Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-27
THE DAVENPORT. CASE
The Secretary Considers he Was
justified in Swimming Ashore
FROM TIE NIPSIC at APIA, SAMOA
The Findings Of the Department
Fully Exonerate the Applicant.
MIR. HERBERTS COMMENTS

secretary Herbert today made public the
hholngs OF the court of inquiry and his
Views thereon in the case of Lieut. Richard
u. Davenport United States navy, who
asked for court Of honor" to pass upon
his conduct while acting as navigating Of
hcer of the United States ship Nipsic when
that vessel was wrecked during the great
samoan hurricane in March. 1883. Lieut..
davenport asked for the court because
there had been a great deal of criticism OF
ms action in leaving the Nipsc. At the
Inquiry officers testified that he had set a
bad example to the crew In a time of dam
ger by stripping of his clothes, jumping
overheard and swimming to shore The
testimony brought out by the court which
met at the navy yard in this city. was
fully reported IN The Star at the time and
attracted a great deal of interest
The finding Of the court Of inquiry is -
| follows:
No Imputation on His Conduct.
The court finds no imputation on the
conduct of the applicant, Lieut. Richard O.
Davenport United States navy prior to
the stranding Of the Nipsic on the morn
Ing OF March 1G, 1889, and, further, the
court Is OF opinion that from March Is up
to the time Of the Bleaching the ship he per-
formed his whole duty as navigator In an
eminently satisfactory and praiseworthy
manner, and that no fault. can be found
VITA his conduct as an officer of the navy,
put, on the contrary, IL appears to the
court that he behaved with coolness ana
courage during the time the anchorage Of
4 the Nlpslc was shifted and when she SUBJ
sequently run on shore on the morning Of
Mareh 10, 1889. and that during this timo
ne displayed commendable attention 70
uuty under most trying circumstances ana
/ he
! sreatest, Le., when the ship was in inn
minent danger of dragging onto the reef
Just prior TO beaching her.
In the point as to the time at and manner
| IA Which the applicant left the ship, which
! involves serious imputations brought
against the applicant. the court is con-
i've examination of the evidence before IL
| TO fnolng adverse TO the applicant. In
| reaching this conclusion the court has kept
oisuncty IN view the following circum-
| stances which. in fits opinion. must bear
very strongly in mitigation of his conduct.
| These circumstances are as follows:
l. That the ship was to all intents ana
q That the order to abandon her had
been given.
B. That the captain was anxious to get
! all the crew out OF her as speedily as pos
4. That no organized attempt was made
to carry out the station bill for abandoning
! ship.
s. That the captain himself testifes that
II was a case of sauve Qui peut and that
any one OF the officers and crew was. in
his opinion. free to leave the ship m any
u That the applicant was In no bodily
4 fear.
& That no complaint is made against him
/ by his superiors. ner is any charge brought
by them. although they were cognizant OF
the facts at the time. but the imputations
rest mainly on the testimony OF biased
witnesses. his juniors In rank, given four
/ hal afr he
takes shape in the form OF a covert attack
on the applicants character.
! g. That the applicant may have felt rea-
| sonably sure that proper means have been
provided for the safety cf all on board. AL
though the evidence is not clear IN this
point the court holds that the applicant 10
entitled to the benefit OF the doubt.
q. That in choosing the method OF landing
by swimming the applicant deliberately as
sumed a greater personal risk than he wouid
have done had he gone ashore over the line
An Adverse Opinion.
These mitigating circumstances. together
with the excellent conduct OF the applicant
UP to the time of the ships taking ground.
must. in the opinion of the court modify.
to a considerable extent. its adverse opinion
on the question. which is really the main is
sue Of the case, but the court is OF opinion
| that the applicant failed in his duty at
this time and that his conduct was unbe-
coming an officer OF the navy. In this opin-
| ion the court is emphatic. 1t cannot swervs
from the broad principle on which the
morale OF naval discipline rests. An officeP
| must at all times show in himself an ex-
ample which his interiors may emulate and
even in periods of dire stress order and dis
| cipline must be preserved to the very last.
In abandoning the ship the third senior ofii-
Ger on board should be among the last to
| leave In this case the evidence is perfectly
| clear that the applicant was the frst To
land from among all those remaining on
haar flor sh.a ..anrta has haQr srb =
with the sick. His duty was clearly to re-
main by the side Of the captain and nothing
could relieve him Of that obligation except
the explicit command. OF the captain him.
| self.
The court dismisses the imputation that
| the chronometers could have been saved at
the time the ship was abandoned as pueriie.
The court further dismisses the fmputa-
| tions on the conduct of the applicant SUBJ
sequent to his landing rrcm the Nipsic on
| the morning OF March 16. Ii is not IN evi-
dence. except by the applicants own state
ment, that the applicant assisted MATERIAL
! ly on the beach, but the court considers
/ that this act OF omission under the circum-
stances should not be held against him. as
there was very little that could be done
effectively by any officer or man on shore
in assisting the crews OF the vandaiia or
/ Trenton.
The Secretary's Comments.
Secretary Herbert. in approving the pro-
ceedings and findings OF the court. reviews
l tne circumstances OF the case exnaustlNeiys
80 that the document which bears his sig
nature is more than twice as long as the
report OF the original court. In the course
of his comments Secretary Herbert says:
In preferring charges against Lieut.. Dav-
| export before the New York Yacht Club
| Lieut.. Purcell had become the accuser OF
Lieut.. Davenport in a manner whic seems
to the department. to say the least. quite
| irregular and highly improper. IL he wit
messed conduct on the part Of Lieut.. Daven-
| port at Apia during the hurricane which
was unbecoming an officer OF the navy and
cowardly 1t became his duty TO use his ut
most exertions 10 bring TO punishment the
| offender against military discipline.
All the circumstances connected with this
case show that Lieut. Purcell was actuated
in the course he took rather by malice
against one who had been his superior off,
Ger while on board the Nipsic than by any
desire to enforce military discipline In a
| proper manner. Such conduct is strongly
reprobated by the department.
Secretary Herbert sums UP his views In
! the following concluding paragraph: THE
| department is of opinion. however. that
Lieut. Davenport would have set a much
! better example to the men OF the crew and
contributed more to good order and military
soon as he did. Further than this the de-
partment finds no unbecoming conduct On
the part OF this officer. and II is always TO
be remembered that the concurrent tesil-
mony OF his superior officers. Rear Admiral