Part of the
Acorn Archive
Hearts of Oak
SS Amazon
Destruction of
the Steamship by Fire with Great Loss of Life
Letters to the
Editor: The Times 8th January 1852
Sir,—I
am not in the habit of intruding my name on the public, yet on the present
melancholy occasion of the sad accident which has just befallen the Amazon
steam packet, I feel it a duty to call your attention to a Simple and
inexpensive means of averting such accidents in future (and the consequent loss
of life and property which has just ensued by the use of a solution of chloride
of zinc. The fact of preventing the conflagration of ships or buildings has
long been before the public, but I fear it has received only slight
consideration. I have no doubt, however, I may repeat, that the catastrophe
could never have occurred had the means pointed out in the 16th, 17th, and 18th
pages of the accompanying pamphlet been properly employed. The fearful
conflagration would have been prevented and the ship would also have been
rescued at the same time from dry rot and premature decay. My public avocations
leave me little leisure to extend this letter, and it is for the sake of
humanity alone that I have written it, but I must intreat special attention to
the official documents at the pages already mentioned, as evincing the
truthfulness of the properties assigned to the process and the case with which
an object of such magnitude and value may readily be obtained.
I
am. Sir, your most humble servant. W.
Burnett. Admiralty - 7th January.
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Sir,—In
consequence of the destruction of the Amazon steam-ship, and the reported loss
of 134 lives, I take the liberty of mentioning that, when that vessel was
building, I placed before the Royal Mail Packet Company a plan for
extinguishing fires in steam-ships, by means of the steam from their boilers.
Messrs, Seaward and Capel were requested by the company to furnish an estimate
of the expense necessary to fit so large & vessel as the Amazon [which was 2,250
tons burden) with the apparatus. The estimate, was under £ 200. Messrs. Seaward
and Captain Chappell appeared to be of opinion that the plan was the best they
over remembered hearing of, and said that probably no fire could live under the
torrent of steam which might be projected into any or all parts of the vessel.
Nevertheless, after considerable trouble, and sundry journeys by the Blackwall
Railway, it was stated to me that, as steam vessels were very seldom burnt, my
apparatus would be an additional expense to the Amazon which the company begged
to decline incurring. Perhaps the heartrending catastrophe which has occurred
may induce the various steam companies to make inquiries regarding an
invention, which "was in the list of things rewarded with a prize medal at
the Great Exhibition of 1851.
I
have the honour to be, Sir,
Your
obedient servant, William Riddle, East Temple Chambers, Whitefriars; 7th
January.
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Sir,—In
the absence of any definite information respecting the origin of the fire which
in the space of a few hours consumed this splendid steamer, and added to the
annals of maritime disaster the most deplorable calamity which has happened
since the mysterious loss of the President and the wreck of the Avenger, it is
very difficult to speculate with anything like certainty on the primary cause
of the conflagration. It seems probable, however, that an unhappy anxiety to
make "a rapid run" may have rendered the officers and engineers
indifferent to the extreme danger of working new engines against a heavy
bead-sea at a high pressure ; that the bearings gradually heated, and that, the
woodwork round the machinery having caught fire, the whole vessel was soon in
flames, at the same time that the engineers were driven from the engine-room.
It
is to be observed, that when the Amazon was going round to Southampton, in
ordinary weather, the engine bearings became so hot on two occasions that, if I
recollect rightly, she was obliged to lie-to till the temperature was reduced.
In the account you have published of the fire it is distinctly affirmed that
from 9.30 to 11.20, nearly two hours, she lay-to as I venture to assert, to let
her engines cool down. She then proceeded, as it appears, steering west by
south half south against half a gale from the south-west; and, If it be true
that she was bursting; through the heavy seas of the Bay of Biscay at 8.5 knots
an hour, it is evident she was forced along at full speed. In little more than
one hour from the time she was set in motion she became from stem to stern one
sheet of flame. The greatest confusion seems to have prevailed, but the noblest
might well have lost head and heart at such a tremendous moment. In the dark
night, on a turbulent ocean, and mid a howling gale, with the fire fanned by
the wind into a furnace blast the physical and moral courage of the bravest
sailor, no doubt, gave way. Then came the awful "rush for the boats,"
which, under such circumstances, could only end in the sad alternative of one
death for another.
Of
the fate of those who perished in their berths let us not speak. It may have
been less horrible than the lot of those who, full of life and energy, battling
for dear existence, were sucked down in the pitiless waters. Nice management
with falls and tackle is always required to launch a boat in a heavy seas from
a rolling ship. It is too much to expect common caution under the circumstances
in which the crew of the Amazon were placed, all but the watch on deck just
roused from their hammocks by the cry of " Fire," and the officers
unable to preserve any control over the terrified passengers and seamen the
last of whom knew besides that there was a magazine beneath their feet
surrounded by flames.
It
is beyond doubt that had the mail-boat, pinnace, and second cutter been
properly handled, every soul on board could have been saved. For half an hour
the dingy, the smallest boat in the ship, lived in the sea, with five men on
board. Pinnace, mailboat, and lifeboat between them ought to have held nearly
100 persons, or even more; the first hung by the fore-tackle from inattention
in lowering it from the deck; the second was swamped, most likely by bad
management; and, if the lifeboat was a good one, as no doubt she was, she could
have held at least 12 persons more than were actually on board. As to the
second cutter, she was hurriedly lowered away to a rising sea—the boat lifted,
the fore-tackle unhooked, the sea fell away and down came the boat, the boat's
bow fore-most, while her stern was still hooked up by the after tackle, and all
the people were washed out of her. Of the first cutter I do not yet despair,
but, alas there were only five people on board when she was last visible. Would
it not be well, even at the risk of damaging boats, to exercise the crews of
our large steamers in lowering them away in rough weather? Would it not be
well, at any risk, to avoid the danger which must arise from the heating of new
engines when worked full pressure against a heavy head-sea, and to save life
and property at the hazard of losing reputation as a "clipper.''
Your
very obedient servant Quaestor.
Raymond Forward