Lifeboat Disasters
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A distressing catastrophe occurred off the Lancashire coast early on Friday. It seems that during the gale which raged on Thursday a large barque, the Mexico, of Hamburg, from Liverpool to Guayaquil, was seeen to be at anchor in a dangerous position off Ainsdale. During the evening she dragged her anchors, and drove on the beach. The Southport lifeboat, Eliza Fernley, was launched about 11 o'clock, and manned by a crew of 16 hands, pulled gallantly through the raging sea in the direction of the wreck, which could be plainly seen by the lights of her signals. Two of her masts were gone, and her crew, lashed to various parts of the vessel, were shouting wildly for help. After a fierce battle with the wind and sea, the lifeboat was seen to get within about 20 yards of the wreck, and her success seemed assured. Just at this moment she fell off with the force of the wind, and before she could be brought up again a terrific sea struck her, and she was capsized, all the crew being thrown into the water. Instead of righting herself, as she ought to have done, she remained bottom upwards, and was blown onto the beach. Three of the crew managed to get hold of the upturned boat and drifted ashore with her in safety; but the other 13 were drowned, three of the bodies being found entangled under the boat when she touched the beach. The remaining ten bodies were washed ashore during the course of Friday morning. Of the 13 deceased 10 were married, and many of them have large families. The men saved were Henry Robinson, John Jackson, and John Ball. The last-named died on Friday night in the infirmary, thus making 14 deaths. The story of the disaster is told by John Jackson, one of the survivors, who resides in West-street, Southport.
Workington & Harrington Sailing Ships
The Banian was a full-rigged ship built by Peile, Scott and Co. at Workington in 1856. She was owned by J.H.Bushby of Liverpool, who also owned the Workington-built clippers Belted Will, Carricks, Invincible, Corea, Kamehameha the Fourth, Clymene, Volunteer and Dunmail. In September 1872 the Banian arrived at Sydney from Liverpool under the command of Capt. Richard Alleyne. Capt.Owen H. Williams as master of the Banian from 1879 to 1882, and states "ship lost off Rio". Capt.Williams had previously been master and owner of the Duchess of Lancaster, also built at Workington.
Name: BanianYear Built: 1856Gross Tons: 760Length (feet): 186Breadth (feet): 30.5Depth (feet): 20.8Masts: 3
The Blenheim was an iron barque built by R. Williamson & Sons at Harrington in January, 1869. She was initially owned by A. Morgan of Liverpool. By 1879 she had been acquired by another Liverpool owner, S.Martin, and her master was Capt.J.W.Garner. By 1889 the Blenheim had been bought for £ 3540 by Carl August Banck & Co. of Helsingborg, Sweden. In 1901 she was bought by Italian owners, and in 1905 was sold to owners in Genoa for conversion to a coal barge.
Name: BlenheimYear Built: 1869Gross Tons: 575Length (feet): 170.1Breadth (feet): 28.3Depth (feet): 17.3Masts: 3
Six vessels were built at Workington for the Lamport & Holt line. Their first vessel was the barque Christabel, built by James Alexander in 1845, and then five others were built by Charles Lamport himself, namely the Cathaya, Blencathra, Coniston, Glaramara and Chalgrove.
Name: ChristabelYear Built: 1845Gross Tons: 335Masts: 3
The Eastern Chief was a wooden barque built by Williamson at Harrington in July 1861. She was originally owned by S.Martin and was registered at Liverpool. The Times newspaper reported in April 1890 that the Eastern Chief had been wrecked on the Ortez Bank in the River Plate, whilst bound from Rosario for Falmouth. The crew had abandoned the vessel without loss of life. The wreck was towed into Montevideo.
Name: Eastern ChiefYear Built: 1861Gross Tons: 401Length (feet): 128.3Breadth (feet): 29.9Depth (feet): 17.9Masts: 3
The Florence Nightingale was a full-rigged ship of 447 tons, built at Workington in 1855. She was owned by Girvin and registered at Liverpool, and sailed on her maiden voyage to South America under Capt. J.Gales. In the 1857 Mercantile Navy List Official Notices (page 269) the master of the Florence Nightingale, Capt. James Gales, is commended for his "excellent" meteorological observations - the vessel owner is named as R.Girvan of Liverpool.
Name: Florence NightingaleYear Built: 1855Gross Tons: 447
Six vessels were built at Workington for the Lamport & Holt line. Their first vessel was the Christabel, built by James Alexander in 1845, and then five others were built by Charles Lamport himself, namely the Cathaya, Blencathra, Coniston, Glaramara and Chalgrove. The Glaramara was a 475 ton barque built by Charles Lamport at Workington on the 23rd July1857.
Name: GlaramaraYear Built: 1857Gross Tons: 478Length (feet): 156Breadth (feet): 27Depth (feet): 18Masts: 3
The Inglewood was an iron barque built by R.Williamson & Son at Harrington and launched in July 1875. The Inglewood was reputedly a sister ship of the Mallsgate and Geltwood, and was owned initially by Fisher & Sprott of Liverpool and was registered at Workington. The vessel was sold back to her builders in 1889 and was managed by R.Williamson & Son until 1899. As with many of the large iron sailing ships, she was sold to Norwegian owners. In 1900 the Inglewood was registered at Laurvig (Larvik), Norway, owned by C.H.Neilson. On the 28th March 1908 the Inglewood exploded in Mandal harbour, killing her whole crew of 14. She was bound from New York to Stockholm with a naphtha cargo
Name: InglewoodYear Built: 1875Gross Tons: 1077Length (feet): 215.0Breadth (feet): 34.1Depth (feet): 21.1Masts: 3
The Jonathon Fell was built at Workington by Peile, Scott & Co., and was launched on the 25th March 1841. She was wrecked at Buenos Ayres in August 1845. Under the command of Capt.Tate she had struck a sunken rock off the Great Costellos and had been run ashore. The ship was then plundered by people from the shore, and ultimately was declared a total wreck, and sold. The vessel had been registered at Harrington.
Name: Jonathon FellYear Built: 1841Gross Tons: 143
The Lowther Castle was one of five large vessels built at the Williamson shipyard at Workington for the Lancaster Shipowners Company (the others were Greystoke Castle, Lancaster Castle, Wray Castle and Pendragon Castle). The Lowther Castle was the second, an iron four-master launched in January, 1886. The Lowther Castle was sold to German owners in 1897, and was renamed Marie before being broken-up in the same year.
Name: Lowther CastleYear Built: 1886Gross Tons: 1782Length (feet): 262.1Breadth (feet): 39.0Depth (feet): 23.3Masts: 4
The Michael Hutchinson was an iron barque built at Harrington in November 1867, owned by John Bell & Co. and registered at Liverpool. The Michael Hutchinson, Liverpool for Iquique, with coal and railway iron, caught fire off Cape Horn (lat.52 S. and long.84 W) on the 6th October 1891. The crew of 18 were rescued by the German barque Plus. This vessel landed the master and six of the crew at Scilly on the 20th December, the rest of the crew being transferred to the Liverpool ship Micronesia and the County Antrim, which landed them at Queenstown (17th and 20th December respectively).
Name: Michael HutchinsonYear Built: 1867Gross Tons: 685Length (feet): 175.2Breadth (feet): 30.1Depth (feet): 19.3Masts: 3
The Salterbeck was a barque built at Workington in June, 1869. The Salterbeck was wrecked on the Long Strand, Catlefreke Bay, Co.Cork on the 14th January 1900. She was bound from Barry, Wales, to Kilrush with a cargo of coal. She was carrying a crew of six, under the command of Capt.W.Reynolds, and all survived the wreck.
Name: SalterbeckYear Built: 1869Gross Tons: 186Length (feet): 104.8Breadth (feet): 23.7Depth (feet): 12Masts: 3
Geltwood
Furness Sailing Ships
