From: Shipping and Mercantile Gazette: Published: Tuesday 23 June 1874
ABANDONMENT OF THE LINDA(s).[(s) means steamship]
Report of the Court of Inquiry held at Liverpool,
under the order of the Board of Trade, before Thomas Stamford Raffles, Esq.,
Stipendiary Magistrate, and Captain Pryce, Nautical Assessor, and Mr. William
C. Taylor, principal Surveyor of the Board of Trade at Liverpool, Engineering
Assessor, into the abandonment of the Linda(s), in the Atlantic Ocean, on the
1st of May, 1874.
The Linda(s) was an iron vessel, built at Liverpool in
1873, of 1,045 tons gross and 663 tons registered, and was owned by Messrs.
Richards, Mills, and Co., at Liverpool, who were the Managing Owners, and
others. She left Liverpool on her fourth voyage on the 16th of April last[1874] with
a general cargo, under the command of Mr. Francis Darbyshire, who holds a
renewed certificate of competency, originally granted 2nd December 1869, and a
Crew of 26 hands, all told, and a stowaway, bound to St. John (N. B.). After
three days, the vessel encountered a succession of westerly gales and shipped
heavy seas. On the 20th, two leaks were discovered aft, and water came into the
cabin and Captain's room to such an extent that it had to be baled out with
buckets. The leaks were stopped so far as was possible, but the water
continued to flow in. On the 23rd, smoke was discovered issuing from the
starboard bunker by the First Engineer, who reported it to the Second Engineer
when he came on duty, but nothing was said about it at that time to the Master,
as it subsided, but, on the following evening, smoke was observed to a greater
extent, and it was reported to the Master, upon which the hose was played into
the starboard bunker, and the fire put, as it was thought, pretty well out.
On
the 25th, the hose was again played into the bunker. Between 8 and 10 p.m. the
bottom of the bunker gave way, and red-hot coals fell into the bilges, and the
pipes and pumps began to get choked, though the pipes were protected by roses,
and it took from 10 to 15 minutes to clear them each time. Frequent explosions
took place, and the gas got into the stoke-hole, and the pipes were fast
getting choked. When the pumps could not be worked, the men were set to baling.
On the 29th, the donkey engine was used, and kept the water under until the
pipe got choked. On the 29th, the wing fires were washed out. Meanwhile, the
fire increased in the starboard bunker, and the lagging of the boiler took
fire. The two remaining fires were let out on the 30th, as they could not
raise sufficient steam to keep the engines going.
The ship was then hove-to,
and all hands, Officers and men, were set to work at the deck pumps, it being
impossible to remain in the engine-room, the Master being on the bridge and
keeping the lookout. On the morning of the 1st of May, after pumping all
night, the fire still increasing, and the water gaining on them, the weather
still continuing very bad, the Master, after consultation with his Officers,
seeing no hope of saving the ship, thought it advisable, in order to save life,
to abandon her, there being at that time from 5 to 6 feet of water in her. Soon
after 5 a.m., the Circassian(s)[Allan line] hove in sight, and signals of distress
were made, and she bore down to them, and they were taken on board and carried
to Quebec. Before leaving the Linda, the Master deemed it prudent to open one
of the sea cocks in order to sink her more rapidly, being right in the track
of vessels. No lives were lost.
The Court, after a searching investigation
into the circumstances under which this vessel was abandoned, entirely
acquitted the Master of all blame. On the contrary, the Court considered that
he and his Officers and Crew did all in their power to save the ship when the
disaster occurred which has ended in her destruction. The Court was of opinion
that the fire which occurred in the starboard bunker was to be attributed to
its too close proximity to the boiler. It was in evidence on the Inquiry that,
on the first two voyages of this vessel, the coals in the starboard bunker had
taken fire. After each of these voyages, alterations had been made to prevent
such an occurrence for the future. The third voyage took place without any
casualty from this cause, but on the fourth and last voyage, a fire in the same
place proved fatal to the ship. The Court was clearly of opinion, and strongly
commends this expression of their opinion to the consideration of the Board of
Trade, that the starboard bunker was too close to the boiler for safety; and
this opinion is abundantly confirmed by the circumstance that there was no
fire in the port bunker, between which and the boiler is a passage about 2
feet 6 inches in width, and there never had been any fire in that bunker on
any of the four voyages made by this ship. The quality of the coal was the
same in all the bunkers.
In the course of the Inquiry, some evidence was given
that, on one occasion, the Chief Engineer, Mr. Herriot, was somewhat under the
influence of liquor, though always able to perform his duty. Other witnesses
stated that they never noticed it. The Court was satisfied that he was always
fit for duty, and did his duty. It might be that the grog which was served out
during the time they were called upon for special exertions had, on one
occasion, made him somewhat talkative as stated by two witnesses; but the
Court, had it been called upon to pronounce judgment on a charge made against
him on that score, would have felt compelled to acquit him on the evidence.
The certificate of Mr. Francis Darbyshire, the Master, was, therefore,
returned to him, and the Court recommended that the certificate of Mr. Herriot
be re-issued to him. T. S. RAFFLES, Stipendiary Magistrate.
Crew 26+1 stowaway: those mentioned in inquiry:
Captain: Francis Derbyshire [also written Darbyshire]
Chief Officer: Robert Williams
2nd mate: David Michael [great-grandfather of Chris Michael]
Chief engineer: Mr Herriot
2nd engineer: James Mathews
Engineers store-keeper: Alexander Coven
Fireman: John Connor
Fireman: John Pimlet