The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-17 00:00:00

LOSS OP THE STEAMER WILLIAM HUSKISSON,

On Sunday morning last, the steamer William Huskisson,
belonging to the City of Dublin Company, foundered in the
channel on her voyage from Dublin to this port, with passen-
gers and a cargo of cattle, &c. Through the humanity and
intrepidity of Captain Clegg, commander of the ship Hud-
dersfield, the property of Messrs. Horsfall and Son, the
greater portion of the crew and passengers were saved, though
we regret to state that a few unfortunate individuals met with
a watery grave. The following particulars of this painful
and disastrous occurrence have been supplied to us by Capt.
Brown, the commander of the William Huskisson, who hav-
ing lost his log and all his papers, has given us the details as
he can remember them :
On Saturday evening, the 11th January; at six o'clock, the
William Huskisson, with about one hundred and twenty pas-
sengers on board, left the New-wall at Dublin, with the wind
S.S.W. blowing hard. At half-past one o'clock on Sunday
morning, the 12th, Holyhead bearing N.E. distance fifteen
miles, the vessel sprung a leak. At two o'clock they got the
vessel before the wind, all the pumps were kept going, and
the deck load, principally cattle, were thrown overboard.
The water, however, continued to gain upon the vessel. It
continued to blow hard throughout the morning. At half-
past seven o'clock A.M., the vessel broached to the water,
having risen so high, that the fires were extinguished, and
the engines, consequently, stopped working, which rendered
her entirely unmanageable. On the engines stopping, the
water increased more rapidly, in consequence of the loss of
assistance from the pumps worked by the machinery. About
twenty minutes before eight o'clock, the ship Huddersfield,
Clegg, master, hove in sight. The Calf of Man was then
bearing E.N.E., distant eighteen miles. Captain Brown
states, that seeing no possibility of saving his vessel, his
whole attention was turned to the preservation of the lives of
his passengers and crew, in which he received the most ener-
getic assistance from the master and crew of the Hudders-
field, which vessel took on board ninety-four persons, who
Were brought to Liverpool on the evening of the 14th inst.
Capt. Brown further says, the ship Huddersfield having re-
ceived considerable damage from her repeated attempts to
board, and lay alongside the William Huskisson, while it
was blowing very hard, and the sea running high, was mak-
ing much water. Such being the case, her Captain feared
to make another attempt to save the lives of about six per-
sons who remained on board the steamer, considering it best
to insure the preservation of those lives already under his
care.—Gore's Advertiser.
Th

le following account, furnished by parties who had an
opportunity of knowing what took place on board the Hud-
dersfield, and of being acquainted with the difficulties en-
countered by the intrepid captain in his exertions for the
preservation of so many of his fellow-creatures, was pub-
lished in a second edition of the Liverpool Courier :
" Captain Clegg, observing the signals of distress on board
the steamer, immediately bore down to her assistance. On
a nearer approach, the ringing of the bell, and the heart-
rending shout which reached his ear, combined with the at-
titude of prayer of many on deck, satisfied him that no time
was to be lost in endeavouring to save a large mass of human
beings from immediate death. The sea was at this time run-
ning fearfully high, and any attempt to lower the boats seemed
worse than useless. As the Huddersfield, however, neared
the steamer, the boats of the latter were lowered, but imme-
diately swamped. Captain Clegg saw at once, that the only
chance of saving the people was by endeavouring to run his
ship under the stern of the steamer.
" In this bold and hazardous attempt, with his crew mus-
tered on the forecastle ready to give assistance, they provi-
dentially succeeded in snatching twenty-three individuals off
the wreck, and although in doing so, the Huddersfield car-
ried away her bowsprit, lost two anchors and chains from the
bow, and sustained other damage, the gratifying fact that
they had so far succeeded, seemed to give fresh spirit to the
officers and ship's company. The ship, with her gallant cap-
tain at the wheel, was immediately put about, and a second
attempt made, in which about twenty to thirty more of the
passengers and crew succeeded in getting on board ; en-
couraged by this success, the ship was a third time put about,
and again brought under the stern of the steamer, when a
further number succeeded in gaining the ship, making a total
of ninety-three, including fifteen women and some children.
" The gale, which had been on the increase, had now
arrived at such a height, that Captain Clegg deemed it prq-
dent for the safety of his own vessel, in her then crippled
state, and those on board, not to remain longer by the wreck ;
as, however, there appeared to be still ten or twelve persons
on board the steamer, he determined to make one more
attempt ; and accordingly again, for the fourth time, ran his
vessel under the stern of the steamer. This attempt, as was
anticipated, proved unsuccessful ; and seeing that there was
no prospect of any abatement of the gale, and apprehensive
of his mast going by the board, after remaining by the
wreck until ten a. m., they were reluctantly obliged to quit
her.

" The captain and crew of the steamer had all succeeded
in getting on board of the Huddersfield, and Capt. Clegg,
before quitting, offered them the ship's boats, if they chose
to make any attempt to save those who still remained on the
wreck ; this, however, they very prudently declined, as it
was the opinion of Captain Clegg, and all on board, that the
attempt must have ended with an additional loss of life.
" The Huddersfield was outward-bound, with a valuable
cargo on board. Capt. Clegg, however, returned with her
to port, and landed his grateful passengers about six o'clock
on Tuesday evening. Captain Clegg speaks in the highest
terms of his first and second officers, Mr. Matthews and Mr.
Drummond, and, indeed, of the whole ship's company, who
conducted themselves throughout the trying occasion with a
degree of coldness, promptitude, and gallantly truly charac-
teristic of the British seaman. Several of the passengers
perished in a fruitless attempt to swim from the steamer to
the Huddersfield, and a few in attempting to spring from one
vessel to the other; but when we consider the impossibility
of using the boats, the only surprise is how so many were
saved. The utmost praise is due to Captain Clegg, but we
shall leave his conduct to be noticed by those whom we are
sure will not be found wanting in awarding him that reward
which is so justly his due."