The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-02 00:00:00

TILE LATE SHIPWRECK IN PLYMOUTH SOUND

Yesterday afternoon aninquest was held on the
bodies of Edward Hosken, James Toms, David
Libby, Walter Hosken, aid John Crapp, the crew
of the schooner Speedwel, which was wrecked on
Saturday afternoon, betveen Redding Point and
Hooe Lake, just under M,unt Edgcumbe.
The inquest was held at Maker Farm, before Mr.
J. Jagoe, county coroner, and a respectable jury, of
which Mr. Webber was tle foreman. After the jury
had viewed the bodies of the deceased, which lay
in a barn belonging to the Maker Farm, they re-
turned to the house, when the following evidence
was adduced:—

The first witness calla] was Wm. H. Williams,
who said—l am a mastir in the Royal Navy, and
chief officer of the Coastguard station at Cawsand,
in the parish of Rame. About 8 o'clock on Satur-
day morning I was at Cawsand, and saw the Speed-
well at anchor between Redding Point and Hooe
Lake, under Mount Elgcumbe. Just about 10
o'clock a steam tug cam) out and took .hold of the
schooner with a rope. The tug, however, shortly
after left, and went towards Plymouth, but I can-
not say whether or not the rope parted. When I
saw the perilous position the schooner was in, I
sent round two of my nen to watch her, but it was
impossible to assist her, although I sent two lines
in case the men on board the schooner should take
to their boat. I went shortly after them, and saw
the sailors take the boat on board, and bail her out.
The vessel was then at anchor. The crew in the
course of the day pulled down the burgee from the
maintopmast—a small narrow flag, bearing the
name of the ship Speedwell, and put it in the
fore rigging. The whole of the crew, comprising
four men and one boy, then took to their boat
and pulled towards Redding Point with the
head of the boat to the eastward. They evidently
tried to weather Redding Point, but the first surf
they entered swallowed the boat up. The men were
all immersed in the water, and only two of them
appeared again. One of my men got within a
distance of four yards to one of them, when the sea
cut him down, and it was as much as we could do
to haul him in. (The coroner here praised the gal-
lant conduct of the man referred to.) The whole
of the crew were lost to sight in less than five
minutes. I then left my men, and went on my
station to make a report of the matter. When the
men left the vessel it was half-past 2 by my watch.
When I first saw the vessel in the morning she had
a pilot jack at the forecrosstree, and a burgee at
her maintopmast. There was no signal of distress ;
for what we consider a signal of distress is au en-
sign turned upside down. But she had no ensign
or. board at all, and I considered from the fact of her
having the pilot jack flying that she wanted a pilot
to come to her ; but it was impossible for a pilot to
go near her on account of the boisterous state of
the weather. When the stearstug left I thought
she was gone in to Plymouth to obtain assistance,
but I did not see her return,

One of the jurymen here asked whether if the
Coastguard had been supplied with a rocket appa-
ratus the deceaseds' lives would not have been
saved ?

The witness, in reply, stated that it would have
been perfectly useless in this instance ; for even if
they had had.one at their disposal the surf was so
great that the men would have been drowned if
they had attempted to drag them through the heavy
sea that was running at the time.
Mr. Carne—Was it not your duty to telegraph ?
Witness—l have no telegraph.

Mr. Carne—l think that as this is one of the
greatest harbours, and there being so many Govern-
ment men here as there are, the five poor fellows
drowned were five lives entirely thrown away.

Witness—The men left the ;easel themselves on
their own account.

One of the jurors here said he saw a signal of
distress flying all the day from the masts of the
schooner.

Witness—The ship came to sea with no ballast,'
and without a signal of distress on board; so that
it was entirely their own fault.
Mr. Came was here about to dictate to Mr.
Williams as to the course he should have adopted,
when he was interrupted by the coroner telling him
it was not for him to tell the witness what he ought
to do ; but, when consulting as to their verdict, he,
or the whole of the jurors, if they liked, might
blame the Government, the Coastguard. or any one
they pleased, but at present he (Mr. Came) must
confine himself to the evidence as given 14 the
witness.

A Juror (to witness)—Was it possible for you or
any other man to have P',,one off in a boat to render
the men any assistance ?

Witness—No. In answer to a question from the
coroner, he replied that the vessel rode safely at her
anchors for several minutes after the men left her.

The Coroner—Were there any large ships of war
inside the Breakwater ?

Witness—One man-of-war and a steam sloop.
The Coroner--Could they have seen the perilous
position in which the schooner was ?
Witness—lt is most likely, if she had had a pro-
per signal of distress flying ; but, nautically speak-
ing, the pilot jack and the burgee were not a signal.
A Juror—How did you know she was in a peril-
ous position ?
Witness—l only judged so from the fact of the
steam-tug being alongside of her, and on account
of the heavy sea that was running at the time ;
there was also a gale of wind blowing.
A juryman here said he considered the burgee
flying from the fore-rigging was a signal of distress.
Another juror said he should take any flag flying
from the fore-rigging as a signal of distress.
Witness—l can't make that out.

One of the jury observed that he never saw the
bargee flying at the cross-tree at all; it was at the
fore-rigging all the day.
Witness-1 never saw it at the fore-rigging
until a short time before the men left the vessel.
What could have been the intention of the crew
in leaving the vessel ?
Witness—l have not the slightest doubt that they
thought they could round the point, which they
would in all probability have done had they con-
tinued in the same course. But if they remained
on board the ship they would all have been saved.
The Coroner—lf the men had hoisted a signal
would you have had any moans of saving them ?
Witness—Nothing other than throwing the lines
to them. It would have been impossible for any
lifeboat to have pulled the vessel off. I have no
lifeboat at my station, but I should say there was
one at Plymouth; but I could not telegraph there
with my flags, for I could not say the vessel was in
distress when she had no signal flying. What I did
was on my own responsibility; but I never dreamt
of the men leaving their ship. I knew, however, all
I could do would be to take a few lines, in case
they should leave their ship.
If you see a ship in a perilous position, is it not
your duty to relieve them ?
Witness—Yes ; whether it was a man-of-war, a
merchant ship, or a foreigner. The schooner would
never have been lost if she had had ballast in. It
was a calm on the previous evening (Friday), and,
after coming down from St. Germans, the vessel
was obliged to come to an anchor on account of
having no wind. The weather came on very bad
early on Saturday morning.
In answer to another question, witness said he
had been in the navy some 35' years, and he knew
of no other signal of distress than that of the ensign
turned upside down.
The next witness called was

Robert Bennett, who said—l live in Kingsand,
and am a mason. I was employed on Sunday
morning by Mr. Gillard, Lloyd's agent, to go and
look after the wreck. I went, and after being
there some time I saw the body of a man in the
water, but I did not touch it then, and in an hour
and a half after it washed ashore, when it was dis-
covered to be the body of Captain Hosken. It was
removed away some distance, and then handed
over to the charge of a policeman. In about an
hour and a half after that the whole of the bodies
washed in.

Edward Bowden was next called, and deposed as
follows :—I am brother-in-law to Edward Hosken,
deceased, and reside at Looe. The deceased was
captain of the schooner Speedwell, from Looe. I
saw the body of my brother on Friday morning at
Looe. His vessel sailed from St. Germans on
Friday evening. The crew consisted of a mate
(James Toms), aged 34, who is married and has
one child ; David Libby, 36, able seaman, with a
wife and three children ; Walter Hosken, 19, ordi-
nary seaman, unmarried ; and John Crapp, a boy,
17. The bodies I have seen in the barn are the
same as comprised the crew of the schooner
Speedwell.
The Coroner then addressed the jury as follows :
—He sail—l don't think it necessary for you to go
into any further evidence. It is your duty to ascer-
tain the cause of death, which you have obtained
from the first witness. The next thing for you to
consider is, whether this could have been pre-
vented by any efforts on the part of the Coast-
guard, or on the part of the authorities of the
Government at Plymouth, or on the part of
the vessels in the neighbourhood. There were
two of her Majesty's ships inside the Break-
water, and also a steam-tug which came out to
the assistance of the crew, and there were also a
number of people about the shore, and it is for you
now to consider whether any or all of those parties