The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1898-03-26
WRECKED IN PORT.
Ships That Have Met Their Fate
When They Seemed Perfectly safe.

When They Seemed Perfectly SAFE.
Probably the greatest accident on
record, and certainly the most famous,
was the capsizing of the Royal George,
line of battleship of the British navy.
II was the flagship of Rear Admiral
Richard Kempenfeldt. On August 20,
1852, as 1t lay off Spithead, at the mouth
of the Thames, it was heelcd, in order
that pipe might be repaired. Keeling
was a simple process; one broadside OF
guns was run from one side of the ship
to the other, so that all the weight was
on one side; this laid the ship over far
enough to lay bare the end of the pipe.
Keeling wasn't absolutely safe, but the
repairs were so simple that it wasn't
worth while to dock the ship. So they
heelcd the Royal George.
The ship had not been put out of
commission, and practically all her Of
flcers and crew were aboard. Besides,
the friends of many of the ships com
pany were on board, men, women and
children, including large Number of
Jews. A land breeze spring-up, the
stays did not hold, and the great ship
capsized, nearly 800 persons being
drowned. The Royal George carried
los guns and was one of the best vessels
in the royal navy
On June 2, 1859, the steamship Eastern
Monarch lay off Spithead, after voy-
age from India, with 500 officers and
men on board, most of whom were in
valids. That night she was burned, but
provdentially only eight persons lost
their lives. On December %, 1878, just
three days before Christmas, II. NJ. S.
Goliath, used as training ship, lay in
the Thames with about 500 officers, men
and boys, most of the boys being res
cued from the slums of London. A lamp
upset on the oil room floor; but again
fortune was on the side of man, and
only 12 persons were burned to death.
Sunday, March "a, 1873, was an I'M
pleasant day in parts of England. There
was n snowstorm, which is always un-
pleasant in England, and when there
came thunder and purple lightning,
and, to top off, furious squall ragged
for a short time. Just before the squat
II. NJ. S. sailing frigate Eurydice, used
rs training ship, sailed up along the
Isle of Wight. She had about 300 men
and boys on board, and came in with n
good breeze, most of her sails drawing
and her ports open. The boys were
crowding the decks, happy to see Eng
land again after long voyage from the
Bermudas. OFF Dunnose head, near
Nentnor, that snow squall struck her,
md she capsiZed. Nentnor is n water
ling place, winter as well as summer;
and right before the eyes of hundreds
of persons unable to help the old frigate
went down. Hardly anyone was saved.
Capt. Hare, Lieut.. Tabor, the executive
officer, and nearly every other person
on board was drowned almost within
reach of land at the entrance of the
harbor for which they had hoped.
Forty-five years ago Capt. Cowper
Coles, of the British navy. invented what
he called turret ship, vessel to carry
few guns, but those of large caiber, in
movable towers on the deck. Ericsson
had the same idea, and carried it out in
his Monitor, but Capt. Coles was not
able to embody his plans in ship until
nearly Is years had passed. Finally the
lords commissioners for executing the
Office of lord high admiral, accepted
the captains plans, and II. NJ. S. Captain
was the result. 1t was full-rigged
iron ship, armored, with auxiliary
steam power. High bulwarks were in
tended to be let down when the vessel
was cleared for action, uncovering the
two turrets
The ship was launched in 1869 and
had trouble from the first. Finally she
seemed to find herself" and Joined the
Channel fleet. On September Z, 1870,
commanded by Capt. Hugh Burgoyne,
she was sailing through the Bay of Bis
cay. She carried company of 4Ss per-
sons, and Capt. Coles and Mr.. Childers,
son of the first lord of the admiralty,
who were passengers, made the total
number on board 400. At 1878 n. m. a
squall sprang up and struck the top
heavy ship. The bulwarks were down,
the ship heeled over and never righted.
OF the 400 persons on board only 1s
escaped, and when the court-martial
sat to try some one for negligence in
losing the vessel, the only person they
could try was James May, the gunner!
Every officer was lost.
The Captain was not in harbor; but
she might as well have been; she was
alone, there was no danger of collision,
her ammunition didn't explode. Seem
ingly she was as safe as ship well
could be. She and the Eurydice and the
Royal George were beaten down by no
great storms. II was as though the
finger of Providence had pointed at
those three ships and at nothing else
Not quite three years after the Fury
dice capsized, there was n boat race on
the Thames up the Canada. The day
was Queen Victoria's birthday, May "a,
1891. The day was clear, it was Holt
day, and the race was exciting; so the
steamboats, accompanying the racers
were crowded. The Victoria had on
her decks every soul she could carry;
but everybody behaved well, and there
was no trouble and no danger-until
an exciting part of race,caused the
crowd to rush to one side of the boat.