LO'SS OF THE SHIP SUSSEX.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1087, 22 January 1872, Page 2

LOSS OF THE SHIP SUSSEX.

[XBIiEGRAPH, JANUARY^."] Information was received in this rcfty* 7 ' -• yesterday of the total wreck. of Messrs Money "Wigram and Sons' 'fine 1 clipped ship Sussex, 1,100 tons. Captain J., IV, / Collard,: , from London. The catastrophe, took place! about Half-past 9, o'clock, pn^i Sunday evening,' at a spot , hear the, Bar- <_• won Heads, about ten, miles west of I Queenscliff. Captain Collard, who arrived . in.: Melbourne, yesterday, states that the : Sussex left Plymouth on the 9th October last, and arrived off Gape*Otway; atl2 i o'clock on Sunday last, having therefore made a .;;s^ r faotbi7 < :*pas>agje' I ''ol/:83 > ';'cU|^., r . from Plymouth to the ; Victbriah cbasC r After sighting the Otwayj~CapfrC6llaid"" steered his usual course' iintil night set in, and then he continued so far as he knew on the same course. .-The night was, however, excessiyelydark^and some mistake was evidently made^fp^ shortly after 9 o'clock the alarm bf" breakers ahead" was suddenly given; and Captain Collartl,/" to his amazement, found that Ms shij/i was in the midst of a formidable line; of : reefs. He : promptly gave the ! brder ! ti)"' 1 " wear ship," .but before the sails .filled, or indeed before. they had been.' bacjtedji ; ,, the vessel struck on a low ledge. of .^h.Q reef, and" then 'fairly • bumped ; , herself across and into deep water on "the "coast 1 ' 1 side. Of course, the.striking;. of the ship createdconsiderabieconsternationamongsjb the pais'engers, n tiut'the.m6nbehaved well, „ Finding that it would be impossibly wear ship or 'get out to seVagain^Capjajh . Collard attempted to drive hiS snip as far' 1 ' in shore as possible, to admit of the landing 1 of ttie passengers „,.. was. quickly filling and sinlqpg^thetibpmph., '.'« ing on the reef haying brokenjheribac.fcftiif boat was. lowered, and Mr-,, Q'Flahertyj the the. third .officer* was.sent. joffsin . her / with • six men, \ instructed to , pull round •. : > the reef and land, if possible, and then 1 ; ' make with all speed for Queenscliff, and „ send round help! . This course was cbn-" ' sideced necessary, as the position of the ship was critical in the extreme, aud the breakers were so great between her and the' shore that there was great danger in attempting to land the crew and passen- - gers. Fortunately, however, the steamer Titan, which was outside the Heads on some tug business, made out the Sussex , in difficulties inshore, and rendered very timely aid by taking all the' passengers and crew safely off. Captain, Collard super--intending, all the arrangements for their debarkation. . .Binding tliaT; tfte,re was nothing for it but to abandon the ship, she was left to her fate, and gradually settled down, in tolerably shallow water. *- The . Titan remained about- the . ipo'tf until daylight, in hopes, of meeting with '!■ the boat's crew: commanded by-Mr/. iO'Flaherty, but noting was seen of them... • The QueenscMe life-boat, at dawn, haying received information of the Wreck, pro- ' ' ceeded to the i spot, but fortunately the assistance of the crew was not required. They had heard nothing of the missing •' boat| : and this ! gaye rise to considerable apprehension ; for its safety. It is, however, supposed ithat the crew, finding that .they could not land to the eastward, fpulled in the direction of Bream Creek, the Victoria Tower was wrepked, and there making good their landing, have been seeking about for a habitation in ■order to obtain assistance to send news to Geeldng or Que^nsciiff of .the wrecki ' It ' : [ is to be hoped that 'this is the case, but at present it must be confessed that the affair, has £ somewhat gloomy., appearance, ' especially as ' nothing hftd been heard of the men up last evening. In the morning; . the, Titan made for Queenscliff, and arrived in Hobson's Bay during yesterday, afternoon. The crew were sent to the Sailers' Home, and the' agentsof the vessel, Messrs W. P. White and? Co., have provided for the temporary .comfort of the passengers, who have lost everything but v , the clothes they; were dressed in at the \ time of the accident. The crew are * just as badly off, having lost the whole of thfcir outfits ; but it is a matter for congratulation that the weather was fine, although hazy, and the breeze" - : moderate at the time of the ship striking, At first sight it may seem strange that in the hands of a commander with such experience on this coast as Captain Collard the Sussex should have got so far out of ; her course.' Captain Collard, however, ' states that when darkness set in, he steered for what he took to be| the 'light from thp Cape ; Schanck lighthouse, In this he was probably mistaken, and -Bras in reality following the flashing' of the " light of the pilot schooner, .which acted as a will-o'-the-wisp, and led to the destruction of the ship. The Victoria Tower, it will be remembered, 'vv^s wrecked in a very similar manner about tuto* years' | ' since, at Bream Creek, some miles to the 'westward of where ,the Sussex now lies a complete wrejek'. . The" Sussex, like alTof , Messrs Money Wigram's ships, was iihin- ' sured, that firm preferring" the system of a reserve fund. to enable' theiri tb i^lj:6' ' their own risks. The cargo; however, is, a valuable one, consisting of the usual , class of merchandise brought but by these ships from London. It is of course insured to some extent, although many of the Consignees are. likely, tplose .considerably, some are certain hot to be insured at all. The agents, in conjunction with the insurance companies, have determined upon attempting to recover as much cargo as: possible, aud with that end in view the steamer Warkawk was 1 sent down to the I } scene of the wreck last evening. ..Lighters * will also be promptly sent down' to assist in the recovery of. cargo,, and as the weather has the appearance of keeping, „ fine, and the ship is inside of one line of "' reefs, a considerable portion willnb ? dou& be recovered. Information of the wreck was received early yesterday morning by Superintendent Bopkey, of the Geelong . police, who at once telegraphed to MeK

bou je the news of the disaster. Acting upon this mformaticn, Captain Pa) no, chief harbor-master, took advantage of the excursion to Queenscliff by the Mystery, and went to the Heads in that vessel. From thence he would probably proceed to the wreck in the life-boat, or one of the pilot schooners. Captain Collard, with the first and second officers, and representatives of the agents and of the insurance companies, returned to the Barwon Heads by the Warhawk laßt evoning.