"CITY OF SERINGAPATAM."
The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1854 to 1876.
Report of Court.
IN the matter of the formal investigation held at Westminster on the 16th and
17th February 1877, before H. C. ROTHERY, Wreck Commissioner, assisted by
Admiral POWELL and Captain BEASLEY, as Assessors, into the circumstances
attending the stranding of the vessel "CITY OF SERINGAPATAM," of Glasgow, on the
north side of the island of Boa Vista, on the 12th day of December 1876.
Judgment.
The Commissioner. The circumstances of this case are so simple, and the cause of
the casualty so clear, that we have no doubt as to what ought to be the finding
of the Court.
The "City of Seringapatam," which is the subject of the present inquiry, was an
iron three-masted ship of 1,190 tons register, built at Glasgow in the year
1866. At the time of her loss she was owned by Mr. George Smith, of Glasgow, and
others, Mr. George Smith being the managing owner.
She left London on the 27th of October last, bound with a cargo of about 1,700
tons of general merchandize to Melbourne direct. She had at that time a crew of
32 hands all told, including a master, two mates, boatswain, carpenter,
sailmaker, cook, steward, six apprentices, 17 able and ordinary seamen, and a
painter.
Nothing particular occurred until she had arrived in the neighbourhood of the
Canary Islands, when she came into collision with a vessel called the "City of
Berlin," in the course of which she sustained very considerable damage, her
mizenmast having been carried away with the loss of the second mate and six of
the seamen.
As soon as the wreck could be cleared away she bore up for Santa Cruz, in
Teneriffe, where she arrived on the 17th of November. And the necessary repairs
having been done, or at all events such repairs as the master deemed sufficient,
and having shipped six fresh hands to supply the place of those who had been
lost, she proceeded on her voyage, leaving Santa Cruz on the 5th of December.
At first she had light southerly winds; but on the 7th fair winds set in. From
noon of the 10th, when a good observation was taken, she was steered a course by
compass south-south-west, the wind blowing a fresh breeze from the north-east,
and in the ensuing 24 hours she was found to have run 204 miles, or at the rate
of 8 1/2 knots an hour.
At noon of the 11th another good observation was taken, and the vessel was found
to be in 18° 12' north. The longitude, according to the master, was by one
chronometer 22° 20' west, by the other 22° 26' west. According to the mate,
however, who assisted the master making up the reckoning, the longitude was by
one chronometer 22° 21° west, and by the other 22° 28' west.
From noon of the 11th she was steered a course south by west half west, which,
according to the master, would take her 20 miles to the eastward of the island
of Boa Vista, allowing half a knot an hour for a set of the current to the
westward, of which he told us that he was aware.
At 1.30 p.m. the patent log was set. By that time the wind had increased
considerably, so that she was making about 10 knots an hour, instead of
something about eight and a half, her rate on the previous day.
At 8 p.m. the log was hove, and it was found that she had run 65 miles, and
allowing 15 miles for the time from 12 to 1.30 p.m., when the log was set, it
would give 80 miles for the eight hours from noon. This, in the opinion of the
master, placed her off the northern end of the island of Sal, bearing west and
by south.
It was the boatswain's watch from 8 to 12; the captain, however, remained on
deck until after 10 o'clock, when, after examining the compasses to see that
they were correct, he went below, leaving orders with the boatswain to attend
carefully to the steering, and to keep her south and by west half west, to look
out carefully for land on the starboard bow, and in the event of anything being
seen to call him at once.
At midnight the first mate came on deck, and immediately examined the patent
log, which showed 104 3/4 miles, say 105 miles; and this added to the 15 miles
run from noon to 1.30 p.m., gave 120 miles from noon, or at the rate of 10 knots
an hour for the preceding 12 hours. The first mate thereupon went down to the
captain, who was then in his berth, and reported the distance run; and as the
captain supposed, from the distance run, that the vessel would then be on the
parallel of the north-easternmost point of Boa Vista, he concluded, as no land
was visible, or at any rate no land was reported, that she was clear of the
island.
Up to this time the vessel had been sailing with all plain and lower studding
sails set, but soon after he had come on watch the first mate proceeded to set
the foretopmast studding sail, and for that purpose ordered the vessel's helm to
be put up. In about three minutes, and when the studding sail had been set, the
vessel was brought again to her original course, south and by west half west.
At about 10 a.m. the chief mate thought that he observed land about three or
four points on the port bow. He accordingly went forward and asked the look-out
man if he saw it. The look-out man, Cameron, who has been examined before us,
admitted that he had not seen it before it was pointed out to him by the mate,
but upon looking at it, he also came to the conclusion that it was land.
Thereupon the mate went down to inform the captain.
The captain appears to have turned out and come on deck at once, and on looking
at what was pointed out to him as land, he was uncertain whether it was land or
not, but he observed breakers on the port bow. Thinking that those breakers must
be from the Hartwell Reef, a well known reef on the north-east corner of Boa
Vista, he ordered the helm to be starboarded in the hope of clearing it. He and
the mate would then seem to have had the intention of going down to the cabin to
examine his charts, but they had only got to the top of the companion, when the
look-out man sang out that there were breakers on the port bow. The captain
immediately ordered the helm to be put hard a-port, but soon afterwards the
vessel struck upon a reef. In beating over it the foot of the foremast became
unseated, and having gone through the bottom of the vessel, the forward
compartment filled with water, and the vessel having become unmanageable, she
drifted bodily towards the shore. After drifting, according to the master, some
four or five miles, she grounded on the beach with her port broadside towards
the shore, on which the surf was beating very heavily.
Rockets were thereupon sent up and blue lights burnt, but no gun could be fired,
the powder having become wetted.
Preparations were then made for launching the boats. They had a lifeboat, a
longboat, a gig, and a pinnace. The port davits had been carried away in the
collision, and had not been replaced, accordingly the lifeboat was put on the
starboard davits; but as the surf was beating heavily on the shore, the captain
refused to allow the boat to be lowered, and they remained in this position till
daylight.
At daylight it was observed that articles thrown overboard drifted towards the
shore, and accordingly, with a view of effecting a communication with the land,
they attached a hawser to a spar, and threw it overboard; but the bight of the
hawser sinking below the level of the water was caught by the under tow and
carried out to sea. And it was found impossible, with all their efforts, to
effect a communication with the shore by these means.
In the meantime the vessel had driven nearer to the shore, and having got
amongst the breakers, the lifeboat was washed inboard and stove, at the same
time smashing the gig. Accordingly an attempt was made to launch the longboat,
but this was attended with some difficulty, as it was stowed amidships. By about
9 o'clock, however, they succeeded in getting it over the port side by cutting
away the bulwarks, and the captain's wife, his two children, a maid servant,
four of the youngest apprentices, and three sick seamen, having been placed in
her, the boat was put in charge of Mr. Kelso, the chief mate, and eight seamen,
with directions to pull for the shore. They reached the shore in safety, but the
seamen could not be induced to return in her to the vessel, and only three of
the men would at first assist the mate to launch the boat. Having with their
assistance got her afloat a wave struck her, which filled her with water, and in
this condition she struck upon the beach and got bilged, and they were obliged
to return to the shore.
I ought here to state that the boat on leaving the ship had taken with her a
hawser for the purpose of effecting a communication with the shore, but it was
found to drag so heavily that there was great danger of the boat being swamped,
and it was accordingly cast off.
The lifeboat and gig having been smashed, the only remaining boat was the
pinnace. This was accordingly put over the side, and three of the seamen got
into her, contrary to the master's orders, and pulled towards the shore. In
approaching the shore the boat got broadside to the surf, and was upset, and one
of the men was drowned, but the other two men got safely on shore.
In the meantime two rafts had been constructed, and the larger one having been
launched, a number of the men, by the master's directions, got on it, and
reached the shore in safety. There then remained only the master and four
seamen, who got on the smaller raft, and in their turn arrived safely on land.
On landing it was found that the vessel had been beached in a bay to the
westward of Broyal Point, which is on the north side of the island of Boa Vista,
and at a considerable distance from the town. Whereupon the whole of the crew,
with the exception of the mate, left for the town. And it being very important
to obtain assistance to save the property as soon as possible, the master
resolved also to proceed to the town, leaving his wife, his two children, and
the maid under the care of the mate. He returned on the following day, having
made the necessary arrangements; but by that time the vessel had broken into
three pieces, and the cargo was being washed up on the beach. The master, with
such assistance as he had been able to obtain, succeeded in saving a portion of
the cargo, which on being sold realised a sum of 1,2641.?? The master and the
mate remained there as long as their services could be of any use, and on the
9th of January they left for St. Vincent, whence they returned to this country.
Such, then, are the facts of this case. At the termination of the preliminary
examination, Mr. Paterson, on behalf of the Board of Trade, charged the master,
Alexander Reddie, with having, by his default, contributed to the casualty in
question in not sufficiently consulting his chart, and in not allowing for a
westerly current when approaching the island of Boa Vista. We shall now,
therefore, proceed to consider whether those charges have been established, and
in doing so we shall not fail to pay attention to the arguments which have been
so ably advanced by Mr. Clarkson on behalf of his client.
And, first, it is to be observed that the spot where this vessel was stranded is
in a bay on the north side of Boa Vista, and to the westward of Broyal Point. It
must, therefore, have been at least 10 miles west of the Hartwell Reef, which is
on the north-east corner of the island, and, as the master has told us that he
laid his course so as to pass 20 miles clear to the east of the most easterly
point of Boa Vista, the ship, when she took the ground, must have been something
like 30 miles out of and to the westward of her course.
It is not pretended that this large deviation from her course was due to any
error in her compasses. It seems that she had two compasses on deck, a steering
compass aft and a standard compass amidships, and the captain has told us that
on the course on which the vessel was, south by west half west, both compasses
showed hardly any deviation. That he had examined them with a light just before
going below at 10 p.m., and that they agreed to within a degree. Indeed, to do
the captain justice, he seems to have paid particular attention to his
compasses, and to have taken every opportunity of comparing and correcting them.
We have, therefore, no reason to think that the deviation of the ship from her
course was due to any error in her compasses.
The way in which the master accounts for the vessel being so far out of her
course, is by supposing that she must have been carried by a strong current to
the westward. He told us that he was well aware that, as he neared the Cape de
Verde Islands, he would come into a south-westerly current, which would set him
towards those islands, and that in laying his course south and by westhalf west
he had allowed for this current at the rate of half a knot per hour. But he said
that the current which drifted him away some 30 miles to the westward of his
course between noon of the 11th and I a.m. of the following morning, was a much
stronger current than he had any reason to expect, either from the charts or
from the directions which he had on board. And, in proof of the existence of
such a current, he brought in a certificate from the chief harbour-master of Boa
Vista, in which that officer stated, that having navigated between the islands
of this archipelago at one time as captain of merchant vessels, and at another
time as captain of Government vessels, he has observed that on the coasts north
and west of the islands of Boa Vista the currents are uncertain from March to
October; but that from November to March, the months in which the high winds
most prevail, the currents run south-west with great velocity, and that this is
supposed to be the cause of the many shipwrecks which occur on the coasts of
this island. The master also told us that he had learnt, whilst he was on the
island, although he did not know it before, that during the north-east trades
the current runs like a race between the islands of Sal and Boa Vista; and it is
to that that he attributes the loss of his ship.
That there is such a current as that which the master describes, setting
strongly in a south-westerly direction on the island of Boa Vista, and when it
nears that island, turning to the west and running with great velocity between
Boa Vista and Sal, does not rest merely upon the evidence of the master, or upon
that of the harbour-master of Boa Vista. Its presence is distinctly shown on the
Admiralty chart for the Cape de Verde Islands, corrected down to March, 1873,
and which we have now before us. The notice on that chart is, "that the Cape de
Verde " Islands lie in the track of the North African and Guinea " current,
which sets down upon them in a south-westerly " direction, at a mean rate of
about half a mile per hour, " but influenced more or less by the strength of the
pre- " vailing wind. The eastern islands of this group, viz., " Sal, Boa Vista,
and Mayo, more especially feel the force " of this set, and several wrecks have
been caused by " disregarding it." It adds that sometimes the current runs as
much as three knots an hour, and "that great " caution is, therefore, necessary
in navigating in the " vicinity of these islands." Moreover, between the islands
of Sal and Boa Vista there is an arrow indicating that the set of the current is
here nearly due west, with this observation: "The south-west current generally
sets strong between " these islands, and upon Boa Vista and Hartwell Reef."
There being then no doubt whatever of the existence of such a current setting at
first to the south-west on the island of Boa Vista, and then turning to the west
between the island and the island of Sal, let us proceed to inquire what
measures the master adopted to avoid being drawn into this current, and thus
wrecked upon the northern coast of the island.
The master has told us that he was well aware that as he approached the Cape de
Verde islands he would enter a current which would set him to the south-west,
and that in laying his course south by west half west from noon of the 11th he
allowed for a set of the current to the westward of half a knot an hour, and
that he expected that on that course he should still pass 20 miles clear to the
east of the most easterly point-of Boa Vista. On the other hand, the mate, who
assisted the master to lay down the vessel's course, stated that no allowance
had been made for any set to the westward, and that they counted only upon a
southerly current. With a view to ascertain whether the master had or had not
allowed for any westerly set of the current, I requested the experienced
officers by whom I am assisted to lay down the vessel's course from noon of the
11th, taking her position at that time to have been as stated by the master,
namely, 18° 12' north, and 22?? 26' west; and they inform me that a course south
by west half west from that point would, with out making any allowance for the
set of the current to the westward, carry her to within 19 miles of the
easternmost point of Boa Vista. And as the master stated that he expected to
pass 20 miles to the eastward of Boa Vista, it is clear that in laying his
course south by west half west at noon of the 11th he made no allowance whatever
for any set of the current, although he says that he knew of its existence. This
course then, allowing for a westerly set of even only half a knot an hour, would
have taken him within 12 or 13 miles instead of 20 miles of the island.
No doubt if he could have calculated upon a set of only half a knot an hour to
the westward he would still have passed clear of the island, although closer to
it than he had anticipated. And it was strongly urged by his counsel that,
although the charts of the Cape de Verde islands do undoubtedly show that the
current sets strongly to the west between the islands of Boa Vista and Sal, and
that great caution is therefore necessary in navigating in the vicinity of these
islands, it was a fact of which the master had no knowledge and of which he
ought not to be blamed for being ignorant. It was said that, not having any
intention to go to the Cape de Verde islands, he had no charts which would show
him the dangerous character of the currents in their vicinity, that the only
chart of those parts which he had on board was Imray's chart of the North
Atlantic, and that although that chart indicated a south-westerly current in the
direction of the Cape de Verde Islands yet the notice in speaking of the North
African and Guinea current was that between those islands and the Coast of
Africa the current runs nearly south or parallel to the coast. But it is
abundantly clear that Imray's chart of the North Atlantic is for the navigation
of the North Atlantic, and that the southerly set there spoken of is the main
current midway between the islands and the coast, and not the currents in the
immediate vicinity of the islands, which the chart is on too small a scale to
show. If, too, the master, as he has said, had no intention of going to the Cape
de Verdes, and had consequently no charts of them on board, and if he knew
nothing of the currents in their vicinity, it was his duty to give them a wider
berth, but instead of doing so he neglects to make allowance even to the extent
of half a knot an hour for the south-westerly set which he admits his chart
showed.
The master has told us that on several previous occasions he has passed the Cape
de Verde Islands, that he has passed them in the day time, but that he had never
before seen them. Now as the Cape de Verde Islands can frequently be seen in the
day time at a distance of 35 miles off, it would seem that on previous occasions
he must have kept further away from them. Why he should have passed so near to
them on this occasion, as his course shows that he would have done, even without
any extraordinary current, and with no more than a set to the westward of half a
knot an hour, is to us inexplicable. One would have thought, it being night
time, that he would have been anxious to have kept further away, there being in
the opinion of the gentlemen by whom I am assisted no possible reason why he
should have laid his course so close to them.
It appears to us that the cause of this casualty is quite clear. The master when
he laid his course south by west half west at noon of the 11th omitted to make
any allowance for the south-westerly current, which was shown on his chart, even
to the extent of half a knot an hour, which he supposed that it was running. He
omitted to notice or forget that the strong north-easterly trades which were
then blowing would increase the force of the current to the south-west. Being
thus carried by the strength of the south-west current much further to the west
than he anticipated, he was brought by it within the influence of the stream,
which runs almost due west between Boa Vista and Sal, and was thus drifted to
the westward until she struck on the beach some 10 miles west of the Hartwell
Reef. This appears to us to be the true explanation of the casualty, and of the
vessel having drifted some 30 miles to the westward of her course.
But although we think that the master was to blame in approaching too near to
those islands, when there was no necessity to do so, and which led directly to
the loss of this vessel, we think that the whole of the rest of his conduct
showed, as Mr. Clarkson has very justly observed, that he was careful and
attentive to the navigation of his vessel. He seems on the night of the accident
to have examined his compasses before he went down below, and to have compared
them to see that they were correct. He seems to have been very watchful during
the whole period of the boatswain's watch. He seems on the previous day to have
been careful to fix the position of his vessel; and when the vessel was beached,
nothing could have been better or more considerate than the arrangements which
he made to save the lives of those on board.
Under all the circumstances of the case, we think that, although the master has
been to blame in this case, we shall be justified in returning to him his
certificate, warning him at the same time to be more careful in future, and not
to approach so near to islands of which he has no knowledge, and of which he had
no charts on board, the more so as there would seem to have been no necessity
for his so doing.
The master having been shown to have been to blame, there will, of course, be no
costs.
(Signed)H. C. ROTHERY,
Wreck Commissioner.
Finding.
The Court, having carefully inquired into the circumstances of the
above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds, for the reasons stated in the annexed
judgment, that the stranding and consequent loss of the said vessel and her
cargo was due to the default of Alexander Reddie, the master, in approaching too
near to the island of Boa Vista, when there was no necessity whatever for his so
doing, and in not making sufficient allowance for the current, which with the
strong north-east trade wind, sets in a southwesterly direction towards the
island, and then takes a westerly course between Sal and Boa Vista, whereby the
vessel was drifted about 30 miles to the west of the course on which the master
supposed she was, and was ultimately stranded west of Broyal Point.
The Court, however, returned to him his certificate, but admonished him to be
more careful in future.
The Court is also of opinion that there should be no costs of this
investigation.
Dated this 17th day of February 1877.
(Signed)H. C. ROTHERY,
Wreck Commissioner.
We concur in the above report.
(Signed)R. ASHMORE POWELL,Assessors.
"THOS. BEASLEY,
(No. 5.)
W. 886.
