UNCLE THOMAS TELLS ABOUT THE WRECK OF THE STEAMERS KILLARNEY AND
FORFARSHIRE.
Good evening, boys! The sudden and unexpected disappearance of the
Royal George, though, from the size of the vessel, and the number of
lives which were lost on the occasion, an event sufficiently appalling,
is yet frequently outdone, in intensity of suffering, by cases of
shipwreck which happen on our coasts. To-night, I am going to tell you
about the loss of two steam vessels, both of which afford remarkable
instances of extreme suffering.
The first is that of the Killarney, a small steamer of about two
hundred tons burthen, which sailed between Cork and Bristol. She left
the quay at Cork, on the morning of Friday, January 19, 1838, having on
board twenty-one passengers, and twenty-two persons belonging to the
vessel. Her cargo consisted of about one hundred tons of goods, and six
hundred and fifty pigs, part of which were in the fore hold, and the
rest on deck.
Soon after she had left the harbor she encountered a gale, and the
number of pigs causing her to dip considerably, she shipped several
seas, which alarmed the passengers so much, that they prevailed on the
captain to put back.
In the evening, the wind having somewhat moderated, the captain,
contrary to the wishes of the passengers, resumed his voyage. The
vessel had, however, scarcely left the harbor, when the wind again
rose, and kept increasing till it blew a gale. This continued until
midnight, the vessel rolling dreadfully, and every wave that struck
her causing her to dip so deeply, that she shipped several seas. A
great quantity of water poured down into the fore hold, the hatches
having been left open in order to admit the air to the pigs which were
confined in it.
As matters began to wear a threatening aspect, the captain requested
that every person on board would assist in throwing overboard the pigs
which were on deck, which crowded to the lee-side of the vessel so as
almost to render her unmanageable. They found this, however, a matter
of great difficulty, and were able thus to dispose of a very small
number only.
The sea, in the meantime, continued to wash over the deck, and to pour
into the hold. Up to four o'clock, on Saturday morning, they managed,
by means of pumps which were worked by the engine, to get rid of this
water; but about that hour some small coal got into the pumps and
choked them. The water then rose rapidly, until it reached the level of
the engine-fire, when it rushed in, and at once extinguished it. The
engine no longer moved, and all was given up for lost.
After a few minutes of abandonment to despair, the sailors, and part
of the passengers, seizing buckets, began to endeavor to lighten the
vessel of some of the water in the hold, and after several hours of
hard labor, they so far gained upon it as to enable them once more to
light the fire, and to get the steam partly up again. They were at this
time utterly ignorant of where they were, or whither they were going,
for the fog was so dense that no object was visible. They endeavored
to keep the vessel's head to the wind, but, after some time, they
found they were going to leeward. The jibsail was then set, in order
to keep her steady, but no sooner was it run out than it was blown
into ribbons. About three o'clock the fog cleared away, and they saw
land behind them, but no one could tell with certainty what part of
the coast it was. It was then blowing a complete hurricane; the shore
was covered with rocks, and they saw that, if they drifted towards it,
destruction was inevitable. By the captain's orders, the mainsail was
set, and the engine-men were directed to do their utmost to get up the
steam, in order to keep her off. The steam, unfortunately, was so weak
as to be of no assistance--it scarcely moved the crank; and the sail
had to be hauled down, lest it should throw the vessel on her beam
ends. The staysail was then tried, in the hope that it would enable
them to round the point; but the storm was so violent that they could
not haul it out.
The vessel was in the meantime drifting nearer to the rock on which she
ultimately struck. After great exertions they succeeded in turning her
round, to endeavor to make for a bay which promised a place of safety.
Just as they had succeeded in getting her before the wind, she was,
however, pooped by a tremendous sea, which carried away the taffrail,
the wheel, and the two men who worked it, the companion, the binnacle,
and the breakwater. The men fortunately caught part of the rigging,
and were saved; but the sea carried away the bulwarks, with some of
the steerage passengers who were standing near the funnel, and at once
cleared the deck of all the pigs.
When the vessel was nearing the rock, and before she put about, the
steward went down to call the cabin passengers on deck. They were
on their way up when the sea passed over the vessel. A second wave
succeeded almost immediately, and scarcely had two of them stepped on
the quarter-deck when they were hurried overboard. These two seas had
the effect of bringing the head of the vessel somewhat to windward
again, when a third wave rapidly succeeded, and drove her on the
rock. It was then between four and five o'clock. The first stroke
she gave, the carpenter jumped on the rock; he was followed by one
of the passengers, but the landing-place was so narrow that there
was not room for both, and the latter fell into the water and was
drowned. After striking, the vessel receded; she soon struck again, and
continued receding and striking for some time, during which some of the
sailors, the first mate, and the captain landed. When the latter got
on the rock, a rope was thrown to him and the mate, that they might
endeavor to keep the vessel to the rock. Most of the sailors and some
of the passengers were saved in this way, one only landing at a time.
Before leaving the vessel, the steward scrambled along the deck to look
for Mrs. Lawe, one of the passengers, who had distinguished herself
by her calmness, and the firm reliance she placed on a protecting
Providence. He found her near the funnel, calm and collected; with
some difficulty he brought her to the quarter-gallery, and loosing
the rope, he handed it to her, directing her to take hold of it, and,
when the vessel next struck, to leap into the sea, and they would
drag her to the rock. She did so, and was drawn up part of the way,
but having quitted her hold of the rope, she was carried away by the
receding wave, and never seen again. The steward leaped almost at the
same moment, and was saved. The last persons who left the vessel were
a sailor and a woman--the latter supposed to be the stewardess. She
appeared to be insensible; and the sailor, who seemed to have brought
her from the cabin, had her in his arms. He leaped from the vessel, and
reached the rock, the woman under one arm; but the footing was narrow,
and the rock was shelving. He had room for little more than his toes,
and was obliged to endeavor to hold on with the fingers of one hand,
but the weight of the woman inclining him backwards, they fell into the
sea, and both were drowned.
The manner in which some of the lives were lost was peculiarly
affecting. A medical gentleman, one of the passengers, had his little
son in his arms, soothing and supporting him, and when the vessel
struck, he flung him with all his strength towards the rock. The child
reached it in safety, though the violence of the effort nearly carried
the father overboard. When the latter gained the rock, he again took
him in his arms, and, by clasping him closely, endeavored to keep him
warm. "Kiss me, papa," said the little fellow, "we shall soon meet
no more." The child was right. In a few minutes he got on his feet,
ventured a short distance from his father's side, and slipping from the
rock, was at once swallowed up by the raging deep.
As soon as the steward loosed the rope to give it to Mrs. Lawe, the
vessel having nothing to confine her, swung round, and the next sea
that struck her drove her against the rock; her deck opened, she
divided into two, fore and aft, and every one who remained on board
perished. In an hour after, with the exception of the engine and the
paddle-wheel, not a vestige of the vessel or of her machinery was
visible.
There were now about twenty-five persons on the rock. The sailors had
contrived to clamber to a sheltered side, but the situation of the
passengers was pitiable in the extreme. One who had on but a shirt and
waistcoat, was seated astride on a projection of the rock, his face
towards the sea. Under him was another, his back to the sea, his toes
resting on a narrow ledge, and his fingers clinging in a crevice; while
close beside them were others equally exposed and equally helpless.
The persons on the side next the land observing some country
people--about eighteen or twenty--on the shore, shouted to them, hoping
to attract their attention, but there was no answer. The probability
is, that the sound never reached the land, as they saw the people
subsequently descend and carry off some of the pigs that had been
washed ashore. Night came on. About eleven o'clock the wind rose and
blew terrifically, but, even amid the raging of the storm, a startling
shriek was now and then heard, as one after another, unable longer to
maintain their hold, fell into the sea.
When morning broke, the survivers clambered to the sheltered side of
the rock. As they had now been discovered by the people on shore,
great exertions were made to relieve them; but, as the storm continued
unabated, it was found impossible to reach the rock. Ducks with ropes
fastened to them were sent out; only one arrived, and that they were
unable to catch. Wire was attached to bullets, and rope to the wire,
and sundry shots were fired; but this means also was unsuccessful.
The whole of Sunday was spent in a variety of experiments to convey a
rope to the rock, without success. The feelings of the sufferers it
would be impossible to describe, and their agony, when they saw the
attempt to rescue them abandoned--when darkness settled down upon the
deep, and they could no longer distinguish the figures of the persons
on the cliff above them, it would not be easy to imagine. Their sole
sustenance, during the two tedious days and nights which they had
passed since the wreck, was a little salt water and the few scraps of
seaweed that they could gather from one of the bleakest and most barren
rocks on the coast. The night, however, was not so tempestuous as the
preceding, and at daylight the shore was once more crowded by persons,
all anxious to lend their assistance.
On Monday morning, Captain Manby's life-preserving apparatus was
brought to their assistance, but the same difficulty was experienced
in reaching the rock with the rope. Shots were again fired from
guns and small cannon brought for the purpose, but without success.
At length, a plan, which had been unsuccessful on the preceding day,
succeeded, and about eleven o'clock two loaves of bread, and a little
wine and spirits, were lowered to them--the first they had partaken of
since Friday. After refreshing themselves, they were hauled up, one
by one. Of the forty-three persons who embarked on Friday morning,
thirteen only escaped, and of these one died soon after their rescue.
Dreadful, Uncle Thomas! I wonder they were not all starved to death,
exposed as they were to the cold of two January nights.
It was indeed surprising, Harry, that any of them escaped. Some of them
were nearly destitute of clothing. I told you of one of the passengers
who was all but naked, and the woman who escaped passed the time on the
rock with only her night-dress and a small handkerchief to cover her.
The other wreck, of which I promised to tell you this evening, is that
of the Forfarshire, also a steamer, which sailed between Hull and
Dundee. She left Hull on the evening of Wednesday, September 5th, 1838,
having on board a valuable cargo, and upwards of forty passengers. Her
crew consisted of twenty-one persons; the captain's wife accompanied
him on the voyage.
The Forfarshire had not proceeded far when a leak was discovered in
the boiler. This rendered it necessary to extinguish two of the fires,
which were, however, relighted when the boiler had been partially
repaired. The vessel continued her course until the following evening,
by which time she had proceeded as far as Berwick Bay, when the
leak again appeared. It had now become so great, that the greatest
difficulty was experienced in keeping the boilers filled, the water
escaping through the leak as fast as it was pumped in. The wind was
blowing strong and the sea running high, and the leak increased so much
from the motion of the vessel, that the fires were extinguished, and
the engines, of course, became entirely useless. It was now about ten
o'clock at night, and they were off St. Abbs' Head, a bold promontory
on the Scottish coast. There being great danger of drifting ashore, the
sails were hoisted fore and aft, and the vessel put about in order to
get her before the wind, and keep her off the land. She soon became
unmanageable, and the tide setting strong to the south, she proceeded
in that direction. It rained heavily during the whole time, and the fog
was so dense that it became impossible to tell the situation of the
vessel. At length breakers were discovered close to leeward, and the
Ferne Lights, which about the same period became visible, put an end
to all doubt as to the imminent peril of the unfortunate vessel. An
attempt was made to run her between the Ferne Islands, but she refused
to obey the helm, and at three o'clock on Friday morning, she struck
with tremendous force against the outer or Longstone Island.
At the moment the vessel struck, most of the passengers were below,
and many of them asleep in their berths. One, alarmed by the shock,
started up, and seizing his trousers only, rushed upon deck. When he
reached it, he found everything in confusion, and seeing part of the
crew hoisting out a boat, he sprang into it. The raging of the sea
instantly separated it from the vessel, and though several of the other
passengers attempted to reach it, they were unsuccessful, and perished
in the attempt. The boat itself escaped by something little short of a
miracle. There was but one outlet by which it could avoid being dashed
in pieces on the breakers by which it was surrounded. This outlet it
providentially took without its crew being aware of it; and after being
exposed to the storm all night, it was picked up by a sloop and carried
into Shields.
In less than five minutes after the vessel struck, a second shock
separated her into two parts--the stern, quarter-deck, and cabin
being instantly borne away, through a passage called the Piper Gut,
by a tremendous current, which runs with considerable violence even
in temperate weather--with a rapidity of about six miles an hour--but
which, when the weather is tempestuous, flows with a force truly
terrific.
The fore part of the vessel, in the meantime, remained fast on the
rock, and to it still clung the few passengers who remained, every
instant expecting to share the fate of their unfortunate companions,
whom they had seen swept away by the raging element. In this dreadful
situation their cries attracted the notice of Grace Darling, the
daughter of the keeper of the Outer Ferne Lighthouse. With a noble
heroism, she immediately determined to attempt their rescue, in spite
of the raging of the storm, and the all but certain destruction which
threatened to attend it.
Having hastily awakened her father, he launched his boat at day-break,
and, with a generous sympathy worthy of the father of Grace Darling,
prepared to proceed to their rescue. The gale, in the meantime,
continued unabated, and the boiling of the waves threatened a speedy
destruction to their frail boat. It was therefore with a heart full
of the most fearful forebodings, that he undertook the perilous
enterprise. After watching the wreck for some time, they discovered
that living beings were still clinging to it, and the gallant young
woman, with matchless intrepidity, seized an oar and entered the
boat. This was enough--her father followed; and, with the assistance
of his daughter, conducted the frail skiff over the foaming billows
to the spot where the wreck appeared. By a dangerous and desperate
effort he was landed on the rock, and to preserve the frail boat from
being dashed to pieces, it was rapidly rowed back among the awful
abyss of waters, and kept afloat by the skilfulness and dexterity of
this noble-minded young woman. At length the whole of the survivers,
consisting of five of the crew and four of the passengers, were
taken from the wreck, and conveyed to the light-house, where she
ministered to their wants, and anxiously, for three days and three
nights, waited on the sufferers, and soothed their afflictions. This
perilous achievement, unexampled in the feats of female fortitude, was
witnessed by the survivers in silent wonder. The weather continued so
tempestuous that the mainland could not be reached till Sunday, when
the nine persons, saved by the gallant heroism of the Darlings, were
landed in safety; thus making the entire number of persons saved from
the wreck eighteen. All the others perished.
Those who found refuge on the rock on which the vessel struck, suffered
severely during the night from the cold and the heavy seas which, at
intervals, washed over them. The female passenger, who escaped, sat
with her two children, a boy and a girl, the one eight and the other
eleven years of age, firmly grasped in each hand, long after the
buffetings of the waves had deprived them of existence. The captain and
his wife were washed from the wreck, clasped in each other's arms, and
both drowned.
It was indeed a noble act, Uncle Thomas! I wonder she was not afraid
that her boat would share the fate of the steam-vessel, and be dashed
in pieces on the rock.
It was an act of heroism, boys, to which you will find few parallels;
nor has it been without its reward. Besides the satisfaction of saving
nine fellow-creatures from certain destruction, the fame of the heroic
act has spread far and wide, and its praise been on every tongue.
Painters, of no mean power, have portrayed the scene, and its memory
will be thus preserved. Presents have besides poured in upon her and
her father, and everything been done to mark the public sympathy and
approbation of the daring and disinterested deed.
A coroner's inquest was held on the bodies of four of the sufferers,
which were washed ashore. The jury returned a verdict "Wrecked on
board the Forfarshire steam-packet, by the imperfection of her boilers,
and the culpable negligence of the captain in not putting back to port."
Was the vessel completely destroyed, Uncle Thomas?
The only part of the vessel which remained, Harry, consisted of the
forecastle, part of the engine, the paddle-wheels, and part of the
rigging. One of the boilers was thrown upon the rock, the other
disappeared in the sea. Of the valuable cargo, a few boxes of soap only
were recovered.