Wreck Report for 'Falcon', 1882

(No. 1424.)

"FALCON" (S.S.)

The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1854 to 1876.

IN the matter of the formal Investigation held at Westminster, on the 19th of July 1882, before H. C. ROTHERY, Esquire, Wreck Commissioner, assisted by Captain PARFITT and Captain VAUX, as Assessors, into the circumstances attending the material damage sustained by the steamship "FALCON," of London, through striking on the Bass Rock, Firth of Forth, on the 28th of June 1882.

Report of Court.

The Court, having carefully inquired into the circumstances of the above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds, for the reasons annexed, that the damage sustained by the said ship through striking on the Bass Rock was due to the negligent navigation thereof by John Butler, the master, in having laid and kept her on a course to pass too close to the said rock, the weather at the time being thick and foggy, and when he knew, or ought to have known, that the flood tide, which was making at the time, would be likely to set him to the southward of his course, and that his vessel had a tendency to swing off to starboard.

For these wrongful acts and defaults the Court suspends the certificate of the said John Butler for six months; but at the same time recommends that during the period of such suspension he be allowed a first mate's certificate.

The Court is not asked to make any order as to costs.

Dated this 19th day of July 1882.

 

(Signed)

H. C. ROTHERY, Wreck Commissioner.

We concur in the above report.

 

(Signed)

WM. PARFITT,

Assessors.

 

 

C. VAUX, R.N.R.,

 

Annex to the Report.

This case was heard at Westminster on the 19th of July instant, when Mr. Verney appeared for the Board of Trade, Mr. Batham for the owners, and Mr. Baden Powell for the master of the "Falcon." Five witnesses having been produced by the Board of Trade and examined, Mr. Verney handed in a statement of the questions upon which the Board of Trade desired the opinion of the Court. Mr. Batham and Mr. Baden Powell then addressed the Court on behalf of their respective parties; and Mr. Verney having been heard in reply, the Court proceeded to give judgment on the questions on which its opinion had been asked.

The circumstances of the case are as follow:—

The "Falcon" is an iron screw steamship, schooner rigged, belonging to the Port of London, of 651 tons gross and 351 tons net register, and is fitted with engines of 140 horse power. She was built at Low Walker, in the County of Northumberland, in the year 1876, and is the property of the General Steam Navigation Company, Mr. Richard Cattarns, of No. 71, Lombard Street, in the City of London, being the manager. She left Granton, near Edinburgh, at about 3.20 p.m. of the 28th of June last, with a crew of 24 hands all told, 31 passengers, and a general cargo, bound to London. In about an hour after leaving, the weather having become thick, a cast of the lead was taken, which gave 10 fathoms; and upon two more casts being taken, which gave respectively 12 and 13 fathoms, the master at once gave orders to let go the anchor. There she remained at anchor from about 4.30 to 5.45 p.m., when, the weather having partially cleared up, they found that they were from half to three quarters of a mile above the Island of Fiddra. Having raised the anchor they proceeded on their course, and when abreast of the Island of Fiddra, which they passed at the distance of about half a mile, she was put upon an E.S.E. easterly course by the bridge compass. In about 5 or 10 minutes afterwards the weather began to get thick again, and they passed the Island of Craig Leith at about the same distance as they had passed Fiddra, namely, half a mile. The vessel still continued her course, going at full speed, and making about 10 knots through the water, the weather all the time becoming thicker; and at about 6.30 p.m. the look-out man forward suddenly reported the smoke of a steamer ahead, upon which the captain ordered the engines to be eased, but almost immediately afterwards the look-out man saw that what he had taken for the smoke of a steamer was land, and on his reporting it the captain at once ordered the engines "full speed astern," and the helm to be put "hard-a-stardboard," and that was done, but it was too late, for they were so close that before the way could be taken off the vessel she had struck the rock stem on. The engines, however, still continuing to go full speed astern, she almost immediately afterwards came off, and finding on sounding the well that the vessel was making water forward, the master resolved to return to Granton, but the weather having become very thick he was obliged to come to anchor, and remained there till 9 o'clock the following morning, when they returned to Granton, arriving there at about 10 o'clock. The place where she struck was, we are told, on the N.W. point of the Bass Rock. Happily no lives were lost, but the vessel sustained very considerable damage, the stem and two plates in the bows, one on each side, at the level of the 10 feet mark, having been broken.

These being the facts of the case, the first question upon which our opinion has been asked is, "Whether, considering the state of the weather, a safe and proper course was steered from Granton to Fiddra Rock, and from Fiddra Rock onwards, so as to give the Bass Rock a sufficiently wide birth?" We do not know what was the course steered from Granton to Fiddra, but if the weather was clear and the sea smooth, as we are told it was, when she left, there can be no reason why she should not have been taken on a course to pass within half a mile of Fiddra; but the question in this case is, "Whether the course from Fiddra was a proper one?" According to the master, the course steered from off Fiddra was E.S.E. easterly by the bridge compass, which would be E.S.E. easterly magnetic, there being, according to the deviation card, no deviation in the bridge compass on that course; and that this really was the course steered is proved by the fact that they passed Craig Leith at the same distance as they had Fiddra, which is what they would do if an E.S.E. easterly course had been steered from off Fiddra. But an E.S.E. easterly course from half a mile north of Fiddra, although it would take them half a mile to the north of Craig Leith, would, even if made good, take them not more than a quarter of a mile to the north of the Bass Rock, and that, in our opinion, was not a safe or proper distance at which to pass it having regard to the state of the weather at the time, which, the captain tells us, was so thick that the rock could not be seen until they were within two or three hundred yards of it.

The second question upon which our opinion has been asked is, "Whether the 'Falcon' was being navigated at an improper rate of speed when she sighted the Bass Rock?" It is admitted that the vessel, until she sighted the rock, was going at full speed, which, we are told, was from 9 1/2 to 10 miles an hour; and that this was so is proved by the fact that although she had the first of the flood tide against her she did the distance between Fiddra and the Bass Rock, which, it seems, is about 4 miles and three-quarters, in about half an hour. Now, we were told by the master that he was not able to see the Bass Rock until he was within 200 to 300 yards of it, and that then he was so near to it that it was not possible to avoid running upon it. Seeing, however, that he had laid the vessel on a course to pass so near to the rock it was his duty, after passing Craig Leith and when he knew that he was nearing the Bass Rock, to have eased his engines until he had made out the rock; and he was not justified in continuing to go ahead, as he did, full speed when, according to his own admission, it was so thick that it was not possible to see the rock in time to avoid running upon it.

The third question upon which our opinion has been asked is, "Whether the neglect of the use of the lead after leaving the Fiddra Rock was justifiable?" We do not think that blame attaches to the master for not having used the lead after passing Fiddra. He knew, when he was off Fiddra, and again when passing Craig Leith, what was the position of the vessel, and a cast of the lead would not have given him any better information as to his position. Knowing then his position, all that he had to do was to put her on a course so as to give the Bass Rock a somewhat wider berth.

The fourth question upon which our opinion has been asked is, "Whether a good look-out was kept on board the "Falcon P" There is no reason to think that there was not a good look-out being kept on board. Bridgman, the look-out man, said that when he first made out the rock, it was about 400 or 500 feet off; the master thinks it was from two to three hundred yards, but they both say that it was seen as soon as it could be in the then state of the atmosphere, and we have no reason to think that it was not.

The fifth question which we are asked is, "What was the cause of the stranding of the 'Falcon?'" The cause of the stranding of the "Falcon" is, in our opinion, quite clear. The master laid a course which, if it had been made good, would have taken him about a quarter of a mile to the north of the Bass Rock. Now the Admiralty chart shews us that in the neighbourhood of Craig Leith the flood tide has a tendency to set to the southward. We were also told by Jarvis, the helmsman, that the vessel had always a tendency to swing off to starboard, so that it was necessary to be continually giving her a little starboard helm. The set of the flood tide then to the southward, and the tendency of the vessel's head to swing off to starboard, are quite sufficient to account for the vessel getting to the southward of her course; and very little would do it, the master having laid her on a course to pass so close to the rock. This is, in our opinion, the sole cause of the casualty.

The sixth question which we are asked is, "Whether the master was in default?" and it is added that "the " Board of Trade are of opinion that the certificate of " the master should be dealt with." The vessel having, from the time of her leaving Granton, been in the sole charge of the master, who was on the bridge directing the navigation, and the casualty being due to the course steered, the blame must necessarily rest with him and with him alone. Now it was contended by Mr. Baden Powell that the master had only been guilty of an error of judgment; but to put the vessel on a course to pass within only a quarter of a mile of the Bass Rock without making any allowance for the set of the flood tide to the southward, or for the tendency of the vessel to swing to starboard, both of which facts should have been, even if they were not, known to the master and then to keep her going at full speed in weather so thick that the rock could not by the most vigilant lookout be seen in sufficient time to avoid running on to it appears to us to be not a mere error of judgment, but an act of very grave negligence. We were told that he has been for 46 years in the service of the Company, during 22 years of which he had acted as master, and he has received a high character from his employers; it is, however, a case in which it is impossible for us to allow him to go unpunished, and we shall suspend his certificate for six months. The assessors desire me to add that, had it not been for his long services, and for the very high character which he has received, they would have been disposed to punish him more severely.

On the application of Mr. Baden Powell, the Court stated that it would recommend to the Board of Trade that during the period of the suspension of his master's certificate he should be allowed a first mate's certificate

The Court was not asked to make any order as to costs.

 

(Signed)

H. C. ROTHERY, Wreck Commissioner.

We concur.

 

(Signed)

WM. PARFITT,

Assessors.

 

 

C. VAUX, R.N.R.,

 

L 367. 1195. 150.—7/82. Wt. 171. E. & S.