page_title: James Teare
section_title: Ellan Vannin disaster
hierarchical_section_title: James Teare / Ellan Vannin disaster
caption_attribution_description: English: The home of Captain James Teare.
context_page_description: James Teare was a Manx merchant navy officer who served as a seaman and later as an officer on numerous Isle of Man Steam Packet Company vessels. Capt. Teare is best known as the Master of the RMS Ellan Vannin on her ill-fated voyage from Ramsey, Isle of Man to Liverpool on 3 December 1909.
context_section_description: On Friday 3 December 1909, Ellan Vannin left her home port of Ramsey at 01:13hrs, under the command of Captain Teare.Ellan Vannin was carrying 15 passengers and 21 crew as well as mail and 60 tonnes of cargo which included approximately 60 sheep.
  The weather on departure was moderate and although the barometric pressure was falling Captain Teare did not expect a significant deterioration in the weather. The wind direction on departure was from the northwest meaning the Ellan Vannin would have a following sea during her passage, something which would have caused her Master no particular concern. However, the weather rapidly worsened and by 06:35hrs, when the ship arrived at the Mersey Bar Lightship, the wind had risen to a Hurricane Force 12, and waves were reported to be exceeding 24 feet (7 m) in height.
  A strong consensus at the time was that with a following sea the Ellan Vannin had made good progress to the Bar Lightship. Upon reaching the Bar her course would have been changed from approximately 130 degrees to 080 degrees as she entered the approach channel to the river. This would have caused her to take the sea on her port beam with the result that she got sufficiently off her course to strike a sandbank thereby causing her to founder, (a nautical term for filling with water and sinking), between the Bar lightship and the Q1 buoy sinking in the Mersey approach channel (at 53°32′0″N 3°17′0″W). It is believed she was broached by a large wave, which overwhelmed the ship. She was swept by heavy seas and filled, sinking by the stern with the loss of all passengers and crew.
  News of the disaster reached Douglas on the Friday evening, and the directors sat in almost continuous session until Monday. Communication was by telegram and information was difficult to ascertain. At approximately 19:00hrs a telegram was received which reported that the crew of the Formby Lightship had seen lifebuoys, bags of turnips, several dead sheep and a piano floating near the lightship. It was also reported that the crew of the lightship had picked up a mail bag which was destined for the Birkenhead Post Office and which was found to contain letters despatched from Ramsey.
  The following morning the company offices in Douglas received a telegram from Liverpool stating that one of the Ellan Vannin's lifeboats had been washed ashore at New Brighton with its cover on and its working gear inside. Also washed ashore were parts of the ship's bridge.
  It was five days after the ship went down that the first bodies were recovered. On Monday 17 January 1910 Captain Teare's body was found washed ashore on Ainsdale beach in Southport with an inquest into his death being held on Wednesday 19 January. Also on 17 January the body of First Officer John Craine was found. It too had been washed ashore at Southport. Both bodies were subsequently returned to the Isle of Man for burial.
caption: The home of Captain James Teare, York Road, Douglas, Isle of Man.
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 4S", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "9.2", "Image DateTime": "2016:01:22 11:27:53", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "174", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/187", "EXIF FNumber": "12/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:01:22 11:27:53", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:01:22 11:27:53", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1834/243", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4845/1918", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "5567/860", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "107/25", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[1631, 1223, 881, 881]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "403", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "403", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1494", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2856", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "35", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[107/25, 107/25, 12/5, 12/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone 4S back camera 4.28mm f/2.4"}