National Republican., 1883-07-11
THE LOST ASHUELOT.
Her Commander Tried, Found Guilty, and
Dismissed the Service.
One OF Her Engineers 20 be Suspended and
Another 10 he Reprimanded.


cation of the court:
The Ashuelot was gotten underway in the |
harbor of Annoy, China, at about p. m on |
| the seventeenth of February, 1888, bound to |
| SwartUw. Having cleared tho harb0r when |
! about four miles of Ihapce island, target |
| practice was had aitor which, at about p mr. |
| the navigator, Lieut.. WyCkof took departure |
of Chapee island on the starboard beam, and |
about two miles distant The course was set |
at southwest threc-eighths south, which was |
| held until Sis p. m, when Comdr Mu!ian |
came on deck and Mt the request OF Lieut. |
| WyckoG allowed the vessel to be slowed to |
one bell, aud hauled oil to southwest one
| half south, to give the Brothers rock
! greater clearance. The commander and the |
| navigator then went into the chart room
/ together, and there the latter plated on the |
| chart the course and distance already run,
and to be run during tho night. Lieut.. !
| WyckoT then indicated the position that |
| the ship would bo in at i a. M If allowed to |
| run at a uniform speed of five knots per hour !
until that hour thus allowing danger dis |
| talicc of twenty knots from the lamock |
rocks The commander failed to give in his |
night orders, issued for the guidance of the |
officers of the deck auy definite instructions |
as to the speed to be maintained, saying only |
that the ship would be under one bell, and in |
II conference with the chief engineer, Mr.. |
| Entwstlc agreed that ten revolutions would
| be a fair one-bcll speed
This number of turns would, Mr. Entwistle
says, give the ship speed of from six and
| half to seven knots per hour. At about l II.
m the course was changed in accordance with
the night orders to west southwest, one quar-
ter west thus heading the ship almost direct
for tho Lamock rocks. This, in connection
with the fact that she was allowed to overrun
the speed agreed upon, caused the loss of tho
vessel. Naval Cadet H. II. Wright was in
charge Of tho deck from II to a. M, under
the supervision of the executive officer
tn nj hn
mander from 2 to 4, it having been
directed by the department that the cadets
should be given an opportunity to learn their
profession under the supervision of the older
, officers. Lieutenant Hotchkin took charge of
, the deck at n. IN. and almost Immediately
aftcrward she struck.
The night was dark and fogGy, and ii had
} been agreed between the commander and the
navigator that at Il. M, If it still continued
: thick, the ship should be run of to the west
, ward but { it had cleared up they would run
, her in between the Lamock and Times rocks
) and hence to Swatow. At 4 u. III. the nayiga-
= tor came on deck, having left orders to be
D called at that time, and meeting tho COM
mander in the chart room, said: Good
morning, sir. 1t is still foggy, sir, and we
must nut her off,, The commander returned
y the greeting, and said: "What are you doing
c up here2 | did not intend to call you until
5 o'clock" just then land was reported on
= the starboard bow, aud the helm was put
/ hard a-starboard and the ship stopped too
' late, however, as she struck Il rock under the
g starboard bilgc abreast the fore rigging, al
} tcrward ascertaincd to be one of the La
q mocks. All hands were called to save tho
- | ship, and efforts We're made to that end,
:, but were soon found to be Intellectual
Z and were given. up at about 4;jO
~ o'clock, when all hands wCrc called
Il to abandon ship. The boats were lowered,
~ and efforts were made TO save all of the crew,
=, but the steam launch, one of the largest boats,
/. was uncomfortable, not being ready Tor steam.
Al ing, as is customary at sea- ana being rugged
,e with four oars only. Lieut.. lverson, the eNecu-
L. tive officer, who seems to have been the man
~ of the occasion, took the gig and endeavorod
=, to tow the steam launch alongside, but failed
~ on account of the strong current, and had to
n cat her adrift. He then pulled back in the
=, gig under the stern, and was just i'll time To
~ save Comdr. Mulan, Cadet Webster, and some
y of the men who were still on board. At this
=, time the sailing launch and the cutters had
70 their full quota Of men and officers and were
laying OIL awaiting instructions. When the
commander left the ship thoro were still
ed fourteen persons on board, aud at muster
held sub seQuently ii was found that eleven
nc enlisted men We're missing Naval Cadet
Webster was the last officer to leave
= the ship, following the commander
into the gig and to him and Assistan
no Engineer Pickrell, who jumped from tn
It's gangway but moment before, as we'll us TIN
of watch below great credit is due for the wa!
il in which they stuck ut their stations unit
at they received permission to come up from be
be low when the vessel was ON the point G
re- going down. Comdr Mullan was tried upo
Ily three charges, drunkenness on duty" i'm
Is, properly hazarding the vessel under his com
Ter mand in consequence of which she was ru
I'd, upon rock and los >" and neglect of duty,
Under the first charge there were wv
specifications, the first covering the tim
from 10 n. III. to 2p. m. on the seventeenth
the February, and the second from p. N. OF th
seventeenth 20 4 n. IN. the eighteenth. Bot
Tho of these were fully substantiated, rs althouS
not absolutely under the influence OF liquc
nd W hen the ship struck, ii WAS clearly show
' that he was still suffering from the effect
.i OF it. The specification of the second char rG
dealt with the matter of allowing the sh
-, tJ run on an unsafe course and this, to
was proved. Under tho third chari
-, there were three specifications, the fir
a. treating Of the failure to limit the spec
, as agreed upon, the second with the negle
'"' to take soundings ds required by paragral
ll5 section H. chapter of the United stat
la- naval regulations, or TO endcavOr to as2e
tain the currents and third, with the fallu
leu to see the order to abandon the sh
properly carried out, and leaving q
"a ship himself without first asccrtanil
whether all of the crew had gotten o
on whereby eleven of these men were lest. III
'he essential part Of these three spcc.dcatio
was found proved, except rs to that porti
lia, of the third which alleges that the loss of Ii
"'e was due TO the commanders neglect al
leaving the ship, tie court apparently bel
SGsr of the opinion that while his leaving the sh
'''' as he did, in violation of paragraph l.
49,, section 1. chapter of the United States ma
-iTp regulations, which requires the command
Y n 70 10 the last to abandon his ship in case
accident was highly improperi that his
len. naming would have resulted in his loss, a
act lot in saving the men.
re- Comdr, Mullan was found guilty oil
H. three of the charges and sentenced to d
am, mssal which senterGs has been confirmed
can the President.
~ 81 Lieut.. Wyckoff was tried for neglect
duty, but was fully acquitted by the court
,rod Passed Assistant Engineers Euy~lstlo a
,ker Leitch were found guilty OF neglect OF d.
ana in not seeing their men up from below bei
!, c. leaving the ship themselves, and were 81
.un' fenced, the former to suspension from dt
i've for one year and the latter to be publ
and rcprimanded by the honorable secretary
owe the navy,
n, l. One of the fremen who had SO nobly str
H!le to his post answered, with some indignati
when asked "When and how did you lei
ON the ship?' 81 did not leaYe her at all
~ left me-"
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