The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-04 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE STEAMSHIP FLORENCE.

OFFICIAL REPORT.

Greenwich Police-court, Oct. 22, 1868.

Report of the formal investigation into the cir-
cumstances attending the loss of the steamship
Florence on the morning of September 28, 1868,
about a mile inside the Nab Light-vessel :—The
Florence was an iron-built screw steamship, built
at Willington, in the county of Northumber-
land, in May, 1866. She had one deck, three
masts, was schooner-rigged, of 747 98.100 tons
register, and the property of Messrs. Edward
Temperley Gourley and Samuel Laing, of Sun-
derland, shipowners. She had a crew of 24 hands,
all told, and was commanded by James Johnson
Thompson. The Florence had an iron bulkhead
abaft the engine room, another in the forepart near
the stockhole, and a third close forward in the
lower hold. She had also a wooden bulkhead in the
fore part of the engine room, about 12 feet from
the fore compartment, which separated the coals from
the cargo. This bulkhead was two inches in thick-
ness, and of pine. There was, in addition, a similar
bulkhea l in the fore part of the main hatchway, 1
about an iuch and a half in thickne:Js. She
carried four boats, two compasses, and was
well found in every respect. She left London,
with a general cargo, on the 6th of August last,
bound for Trieste. She arrived there about the 2d
of September, and on the 4th began to take in a
general cargo of about 1,100 tons, principally grain
in bulk, Indian corn, and barley, for the homeward
voyage. A Stevedore was employed to see the
cargo properly stored. That in the after hold
was superintended by the chief mate, and con-
sisted of Indian corn and barley, which was di-
vided by some 250 bags of flour, stacked two
wide, athwartships, from the dunnage upwards
to the beam of the hold ; a quantity of wooden
staves were likewise used to divide the corn
—thus forming a temporary bulkhead. About
500 's!aves w, re alSo placed on the top of the grain
to fill up the hoH. The forehold hatchways Nos. 1
and 2 were stowed under the superintendence of
the second mate. No 1 contained Indian corn up
to the hold beams ; it was then matted over, and
three or four tiers of staves placed thereon ; then
another layer of matting, and the remaining space
filled up to the deck with anothersample of the same
description of corn. No. 2 hatch was stowed with
Indian corn as high as the combings. Cases of paper
i were then put under the hatches, both fore and aft,
, and finally the hold was filled with Indian corn.
On two occasions during the voyage the hatches
were taken off, and the spaces caused by the
settling do ern of the cargo made good. She left
Trieste on the evening of the 9th of September,
taking on board two extra hands, making a crew
of 26 all told. On the 21st she put into Gibraltar
to coal, and left that port the same night. On
the 26th (Saturday) she was in mid-channel,
abreast of Ushant, steering E.N.E. At this
time there were strong breezes from the S.W.,
and towards night the gale increased with a
high sea. She shipped a quantity of water
to windward on the starboard side. She had a list
to starboard, but during the night the cargo
shifted, which caused a heavy list to port. The
gale continued the whole of that night. She
made several very heavy lurches to port, and in
the morning her port gunwale was in the water.
At 9 a.m. of the 27th (Sunday) she was abeam
of the Bill of Portland, distant six miles. At 5
p.m. she was hove to on the starboard tack by
lorder of the master. The first mate remonstrated,
and suggested that they should bear for St.
I Helen's. This the master refused. At 7 p.m.
the tarpaulins on the port side of the main hatch
Were found to be adrift from the violence of the
sea. An ineffectual attempt was made to get the
battens on, and ropes were placed across the hatches
to prevent their being washed off. The sea was
I then washing over her lee rail. It was impos-
I Bible to stand upon deck, and the water was
1 washing down the hatches into the forehold.
At nine in the evening the master gave orders to
bear for St. Helen's Roads. She continued to lurch
heavily, and the lifeboat was taken under water and
broken up. At 930 p.m. the master ordered the
first mate to keep the etip E S.E., nothing to
the'eastwarcl. She was pat on that course. She,
" however, had but little steam, the highest speed
obtainable being 11 to 2 knots an hour. At two
the following morning the master ordered the
ship to be again hove to. This order the mate
I disobeyed, alleging that she was fast settling
down, upon which the master threatened to
shout hi:n. From this moment the ship. was
lin the hands of the offices and crew. Sig-
nals of distress were kept burning during the
I night, and at 4 am. a pilot boat came to their
assist ince. The pilot boat was not able to get
, alongside the steamer in consequence of their lines
Ibreaking. In about two hours afterwards (6 a.m.)
the ship went down by the head, one mile in-
i side of the Nab 'Light-vessel. Twenty of the
crew were subsequently rescued by the Pilot
boat No. 6, and taken ashore. The master, two
stewards, two seamen, and one of the extra
hands taken on board at Trieste, were unfor-
tunately drowned. From the evidence of some
of the witnesses examined, as an opinion has been
expressed that shifting boards should have been
fixed in stowing the cargo ; also, that the ship was
too heavily laden, and that on the night preceding,
and at the time of the fatal catastrophe, the master
was in a state of drunkenness. The evidence on the
two latter points was extremely conflicting. It ap-
peared, however, that during the voyage the master
was a painful disease, and that
u
he hsadffearinngatftraoin attack of dysentery at Gibraltar,
which, added to the other complaints of which he
was proved to have been suffering, compelled him
to give most of his orders from below or from the
companion. After a careful consideration of the
case, the Court felt bound to express its opinion that
there was a grave omission on the part of those re-
sponsible in not having fitted the Florence on this
voyage With shif ting-boards amidships fore and aft at
Trieste, where grain was stowed in bulk, to prevent its
fetching way from one side to the other. There is
no doubt that, had these boards been properly
fitted, this fatal disaster might, in all probability,
have been avoided, as the evidence satisfactorily
proved that she was not too deeply laden, more
elpecially taking into consineration the two hun-
dred tons of water ballast that was pumped out
after leaving Trieste. There is also no doubt that
the cargo did shift over to the port side on this
disastrous voyage, thereby causing the ship to list
over on that side to an alarming extent, the water
coming in to leeward on to her decks in large quan-
tities as she lurched heavily to port, washing off the
tarpaulins, whereby it got below, subsequently, as
supposed, filling the fore conal.artrneut. The log
of the ship, therefore, must be mainly attributed
to the cargo shifting, and in all probability, as
the vessel settled down by the head, the wooden
bulkhead forward giving way, causing her so sud-
denly to go down. All the evidence of these re-
sponsible tended to prove that the ship was pro-
perly stowed, with ample dunnage in both holds, fore
and aft. In considering the conduct of the unfortu-
nate commander, the Court did not feel justified in
coming to the conclusion that he was in a state of
drunkenness on the night of the disaster on the day
previous, as he seems to have consulted with his chief
officer and chief engineer, and to have given rational
and proper orders, although it is very probable that,
suffering from a painful disease, he could not dis-
play his usual energy and active attention to his
chats. It appeared to the Court that, after
the cargo shifted, and the ship had listed over
on her port side, nearly on her beam ends, render-
ing her sometimes almost unmanageable, the mas-
ter sheull have i. ersevered is his attempt to run to
a port of saf, ty ; and it appears by the evidence
that this was not impracticable, having St.
Helen's Roads under their lee. By the evidence
adduced, the ship was hove to on several
occasions, when, in the opinion of the witnesses,
she ought to have been kept running for a port of
safety ; but, in the absence of the master's explana-
tion of the reasons for not adopting such a course,
the Court considered it fair to his memory to give
him credit for the character he always possessed of
being au able and careful seaman, who would not
Pe guilty of any great default of management.