New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-04-10
LOSS OF THE "ONETDA"
Further Particulars Of the Collision

| Report 81 the Court OF Hnsriry-The
Captain Of tho " bombay" Censured
and Suspended for Six Norths-
Funeral of che OHice,s or tBs HI
Fated ship.
By the steamship China we have further
particulars OF the sinking of the United
States corvette Oneida. The following, from
the Japan Gazette, gives the essential de-
tails:
THE FACTS ELECTED BEFORE THB COCRT-rHE
| COLLISION.
The vessels saw each other considerable
! distance before they met. The Bombay
Was under steam alone; the Oneida was
| under full sail and steam, gOiHg before q
| strong breeze and with the tide The speed
| Of the Bombay was about eight knots; that
! of the Oneida probably nine. The Bombay,
| adopting the rule of tie road, as laid down
| for ali Eng.ieh vessels, ported her helm, and
would have cleared the Oneida had not the
| latter deliberately starboarded her helm,
| and thus brought herself directly across the
BOmbay's bow. When it was evident that
| collision must take place, The Bombay's
engines were stopped and at the last mo-
ment her helm was starboarded, aud so ia
the collision which followed, she struck the
Oneida oDliQuely on her starb0ard quarter,
| carrying away great part of her stem, her
| rudjer, her steering gear, one binDacle, 8
one Of her boats. The two vessels then
parted so quickly, that, az one witness said,
the Oneida was out of sight in the darkness
Gin no time he captain of the Bombay
is acquitted of all blame up to this point.
No one can read the evidence without being
quite OF the courts opinion, that he did
everything in his power to avoid the COLI
sion, and acted correctly III all he did
AFTER TaB Observation-Disclosures OF TIE
ENGLISH CAPTAIN
After the collision it was found that the
Bombay's bows were damaged and that g
spar or plank had penetrated them below
the water line, SO that she was making
much water IN the fore compartment. For.
tunately fer all hands on board, she was
built in compartments. The captain waited
q long time, looking out for signals OF dis
tress from the other ship, which. as yet, of
course, he knew not the name of. He says
the time he waited was about ten minutes;
the log of the engineer does not make it
above four or five; and then, seeing no sig
nal of any kind, aud apprehensiye of bis
own chip, with the passengers, crew and the
mails, he fastened On by the advice of the
pilot, an American, TO Yokohama. He de-
Clares, and his assertion seems fully borne
out by all the witnesses who had been on
board OF the Bombay at the time, that he
had no idea Of any such serious damage
and merely thought that she would proba-
bly, have to return to port to repair the
effects of what, to all on board his ship
seemed only slight Craze.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE - oEEIoA"-rHB Ca
TASTROPHE.
On the Oneida, however, a verF different
and painful state of things existed. Captain
Williams, who was i'll, was assisted on deck,
aud, all bis executive officers, who had been
at their dinner down below, with the ezcep-
ton of those on duty, also made their ap-
pearanCe. Lieutenant Commander Stewart,
seeing st once how serious the dam8ge was,
is stated to have shouted 10 the Bombay,
Steamer ahOy; lay by US, you've cut US
down" But SO quickly did the ships pass,
that the hail was only heard as, "Steamer
ahoyN-the reply from the Bonn bay, which
the third and fourth officers and quarter
master assert they made, was unheard on
board the Oneida. The requisite signals
usually kept handy for giving alarm were
carried away, so that fresh ones had to be
obtained from below; and five minutes at
least elapsed, according to the statements of
the survivors, before any gun could be fired.
At length one of the leeWard guns was fired,
and that four times-but captain. officers
and passengers in the Bombay all declare
that although they watched for signals,
they neither cav nor hoard them. The
ODel0a hau only Two poatss ana bnese nav
ing been got out, Or. Suddard, the
boatswain and twelve men got into one, and
believing he saw junk passing, Dr.. Sud-
dard ordered the men to row to her for as
distance; but she was going too fast for
them, and they gave up pursuit in q couple
OF minutes; but turning to go back to the
ship, they could neither see her nor any
traces of her. They then rowed to the
shore, q distance of about five miles. The
only other remaining boat had just been
lowered as the ship went down. number
of men were lowered in her. and they man
aged to get several more on board out of
the water, including Mr.. Yates, the executive
officer in charge of the Oneida at the time
of the collision, and Mr.. Crowinshield, the
captains clerk. They stayed by the ship |
as long as they could see any of their COM
rades' heads above water, and already |
having upwards of forty men on board, |
made for the shore. On the morning Of the !