loss. The
vessel pitched now and then, but nothing to be
frightened at. No orders were given to lower the
steam after the masts were gone that I am aware
of. No intimation was given that the ship had
sprung a leak.
By Captain Baker—No water of consequence
came down into the engine-room before the very
heavy sea struck us. VV hen I last left the engine-
room there was about 14 feet of water. This was
about midnight of the 10th, We shut the door of
the after bulkhead immediately we were disabled. I
assisted in doing it.

John Greenhill—l was second engineer on board
the steamship London on her last voyage. I hold
a certificate of competency from the Board of
Trade. I joined the London on her first voyage,
and have been with her ever since. [This witness
then corroborated•the evidence of the first engineer
(Jones) with respect to the efficiency of the machi-
nery, and also as to the quantity of coal on deck on
leaving Plymouth, which amounted to 50 tons.
The receipt note for 50 tone of best Welch coal
at Plymouth, signed by Robert Harris, was then
put in and read.
Examination continued—It was blowing hard on
the Bth Jan., and on that day Capt. Martin gave
,
me orders to stop the engines. It is a common
-vhen the wind is
s(toc-
currence to stop the engines
blow-
ing. The wind moderated towards the afternoon,
a
and at 5 p.m. on the 10th we
got up steam again,
and continued it till the Wednesday. The wind
was blowing a storm at that time. The
witnessf atheni
,
here described the condition of the rigging o
vessel after the topmasts had been blown away.)
The port lifeboat was washed away on the 9th
(Tuesday). The gale continued to increase the
whole of that day. pn the morning of 'Wednes-
day, the 10th, about 3 o'clock, the captain ordered
full steam to be got up ; we were going half speed
at the time. He gave me the order personally, as
he intended to turn the ship round
andrun for Ply-
mouth. He said nothing else. His
orders were
obeyed. Up to this time the skylights
were per-
fect, and the engines in good order. At 7 o'clock I
believed the London was • going to Plymouth.
I understood the wind shifted
after we
turned round. At 3 o'clock
p.m. it was blowing
hard and a heavy cross sea was r • unning. At half-
past 10 that night the skylight of the
engine-room
was washed away by the sea. I was in
the engine-
room at the time.

Mr. O'Dowd7l-What was the effect of the large
body of water entering that part of the vesael ?
Witness--In about three minutes the fires were
put out, but the engines ran for seven or eight
minutes after the fires were extinguished. A por-
tion of glass and wood of the skylight came down
into the engine-room.
Mr. Traill--Then it was stove in by the sea and
not washed away.
Witnem—Yea, I should say so. The next sea might

have carried it away. The skylight was at the
time fastened down inside, battened down and
covered with tarpauling.
Mr. Traill—Are you quite sure about that ?
Witness—Quite certain.

Mr. Traill—When were the tarpaulings put on ?
Witness—l know they were on the whole of the
Wednesday. Two persons—one passenger and one
sailor—were washed down into the engine-room by
the sea that carried away the skylight. The water
washing about more than their depth put the fires out.
Shortly after the fires were out, and I had shut the
tunnel door to keep the water out, I went on deck.
There was no water in the tunnel ; of that I am
sure. After the door was shut no water could get
into the tunnel. I came on deck after the fires
were out, at about a quarter to eleven. There was
then about five feet of water iu the engine-room.
I there saw the chief officer, Mr. Harris, and the
passengers endeavouring to cover the hatchway
with sails, mattresses, tarpauling, and every-
thing they could get. I know a large
spar. was placed across the hole, but I
cannot say it was the jibboon. The tem-
porary covering prevented the water going down
for a time. They were engaged trying to stop up
the hatchway from the time it was broken away
until 4 in the morning. At that time the stern
ports were driven in, and then there was 14 feet of
water in the engine-room. I believe it all came
down through the hatch notwithstanding the efforts
made to keep it out. When the stern-ports were
washed away the vessel was settling down by the
stern. She was gradually going down as the water
increased. I heard Captain Martin give the
order to get the boats ready. It was done. The
two pinnaces and the port cutter were cleared of
all their lashings, and bread and water put into
them. The starboard iron boat went down as soon
as she touched the water. The forward end I be-
lieve was lowered too soon. There was no patent
lowering apparatus. Four of the crew and one
passenger were on board the boat when it swamped.
The people on board got on board thR ship. The
other pinnace remained on board the London. At
two o'clock Captain Martin ordered the port
cutter to be launched. I was in it with
six or seven ;others. She reached the
water in safety. She was lowered by common
tackle. Captain Martin came to me at five minutes
to 2 and told me the boat was ready for lowering,
and that I was to go into her. I 'said I did not be-
lieve it was any good. He answered, "It was the
only chance." He again remarked, " There is no
chance in the ship, but there is some in the boat."
I then went to go into her, and as I stepped away
the captain shook hands with me, wished me God
speed and good-bye. The boat was then
lowered. The first engineer and several
others got in after she was lowered. We num-
bered in all 19. We then pushed off as fast as we
could, seeing that the ship was going down. In
four or five minutes after leaving her I saw her go
down, stern first. I heard nothing. said to the
captain about his going in the boat. We had a
compass. A sailor called out " what's the course ?"
and the captain replied, " E.N.E., 80 miles to
Brest." We had little or no hope of saving our
lives in the boat with such a sea as was running.
We made a good deal of water, but we bailed
it out with some tin cans and a bucket we had on
board. We had no water for drinking. The quan-
tity we had taken was lost by the plug coming out.
We were in the boat twenty hours. •

By Capt. Harris—The captain was on the poop
when he told me there was no hope for the ship.
The people on board seemed regardless of launch-
ing the boat left after seeing the first one go down.
After we bftfLpushed off I saw a rush on deck to the
boat, but it ways then too late.

By Captain Baker—The ship answered the helm
at noon on thi; 11th. As the vessel lurched to
leeward she took! the water in in tons over her bul-
warks, and this all went below. I never heard
Captain Martin or any other person talking about
the height of the barometer. Captain Martin came
to the hatchway' after it was washed away, and
asked various questions. Ile seemed to entertain
hopes of saving the ship. All were assisting to
bail out the water. They handed the water up in
buckets through the after saloon. The donkey-
engine, I believe, was working when the ship went
down, as there is an independent engine for work-
ing that and chain pumps. The coal on deck was
all thrown overboard before the fires were put out.
The coal bunkers had been open for a few hours. I
did not see coal lying about the deck. For many
hours before she went down I was quite confident
she had gone by the stern.
The inquiry was again adjourned.