Part of the
Acorn Archive
Hearts of Oak
Steamship India
Transcribed from the Penzance Shipping Registers
and the Loss of the Barque
KATE THOMAS
ON 67820
Nr 4 in
1899 at Port of Penzance
Date of
Entry 19th September 1899
One
deck; Two Masts; Schooner Rig; Elliptical stern
Clinched
Build; Iron Framework
Owner :
James Henry Bennetts ( Ship Owner ), Penzance, Cornwall
325.39
tons under tonnage Deck
5.88
tons closed in spaces above Tonnage Deck
13.29
tons Forecastle
8.75
tons Bridge House
7.27
tons Side Houses
10.23
tons Excess of hatchways, machines, light air,
under Section 2 MS Act 1889
Gross
Tonnage 363.81 tons
Deductions
as per contra 177.77 tons
Register
Tonnage 186.04 tons
Transferred
from Goole Nr 4, 1876
Steam
Screw Ship
Built
South Shields, Co Durham
Built
1876 John Redhead & Co, South
Shields
Length
from the forepart of the stem under the bowsprit
to the
aft side of the head of the stern post 160 feet
Main
breadth to outside of Plank 23.8 feet
Depth in
hold from Tonnage Deck to ceiling at midships 12.55 feet
Crew
space 22.26 tons
Length
of Engine Room 29.8 feet
Two
Engines; Combined Power 70 horse power
Compound
Surface Condensing DA Inverter
Built
1876 John Redhead
Cylinders
20 inch 58 inches; 26 inch stroke
64
Shares
30th
Sep 1899
4 shares
sold to Richard Foster Bolitho of Penzance Cornwall Bank
8 shares
sold to Eugene Chivers (Master Mariner) and Mary Chivers and
of
Tolver Road, Penzance; 13th February 1912, 1 share sold back.
4 shares
sold to Richard Humphrys (Schoolmaster) of Tandii, Glamorganshire;
23rd
October 1912, upon death of Richard Humphrys,
4 shares
passed to Mary Humphrys, of Morrab Road, Penzance
Registry
Closed 13th November 1913
Vessel
Sold to foreigners ( German subjects )
Advice
received from Owners
Certificate
of Registry not delivered up
Certificate
of Registry delivered up and cancelled 15th November 1913.
~~~~~o~~~o~~~~~
Barque KATE THOMAS
The
Times 5th April 1910
Shipping
Disaster off Land's End
Many
Lives Lost
There
was landed at Falmouth yesterday by the Belgian tug JOHN BULL the only survivor
of a shipping disaster which occurred off the Longships early yesterday
morning. The four masted barque KATE THOMAS, owned by Kate Thomas Sailing Ship
Company ( Messrs W Thomas Sons & Co Ltd ) of Liverpool, was being towed
from Antwerp to Port Talbot in ballast, when she was run into by a steamer, and
she sank in about a quarter of an hour. A young apprentice named Jack Nelson, of
Birkenhead, was the only survivor. He swam to the tug and was rescued, but the
remainder of the crew, numbering 18 or 19 persons, including the wives of the
captain and the chief officer, were drowned.
Survivor's
Narrative
Nelson
gave the following account of the collision.
We left
Antwerp on Friday morning for Port Talbot, in ballast. There were 18 or 19 crew
on board, half the crew having been shipped at Antwerp. It was intended to ship
the other half at Port Talbot. Captain Williams was accompanied by his wife,
who lived in Anglesey, and Mrs Roberts, the chief officer's wife, was also on
board. She belonged to Pwllheli. We were in tow of the tug JOHN BULL, and all
went well until about 4 o'clock this morning. We were off Pendeen, and I was
wakened from my sleep by something banging into us.
I knew
something had happened, and I rushed on deck. There I saw the lights of a
steamer backing out. I rushed back to get some clothes, and then I went out on
the poop, where I saw the captain and his wife, the chief officer and his wife
and the third officer. The captain's wife shouted to the tug for help; the
chief officer's wife was very calm. She was quite young. the KATE THOMAS
gradually heeled over. We were all hanging on for about eight minutes, but she
gave one final plunge. I got a lifebuoy and sprang clear to try and save myself
from being sucked down by the waves. Two or three huge seas enveloped me, and
when I looked around there was nothing but a mass of foam, and the KATE THOMAS
had gone. Then I swam for the tug, and in a few minutes I saw the third officer
in the water. I asked him if I could help him, and he replied "No". I
then discovered he had his sea boots on, and I tried to take them off, but I could
not manage it. He soon disappeared and I did not say anything when he went
down. I then got to the tug and just managed to grasp a rope, by which I was
hauled on board. I did not know what I was doing.
It is
impossible for me to tell how the accident happened, but the captain of the tug
told me the steamer steamed away and did not stop. I was in the water about 20
minutes. The tug cruised around for two hours, but we did not see any bodies.
the crew was a mixed one. The captain's wife had made the round voyage, and
after being home for a little holiday had returned to make another voyage. We
all had our lights burning. It was a quarter of an hour before the KATE THOMAS
sank, but whether any efforts were made to launch the boats I do not know.
The name
of the steamer which was in collision with the KATE THOMAS was not known to
Nelson or those on board the tug, but the steamship INDIA put into Penzance
yesterday and reported having been in collision off the Land's End. Lloyd's
Agent at Penzance telegraphed yesterday:- Steamer INDIA, of Penzance, from
Jersey for Weston Point, cargo china stone, has arrived here and reports having
been in collision at about 4 am today with a ship, light, in tow, name unknown.
INDIA has considerable damage to bows.
According
to another message, those on board the INDIA were very reticent, but the
captain said his ship came into collision with a sailing ship when about 25
miles North of Land's End between 3 and 4 am. Those on board INDIA said they
did not know the identity of the sailing ship, nor were they aware of its fate.
The INDIA's bow bulwarks were stove in for 5 feet clean to the deck, but only
one or two plates below were started, and these were above the water line. The
INDIA is only of 150 net tonnage. Her captain said he did not see any distress
signal.
Tug
Captain's Statement
The
captain of the tug JOHN BULL made a statement yesterday as to the disaster. He
said that the steamer which came into collision with the barque first
approached on the starboard within a quarter of a mile of the KATE THOMAS. Then
she came up on the port side and looked as if she would hit the tug. Whether
she was attempting to go between the tug and the KATE THOMAS he could not tell.
There was a heavy sea running at the time, and he brought the tug around as
quickly as possible. he thought the steamer would have rendered some assistance
before the tug got around, but she steamed away.
The KATE
THOMAS, which had a net tonnage of 1,597, was built in 1885 by Messrs W Doxford
& Sons, at Sunderland. She traded between English and Continental ports and
South America with general cargo. She sailed mostly from Cardiff, not having
been at Liverpool since 1907. It is considered doubtful whether any crew
belonged to Liverpool, as only recently, when the vessel arrived at Antwerp,
the crew were discharged at the end of the voyage, and new men were signed on.
The third mate, named Spraymann, was an Antwerp man. The owners last evening
received the following telegram from Falmouth:-
KATE
THOMAS sunk this morning by unknown steamer whilst towing by tug. Suppose all
excepting self lost.- Nelson, apprentice.
Picture of
the KATE THOMAS can be found at www.rhiw.com
The Loss of the KATE THOMAS
Judgement
was delivered in the Liverpool Police Buildings in the Board of trade inquiry
concerning th eloss of the Liverpool barque KATE THOMAS and 19 lives - the only
survivor being an apprentice named John Joseph Nelson - after a collision off
the Cornish coast with the steamer INDIA.
The
Court held that at the time of the collision the KATE THOMAS and the tug JOHN
BULL, which was towing her, exhibited all the lights required by the
regulations for preventing collisions at sea; and that the KATE THOMAS kept her
course and the speed required by the articles for preventing collisions at sea,
but that proper measures were not taken by the INDIA as required by the
articles to keep out of the way of the KATE THOMAS. The cause of the collision
was the absence of an efficient look out on the INDIA and the improper use of
the port helm of that vessel. The loss of life was caused by the KATE THOMAS
almost immediately heeling over to starboard, rapidly filling; and sinking
within the space of ten minutes. Every possible effort was made by those on board
the JOHN BULL to render assistance, but no attempt to help was made by those on
board the INDIA, the reason alleged by them being that the latter vessel was
herself seriously damaged. A good and proper look-out was not kept on the
INDIA. The Court found that the loss of the KATE THOMAS was caused by the
default of Thomas Frederick Mitchell, master of the INDIA, in going below and
leaving an able seaman named William John Stephens in charge of the deck, by
the default of Stephens in not keeping a good and proper look out, and by
Stephens ignorantly making improper use of the port helm of the INDIA, thus
bringing about a collision.
Neither
the master nor the mate of the INDIA held certificates of competency, and the
Court was strogly of the opinion that for safe navigation those in charge of
steam vessels of this description should be so certified.
Raymond
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