"The mirrors which formed the covering of the funnel which had been the
cause of so much mischief were literally smashed to atoms, and large
fragments of the broken glass were hurled upon deck, a long distance aft
of the paddle-wheels. The ornamental bronzed columns which supported
the gilt cornices and elaborate ornamentation, were either struck down
or bent into the most fantastic shapes; the flooring, consisting of
three-inch planks, was upheaved in several places; the gangways leading
to the sleeping-cabins at the sides were shot away; the handrails were
gone, and the elegant carpet was concealed beneath a chaos of fragments
of finery. The books on the shelves of the library remained unmoved;
the piano was thrown on one side; and the floor presented huge upheaved
and rent chasms, through which might be seen the still greater ruin in
the lower cabin. Below the saloon, or drawing-room, is the saloon of
the lower deck, which was, of course, traversed by the same funnel as
the one above it. On each side of these spacious saloons were small
staircases leading to blocks of sleeping-cabins, scarcely one of which
would have been without its two or more occupants a few hours later in
the evening. They were now blown down like a house of cards. The
furniture which they contained formed heaps of dislocated chairs, and
wash-stands, and basins; the doors were off their hinges, the partitions
were forced outward, the staircases leading to them had to be sought in
the splinters and broken wood which lay in heaps in the lower saloon."
The unhappy men who were working in the stoke-holes and tending the
furnaces were the sufferers by this catastrophe. Believing that one of
the boilers had exploded, fears were entertained that the whole body of
stokers and engineers attending the paddle engines were killed. Mr
Trotman went down the air-shaft communicating with the other boilers.
Seeing by the light of the furnaces a number of men moving about, he
inquired if they were all right, and the response sent up from these
lowest depths of the ship was, "All right at present, but we don't know
how long." They were told to keep quiet, and stay where they were; that
they could be of no service on deck, and all would be well in a few
minutes. The gallant fellows remained by their fiery furnaces with
resolute good-will. In the case of the firemen tending the other set of
boilers a very different scene was taking place. Ropes were thrown
down, and, one by one, wounded, bleeding, and staggering men were drawn
up, their black, begrimed faces forming a ghastly contrast with scalded
portions of their limbs and bodies. The men were taken aft to the
hospital, and to the cabins, where mattresses and blankets were laid for
them.
Two or three of these poor fellows walked up to the deck almost, if not
quite, unassisted. Their aspect told its own tale, and none who had
ever seen blown-up men before could fail to know at a glance that some
had only two or three hours to live. Where not grimed by the smoke or
ashes, the peculiar bright, soft whiteness of the face, hands, or
breast, told at once that the skin, though unbroken, had in fact been
boiled by the steam. One man walked along, and seemed quite unconscious
that the flesh of his thighs, (most probably by the ashes from the
furnace), was burnt in deep holes. To some one who came to his
assistance he said quietly, "I am all right. There are others worse
than me; go and look after them." This poor man was the first to die.
It was seen at once that but little hope existed for many, if not the
majority, of the sufferers, who were twelve in number. Most of them
seemed very restless, and almost, if not quite, delirious; but a few of
those whose injuries were likely to be more immediately fatal remained
quiet, half unconscious, or at most only asking to be covered up, as if
they felt the cold. For these latter all knew that nothing whatever
could be done, as, in fact, they were then dying.
The explosion had occurred in the double casing round the bottom of one
of the funnels. We have not space to describe this minutely, and by the
general reader the description, were it given, would scarce be
understood; but it is well to remark that the piece of machinery which
caused the deplorable accident had been previously condemned in strong
terms by competent judges, and there is no doubt that the hot-water
casing round the funnel ought never to have been there.
After the catastrophe, the _Great Eastern_ kept on her course as though
nothing had happened, although the force of the explosion was sufficient
to have sent any other ship to the bottom. The damage was estimated at
5000 pounds. She arrived at Portland on the 10th, and remained there
for some time undergoing repairs. Afterwards she continued her trial
trip to Holyhead, where she arrived on the 10th of October. The results
of the trial, excepting, of course, the accident, were most
satisfactory. Her speed under disadvantageous circumstances had been
good, and her engines had worked admirably. Against a gale of head wind
she went as steadily as if in harbour, but with the wind a-beam she
rolled considerably. Altogether there was good reason to hope that the
_Great Eastern_ would fulfil the sanguine expectations of her warmest
admirers.
The following account of the continuation of her trial trip from
Portland to Holyhead, as gathered from the _Times_, is exceedingly
interesting:--When steam was up, and all ready for starting from
Portland, the crew were sent forward to heave up the anchor. Eighty men
sufficed to drag the _Great Eastern_ up to and over her moorings.
Bringing the anchor out of the ground, however, was not so easily
managed; and it was not till all the musical resources known to sailors
on such occasions were nearly exhausted that the tenacious gripe of
Trotman's patent was released, when a slow drift with the tide showed
that the great ship was again set free. In another minute, without
shouting, confusion, or hurry of any kind, and with less noise than is
made by a 100-ton coaster, a slight vibration through the ship, with a
thin line of foam astern, showed that the screw engines were at work and
the vessel once more under way. With such ease, with such perfect
quietness and good order was everything accomplished, that the
occasional cheering from the yachts and steamers was almost the first
token given to those on board that the trial trip had commenced. At a
quarter to four the "way" on the vessel was rapid; her head went round
like turning a pleasure-boat; and so little sign was given of the ship
being under steam, that it seemed rather as if the breakwater had got
adrift and was slowly floating past, than that the monster vessel was
really cleaving the blue waves with a force which, as yet, we have seen
no wind or sea to resist or check. Directly the anchor was fished,
Captain Harrison passed the word to steam ahead with both engines
easily, and the wheels began their revolutions, slowly at first, but
nevertheless making a track of foam upon the water such as they never
made on the first start from Deptford to the Nore. The accession of
speed from working the paddles was at first but slight; not from any
want of power, however, but simply from the fact that both engines were
ordered to work slowly, and though propelling the great ship at
something like eleven knots, were really scarcely driving at indicated
half-speed.
Quitting Portland, it was necessary to make rather a round turn on
leaving the breakwater, as right ahead on the starboard bow was a small
light-ship, looking like the skeleton of a vessel, and marking the
presence of a dangerous shoal, known by the most appropriate and
significant name of "The Shambles." Inside this lay a long and turbid
ridge of angry water, where the Race of Portland ran, and where a deep
rolling swell, like the Bay of Biscay on a reduced scale, kept tumbling
and breaking into spray like drifts of snow against the high, gaunt
cliffs. It, however, required no actual watching of the low green
mounds of water, which seemed butting against the coast, to convince all
on board that the _Great Eastern_ was at sea. To the infinite relief
and comfort of all the passengers, the vessel began to yield to reason,
and to behave as much like another ship as she could consistently with
her size. It would be too much to say she rolled at this time; for when
the _Great Eastern_ rolls, if ever she does roll, travellers may depend
upon her accomplishing something in that peculiar style of ocean
navigation quite in proportion to her bulk; but one thing is certain--
that she went from side to side sufficiently to show that she was
susceptible of the motion of the water, and that if ever she steams
across a beam sea, she is likely to move to it with a will, though
slowly and easily.
Continuing for a considerable time under little more than half steam,
the _Great Eastern_ averaged more than thirteen knots, (fifteen miles),
an hour. The best guide to the rapidity of the ship's progress was the
way in which she passed fast-sailing schooners and overhauled the
steamers. At this time nearly all the swell had ceased, and the monster
ship was rushing over what to her were the mimic waves, and leaving less
wake upon the waters than is caused in the Thames by a Gravesend boat.
The only peculiarity about her progress was the three distinct lines of
frothy water which the screw and paddles made, and which, stretching out
in the clear moonlight like a broad highway, seemed as if the _Great
Eastern_ had fulfilled her purpose, and really bridged the sea.
For a considerable part of the way the paddles were working easily at
from nine to ten, and the screw at from thirty-two to thirty-four
revolutions per minute. It will give most readers a better idea of the
tremendous nature of the size and speed of the engines which worked so
easily, when it is said that, at ten revolutions, the paddle-wheels
dashed through the water at something like 1600 feet per minute, and the
screw revolved at 2500. When accomplishing this, the consumption of
fuel was at the rate of 250 tons a day for both engines, the indicated
power being above 5000 horses--about 2000 horses for the paddles, and a
little over 3500 for the screw. In order to secure her going at full
speed, however, under such circumstances, the great ship should have
been down by the stern at least eighteen inches more than she really
was, for not less than a foot of the screw-blades was out of the water,
and the slip or loss of power was of course very great. Off the coast
of Cornwall, the swell caused her to roll very considerably, as long as
she was a-beam of the long swell.
Soon after this a small brig was seen right under the starboard bow. As
usual with these small coasters, she was showing no light and keeping no
look-out, and but for the anxious vigilance exercised on board the big
ship, the brig would have been under the waves in two minutes more. Her
escape was narrow enough, and nothing short of the instant stoppage of
the engines and actually reversing the screw saved her from swift
destruction. She drifted from under the starboard paddle within twenty
yards--quite close enough to enable Captain Harrison to speak to her
master, and to express a very strong opinion on his style of navigation
and conduct generally.
Towards the close of the trip all the fore and aft sails were set. The
look of her vast spread of canvas and the extraordinary effect it
produced, as one stood at the wheel-house and gazed beneath the long
vista of brown sails stretched to the very utmost, and sending off the
wind with the sustained roar of a volcano, was something almost
indescribable. No mere description could convey a fair idea of the
curious effect of the long, unbroken avenue of masts, sails, and
funnels,--like a whole street of steamships, if such a term is fairly
applicable.
The rate of going throughout the whole trip was very satisfactory.
Allowing for the want of trim on the part of the vessel, and consequent
absence of immersion in both screw and paddles, it was calculated from
this data, by all the nautical authorities on board, that, in proper
condition, the vessel might be depended on for eighteen miles an hour
throughout a long voyage, and under steam alone. That in a strong and
favourable breeze she would at times accomplish eighteen knots, or more
than twenty-one miles an hour, there was no reason to doubt.
Among other tests to which the _Great Eastern_ was subjected was the
terrible storm of the 25th and 26th October of that year, (1859), in
which the _Royal Charter_ went down. She lay at anchor in the harbour
of Holyhead during that storm. So fierce was the gale that a large part
of the breakwater was destroyed, and several vessels went down inside
the harbour, while some were driven on shore. For one hour the big ship
was as near destruction as she is ever likely to be. Her salvation,
under God, was due to the experience and energy of Captain Harrison and
his officers. During the whole gale the captain was on the watch,
sounding the lead to see if she dragged, and keeping the steam up to be
in readiness to put to sea at a moment's notice. The gale roared and
whistled through the rigging with indescribable fury. The captain, in
trying to pass along the deck, was thrown down, and his waterproof coat
was blown to ribbons. The cabin skylights were thrown open with a
fearful crash, the glass broken, and deluges of rain and spray poured
into the saloons. Two anchors were down, one seven tons, the other
three, with eighty and sixty fathoms of chain respectively; but the
ground was known to be bad, and the lee-shore rocky, while the waves
came curling and writhing into harbour, straining the cables to the
utmost, and dashing against the rocks like avalanches of snow. The dash
of these billows on the breakwater was like the roar of artillery. All
this time the red light at the end of the breakwater shone out cheerily
in the midst of a turmoil of spray. At last masses of the timber-work
and solid masonry gave way. The gale rose to its fiercest, and one huge
billow came rolling in; it towered high above the breakwater; it fell,
and the red light was seen no more. The danger was now imminent. The
cables could evidently bear no more, and the gale was increasing; so the
screw was set going, but the wreck of timber from the breakwater fouled
it and brought it to a dead-lock. Then the wind veered round more to
the north-east, sending a tremendous swell into the harbour, and the
_Great Eastern_ began to roll heavily. In this extremity the paddle
engines were set going, and the ship was brought up to her anchors, one
of which was raised for the purpose of being dropped in a better
position. At this moment the cable of the other anchor parted, and the
great ship drifted swiftly toward what seemed certain destruction; but
the heavy anchor was let go, and the engines turned on full speed. She
swung round head to wind, and was brought up. This was the
turning-point. The gale slowly abated, and the _Great Eastern_ was
saved, while all round her the shores and harbour were strewn with
wrecks.
After the gale the _Great Eastern_ started on her return trip to
Southampton, which she reached in safety on the morning of the 3rd
November. In this, as in her previous experiences, the mighty ship was
well tested, and her good and bad points in some degree proved. At the
very outset the steam gear for aiding in lifting the anchors broke down,
and one of the anchors refusing to let go, was broken in half. The
condenser of the paddle engines seems to have been proved too small in
this trip. For some time she went against a stiff head-wind and sea--
which is now well known to be the great ship's forte--with perfect
steadiness; but on getting into the channel she rolled slowly but
decidedly, as if bowing--acknowledging majestically the might of the
Atlantic's genuine swell. Here, too, a wave actually overtopped her
towering hull, and sent a mass of _green_ water inboard! But her roll
was peculiarly her own, and wonderfully easy.
The vessel made eighteen knots an hour. She was under perfect command,
even in narrow and intricate channels, and, despite her varied mishaps
and trials, passed through this stormy period of her infancy with
credit.
_Disaster to "Great Eastern" in September 1861_.--Having made three
successful voyages to America, the Great Eastern, after all her
troubles, was beginning to establish her reputation, to confirm the
hopes of her friends and silence the cavils of her enemies, when the bad
fortune that has been her portion from the cradle once more overwhelmed
her, and shook, if it did not altogether destroy, the confidence in her
capabilities which the public had been beginning tardily to entertain.
There is nothing more difficult to ascertain than the true state of the
case--with reference to culpability, accidental circumstance, inherent
or incidental weakness, negligence, unavoidable risks, etcetera--in such
a disaster as that which happened to the great ship in September of
1861. And nothing could be more unfair than to pass judgment on her
without a full knowledge of the minute particulars, and, moreover, a
pretty fair capacity to understand such details and their various
relations. Before proceeding with the narrative of the event referred
to, we may remark that while, on the one hand, it may be argued, with
great plausibility, that her numerous disasters and misfortunes prove
that she is unfitted for the navigation of the sea, it may, on the other
hand, be argued, with equal plausibility, that the very fact of her
having come through such appalling trials unconquered, though buffeted,
is strong presumptive evidence that she is eminently fitted for her
work, and that, under ordinary circumstances and _proper_ management,
she would do it well. It is believed that any other vessel afloat would
have been sunk had she been exposed to the same storm _under similar
circumstances_. It must be borne in mind that, although other vessels
weathered the same storm successfully, they did not do so with their
rudder and rudder-posts gone, their captains and part of their crews new
to them, and their chain cables, cabin furniture, and other material
left as totally unsecured as if she had been a river steamer about to
start on a few hours' trip.
On Tuesday the 10th of September the _Great Eastern_ left Liverpool for
America with 400 passengers and a large, though not a full, general
cargo. Between 100 and 200 of the passengers occupied the berths in the
principal cabins; the remainder of them occupied the intermediate and
steerage cabins.
All went on prosperously until the Thursday, when, as the ship was in
full steam and sail, she encountered a terrific gale about 280 miles to
the west of Cape Clear, and, in spite of the best seamanship, she failed
to ride over the storm, which, with tremendous fury, swept away both her
paddles. Simultaneously the top of the rudder-post, a bar of iron ten
inches in diameter, was suddenly wrenched off, and her steering gear
being also carried away, she broached to and lay like a huge log in the
trough of the sea. From Thursday evening until two o'clock on Sunday,
her bulwarks almost touching the water, she rolled about like a disabled
hulk, the passengers and crew expecting that she would every moment go
down. The working and rolling of the vessel, at one instant of dread,
displaced and destroyed all the furniture of the cabin and saloons, and,
broke it to pieces, throwing the passengers pell-mell about the cabin.
Everything that occupied the upper deck was washed away, and a large
part of the passengers' luggage was destroyed. Between twenty and
thirty of those who were on board, including several ladies, had limbs
and ribs fractured, with numerous cuts and bruises. One of the
cow-sheds, with two cows in it, was washed into the ladies' cabin,
together with other things on board, and caused indescribable
consternation and confusion.
On Sunday evening, after two days of terrible suspense, a temporary
steering gear was fitted up, and the disabled vessel with her distressed
crew made for Cork Harbour, steaming with her screw at nine knots an
hour. Her flag of distress was sighted at about three o'clock in the
afternoon of Tuesday, off the Old Head of Kinsale, and H.M. ship
_Advice_ at once steamed out to her assistance and towed her to within a
mile of the lighthouse off Cork Harbour by about nine o'clock.
Such is a general outline of this disaster--one which is rendered all
the more remarkable from the circumstance that the vessel had only been
recently surveyed by the officers of the marine department of the Board
of Trade, when new decks and other requirements were carried out and
completed at a cost of 15,000 pounds.
The scene during the storm in the grand saloon, as described in detail
by various passengers, was absolutely terrific. None of the furniture
had been secured, and when the gale became violent and the rolling of
the vessel increased, sideboards, tables, chairs, stools, crockery,
sofas, and passengers were hurled with fearful violence from side to
side in a promiscuous heap. When it is said that at each roll the top
platform of the paddle-boxes dipped into the sea, anyone who has seen
the towering sides of the _Great Eastern_ may form some conception of
the angle of the decks, and the riot of unfastened articles that
continued below during the greater part of the gale. The destruction
was universal. The largest mirror in the grand saloon, which was about
twelve feet high, was smashed to pieces by a gentleman going head
foremost into it. Although much bruised and cut, strange to say he was
not seriously injured. The chandeliers fell from the ceiling, and the
crashes they made in falling added to the general din. One of the other
mirrors was smashed by a large stove. Some of the passengers escaping
from the dining-room were dashed against the iron balconies, which gave
way with the pressure, and falling on the glass flooring at the sides,
dashed it to atoms. The noise and turmoil of destruction below,
together with the howling of the tempest above and the dashing of spray
over the decks, whence it flowed in copious streams down into the
cabins, formed a scene which cannot be fully conceived except by those
who witnessed it.
On deck, the confusion was equally great and destructive. Many of the
boats were carried away. The great chain cables rolled from side to
side, until they were actually polished bright by the friction, while
they were a source of perpetual danger to the crew in the performance of
their duties. The oil-tanks broke loose, and after tumbling about for a
time, fell down through the upper hatchway. And the two cows that fell
with their cow-shed down into the ladies' cabin were killed by the
violence of the shock. The chief cook was flung against one of the
paddle-boxes, and having put out his hand to save himself, had his wrist
sprained. He was then flung towards the other side, and coming against
a stanchion in the way, had his leg fractured in three places. One lady
had a rib fractured; another her shoulder dislocated; another her wrist.
These are only specimens, selected to show what the poor people were
subjected to. It is said that there were twenty-two fractures
altogether, among passengers and crew, besides innumerable cuts and
bruises. The cabins were flooded to the depth of several feet, and
broken articles of furniture floated about everywhere. The luggage in
the luggage-room, which had not been secured, was hurled about, until
trunks, boxes, valises, etcetera, striking against each other, and
against the sides of the compartment, were utterly destroyed--the very
leather of the trunks being torn into small shreds.
Throughout all this terrible scene, the passengers behaved, with one or
two exceptions, admirably. The ladies especially displayed great
courage--remaining, in accordance with the desires intimated to them, in
their cabins; while the gentlemen did their best to keep order. On the
Friday, they appointed a sort of committee or police force, of upwards
of twenty strong, who took the duty in turns of going round the vessel,
keeping order, carrying information to, and reassuring, the ladies and
children. Four only of these, who were called directors, had the
privilege of speaking to the captain during the storm--thus saving him
from the annoyance of repeated and ceaseless questioning.
The crew also did their duty nobly. Captain Walker acted throughout
with calmness, courage, and good judgment; and from the tenor of
resolutions passed at an indignation meeting, held by the passengers
after their return into port, it would appear that they entirely
exonerated him from any blame in reference to the disaster. The fitting
up of temporary steering gear, which was begun on the Sunday when the
storm moderated, was a work of great difficulty and danger. It was
accomplished chiefly through the courage and cleverness of two men--John
Carroll and Patrick Grant--who volunteered for it, and were let down
over the stern at the imminent risk of their lives; and an American
gentleman, Mr Towle, a civil engineer, rendered great assistance in
superintending and directing the work.
It was not until two o'clock on Sunday morning that the vessel got up
steam in her screw boilers, and steered for Cork Harbour. The whole of
the ironwork of both paddle-wheels was carried entirely away. The
ladder leading up to the larboard paddle-box was twisted in an
extraordinary manner. The boats on the starboard side were all gone,
and those on the other side were hanging loosely from their fastenings.
Altogether, the great ship presented a most melancholy spectacle as she
was towed into port.
At the meeting of the passengers already referred to, the first
resolution was expressive of their grateful acknowledgments to Almighty
God for his kind care in protecting them during the storm, and bringing
them in safety out of their danger. The second condemned the directors,
and stated that "the _Great Eastern_ was sent to sea thoroughly
unprepared to face the storms which everyone must expect to meet with in
crossing the Atlantic; and that, if it had not been for the
extraordinary strength of the hull, and the skill which was manifested
in the construction of the vessel and its engines, in all human
probability every soul on board would have perished."
It has been said that if the ship had been more deeply laden she would
have weathered the gale more easily. This, if true, is an argument in
her favour. But in viewing the whole circumstances of this and previous
disasters, we cannot avoid being deeply impressed with the fact that the
_Great Eastern had not up to that time had fair play_. In her
construction and general arrangements there have been some grave, and
numerous more or less trivial errors. From first to last there has been
a good deal of gross mismanagement; but the _Great Eastern_ cannot, with
justice, be pronounced a failure. Latterly she has done good service in
laying ocean telegraph-cables, a species of work for which she is
pre-eminently well adapted. It is possible that she may yet live to
ride out many a wild Atlantic storm, and perchance become the first of a
race of ponderous giants who shall yet walk the deep,--to the utter
confusion of timid croakers, and to the immense advantage of the world.