The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-27 00:00:00

WRECK OF THE POMONA.

In the Journal of the National Lifeboat Institu-

tion for July, we find the following practical
remarks on the causes which probably led to the
Wreck bf the emigrant ship Pomona, and the

lamentable loss of life therefrom :

On the morning of the 30th April, 1859, one of
the most disastrous wrecks on record occurred on
the Blackwater Bank, in the Irish Channel, by
which melancholy event no less than 385 persons
perished.
The American clipper ship Pomona, of 1,800 tons
burden, sailed from Liverpool on the morning of
the 27th April, for New York, having on board
400 emigrants and passengers, besides the officers
and crew, 44 in number. _ _ _

Embarked in a splendid ship;with a fair breeze,
and the prospect of a speedy passage to the place of
their destination, most of those on board were in

high spirits, little apprehensive of the fearful
calamity that was about to befal them. Scarcely,
however, had all retired to rest, after a day of
pleasing anticipations, than they were awoke to
life by the ominous cry—" The ship on shore." But
too soon was the terrible reality of their situation
made apparent by the seas furiously breaking over
them—by the violent shocks which started every
timber and plank in the ship, as she was lifted by
the waves and dashed again on the ground—by the
cries and wailings of the fear-stricken and helpless
multitude—and by all the other fearful accompani-
ments of a shipwreck.
It was shortly ascertained that the ship was
aground on the Blackwater Bank, off the Wexford
coast, the captain having mistaken the new floating
Blackwater light for the Tuskar light, and having,
in consequence, ordered a wrong course to be
steered.

It is painful to contemplate the awful state of
suspense in which the remaining hours of darkness
were passed through by that large number of our
hapless fellow creatures, and the terrible feeling of
despair which must have overpowered them, when
at break of day they perceived their long distance
from the shore, and the slight chance, if any, that
could exist of their receiving succour from it.
For twelve long hours after striking the ground
their ship held together bbneath them, during
which interval the usual gradations of suffering
and of unavailing efforts were passed through.
The pumps were unceasingly worked without being
able to subdue the rising flood; the boats were
lowered or hoisted out only to be, one after the
other, destroyed or upset, with the exception of two
in which the few survivors ultimately escaped ; the
masts were cut away, but all was of no avail ; the
unequal contest was soon to end; the brave ship
and the bravest of her crew were alike impotent to
withstand the fury of the storm, and after 12 long
hours of exertion and endurance, all was over ; the
ship and her precious freight had gone down toge-
ther into the abyss; the last prayer was said; the
last shriek was silenced ; the last struggle had
ceased, and all were enshrouded in a common
grave
To ourselves, who have been mercifully pre-
served from such dangers, the practical questions is
usual suggest themselves :—Could anything more
have been done to prevent the catastrophe ? Can
any measures be taken to lessen the risks of such
wholesale destruction of life in future?
The first cause of the fatal accident, a cause which
has been but too fruitful of loss of life in times past,
appears to have been the mistaking one light for
another. It was by such a mistake that the cele-
brated wreck of the steamship Great Britain took
place some years since, in Dundrum Bay. And
many another noble ship has been lost from the
same error. As in this instance, so also in number-
less others, these fatal mistakes are made by ships
which have sailed but a few hours out of English
ports, to whom it might be supposed the lights of
our own coast by night, and its landmarks by day,
would indicate their course as plainly as do the
familiar wayside objects and the cross-road
signpost point out the way to the traveller
on the land. That the very warnitig light in-
tended to save may, despite every precaution and
great experience, prove the source of destruc-
tion, is strikingly illustrated by this wreck,
for it is not many months since the Blackwater
floating light was first established, with the pre-
cise object of warning vessels from those fatal
banks. Yet there can be but little doubt that had
there been no such light the captain of the Pomoga
would have continued his original course, and would
have prosecuted his voyage in safety.
Of what vital importance, therefore, is it that al
_ _