The Portland daily press., 1873-12-20
The Vile Du Havre Calamity,
Omclal Report Of Capt. SumOnt,
Interesting Particulars of the Terrible
Event.

Interesting Particulars of the Terrible
Event.
made an official report of the circumstances of
the loss of the Vile Du Havre. The shin left
New York Nov. 18th with 435 passengers. On
wednesday, the 2lst, the weather, which had
Deen stormy, cleared, and at eight o'clock in
the evening an observation was taken, the
weother being perfectly clear, when it was
found that the vessel was in AGO SO minutes
north latitude and 800 40 minutes west
longitude: AT a. M, the captain got mp and
went went on deck. He had hardly arrived there
when the collision occurred. He SAYS:
at this moment ship under full sail showed
hMerself M all at once on our path, and l had ard
y tlme to jump on the bridge when the Vile
du ! havre was already struck in the side oppo-
sue sue 70 the malnmast; left the bridge to ascer-
tam the extent of the damage; it was enormous
!Deelng hole of at least sixteen feet, rendering
u certain that the ship could remain very little
.ime ahoat. The engine was stopped at once
Dy Mr. Luce, one of the watch. and the valves
were opened. The water rushed in so quickly
thaG there was not time to close the door of the
puikhead; besides, the bulkhead of the coal
bunker having been forced into the engine
boiler.
The Orders Given.
ordered the second OFFICER to place himself
at az the place of disembarkatisn, and desired him
10 supervise that operation. l returned to the
prdge, where was bound to give orders if I
u .au them to give. or where L ought to be found
II needed, directing at the same time the boats
Nos: and 8 to be lowered, which were near
tne Dr,dge: The second captain told me that
poats NO and were broken by the collision
ana that all the lower part of the keel on the
rgnt side OF the ship had been driven in.
Lowering the Boats.
:. Ihe whale boat No. was set afloat imme-
of hv tI,aN 10, IL
hcer under command of First Lieutenant Gull
lardIfor the purpose of reaching the other shin
and OF learning if it could take us on board. and
10 request it to place its boats aoat as quick as
possible This whale boat left on board of the
snip some of her crew in order to tighten her
ana that they might assist in lowering that ves-
sci ooats. Two or three minutes after boat
No was lowered under the supervision of Mr..
vice, who, seeing the manmast strike inst at
timely moment to put her afoat, the boat No.
8 was lowered at the mast at the same timeand
In less than twenty minutes after the NAM
mast gave way, carrying with it the mizzen
mast, which fell on the deck, killing many
persons who were engaged in putting boat No.
and the persons therein. The lowering of boats
continued, and was attended with great confus-
ion, caused by the fall of the two masts. Time
pressed The ship was sinking. The boat No.
OF the second officer, which l ordered afloat,
was outside, but it could no heave to, the tack,
lie fail being engaged. But No. (mine) was
not outside the catheads, when, at this mo-
ment
The Willie du Havre Sunk.
AS to boat No. 4, the men who were in her.
seeing all chance of floating gone, as the vessel
was SINKING; cut the rigging in order to have it
float when the vessel should disappear By the
i'll luck which attended the boat did not float.
but was thrown with such violence against the
lower part of the mizzenmast that il was
smashed.
Then we were all Anoat.
1t was the final moment when every one seiz-
ed spar, or rope, as it offered. The ship sunk,
A plank which found at hand enabled me to
keep afloat for about twenty minutes. when
was picked up by boat No. 4 The second Off
Ger, who had returned to his boat disappeared
at the same time as myself, and despite the
short distance between us, we heard no more of
eacn other, and 1T was not until the third visit
of boat No. that he was saved-that is. about
an hour after the sinking of the vessel
The Rescue.
We were taken on board the British shin
Lock Earn, Capt Robertson The whaleboat
returned to the work of rescue. The Enrlsh
ship put her boats aAoat They were of great
service, for with our two boats alone we would
not have saved so many persons. The rescue
thus continued until 10 o'clock, when the five
boats returned from the dismal place, there be-
ing no one to save.
The Lost Officers.
4ul. 4uditiu, buO tliITu IISuleuaDU nau Deen
directed by the second officer, his boat being
broken, to superintend the embarkation of pas
sengers by ladder rope, which had been fixed
for the purpose, and at the same time to super
wise the floating OF boat No. 4, which was at
hand. This officer disappeared without our
learning anything OF him. No person. so far
as know saw or heard him, and it is supposed
that he was crushed or thrown into the water
by the fall of the mainmast. As to the second
Lieutenant. Audurnan, none know when he
disappeared
The Interval Before the Sinking.
| estimate there was not more than twelve
minutes between the collision and the sinking
OF the ship. Capt Robertson, no saws he saw
me, says ten minutes, others Is, but there is
only two or three minutes on the question.
Remarkable CaImness Of the Passengers.
l must say that in that short interval the
passengers were examples of coolness calmness
and resignation, and at the dreadful time of
this lamentable occurrence, when 35j persons
were justly alarmed at the thought of certain
death at any moment, and their only hope of
ssalety was disappearing, the women were the
first to give the example. The passengers res
cued undoubtedly owe their safety to that forti-
tude which they did not lose for single mo-
ment, and many others would have been saved
also it the cold of the water had not paralyzed
their limbs.
The Discipline Of the Crew.
have the satisfaction since the wreck of
crew, that every one was at his post, that each
did his duty, and that all went down with the
vessel and were picked up from the sea The
loss of the unhappy afficer who commanded
the watch at the moment of collision renders
me unable to give an exact account of the oc-
currence before taking command myself
The Collision Might have been Averted.
But can declare that the Loch Earn. to
which L showed my ships side and consequent
ly had nothing to fear from me, struck directly
against my vessel at the risk of sinking her
self as well. when by a slight stroke of the
helm upwards, for it was almost so already, this
terrible collision might have been averted
Thanks to the T.och Earn.
Leaving the question Of the collision aside, 1
am ready to render to Captain Robertson. his
officers and crew, the gratitude that we all owe
them for the good care taken of MS on going
aboard Everything was placed at our command
The ladies were made the object of special at
teution, while the English crew, as most of us
we're only half clad, drvested themselves of a
great part of their clothing, 1 hope no one
will ever forget the sympathy which the crew
OF the Lock Earn so generously displayed.
Dl.~r~~,nn .l.c