A VESSEL BLOWN UP WITH NAPHTHA.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 651, 28 January 1869, Page 4

A VESSEL BLOWN UP WITH NAPHTHA.

TERRIBLE SCENE,

(From the Eastern Counties Herald.) We have been favored by the captain with the following statement of the loss of the ship Tom Vokes, of Liverpool, Henry Wells, master, with a cargo of rectified naphtha, consisting of 770 barrels, from Hamburg, bound to St Petersburg: — The captain says shortly after he commenced to take in cargo at Hamburg the vapor of the naphtha became very oppressive throughout the ship, and it continued so until within two days of the explosion, when he thought that the smell would go off altogether, as there was no smell below or on deck, only when the ship was'pumped out; then he could perceive a small quantity of nahptha on the water, and a strong smell arising therefrom ; nothing more to warn him of any danger. The vessel was quite sufficiently ventilated by the hatchways fore and aft, so as to guard against fire from the deck. He tacked the ship at two o'clock on the morning of the explosion, and had a candle on the cabin table looking at his chart, which was put out after being lighted about four or five minutes. There was also a light burning in the cabin, so as the man at the wheel could eee to steer by the compass. That was put out about half-past five o'clock in the morning, and as the crew lived on deck in a house, and also cooked therein, there were only the captain and mate below, the mate being in bed and no light or fire below at the time. About half-past eight o'clock on the morning of the 6th of September, about forty-eight miles N. by W. of Heligoland, the captain was in the cabin, when he heard a loud hissing and cracking of planks, and dust, as he thought flying in his eyes, and he was rendered instantaneously insensible. When he came to he found himself lying on the cabin floor. When he got up he looked around for one moment, and perceived his escape shut off by the companion to the deck, the bulkheads all being collapsed together. On looking up he perceived that there was sufficient room in the waterways for him, so that he and the mate got on deck through them. The captain did not feel that he was burnt by the vapor until he got on deck; then he saw the blood coming from his hands, and the skin off bare to the flesh. He was so burnt about his face that he was almost blind. All the skin that was burnt and not off was as white as snow, but none of the clothes were scorched. The hair of the captain's head and face was not singed as with fire, only clogged together, and when touched came off in lumps. There was no flash or any report. The ship did not take fire immediately—)f so, he says he was sufficiently long insensible to have been burnt to death in the cabin. If there had been any flash, he thinks, the ship would have been in flames all through her in one moment. As soon as he got on deck the crew cried, " What shall we do to save our lives, captain ?" He immediately said, "Get out the boat;" but on looking forward at the boat, he said, " Oh, what destruction!" He saw the ship looked as if she had had an electric shock, for there was not a piece of wood in or about the decks, neither yards, gaffs, nor booms, but what had felt the explosion. There the boat lay on the port side of the deck, blown out of the chocks, and split in two from stem to stern, with her stern out. The ship was also split fore and aft, in her waterways, all the hatches blown in pieces, decks up, yards, gaffs, and booms ail down, hanging over the side; the poop up a foot from the main deck, the windlass and heel of the bowsprit up about two feet; the koightheads had left the bowsprit about a foot; the ship was open down to the water's edge. But of all this destruction he could not see one piece of the ship blown out of her into the sea. He saw the ship had completely burst, and was shivered to pieces. He did not perceive that the ship was on fire as yet—so he ordered the mainmast to be, cut away to save life, as he thought the ship would soon founder. But when they had got some of the shrouds cut away they perceived a light-colored smoke coming ♦ 6ut of the fore-end of the ship, and ghortly afterwards flames with a dark volume - of smoke rising up and consuming all the sails on the foremast

instantly, when he ordered the men to cease cutting away the mainmast and to clear away the mainboom from the mast, as their was no other escape. The captain could not swim and on looking round lie saw the crew stripped naked flinging themselves over the stern into the sea with anything they could pick up. The captain was now left with one man, William Mellow; they had to exert themselves as the flames were now raging aft with great rapidity. Many feet above the foremast head the fore-end of the boom and mainmast were in the flames before they succeeded in getting the after end cleared of the ropes. When about 100 yards from the burning ship the captain called out to the crew to come on the boom, but they did not seem willing to do so. Only one young man, William Newton, swam to the boom, making three of them. The ship was now about 150 yards off, and burning like a volcano out of the sea, the flames reaching about 200 feet high. On looking round he perceived the other four men nearing the ship, when he saw the ship go down in the centre of the flames, leaving all the naphtha on the surface of the sea like a mountain of fire. The whirlpool she left in foundering caused the fire to spread with great rapidity, so that they had to swim with the boom to keep clear of the fire, as it spread over the sea to leeward, and covered a space of half a mile, with the assistance of the wind, in a very short time. From the time of the explosion to the ship going down was about thirty minutes. When tbey had got clear of the flames they heard the others cry, "It's coming! it's coming 1" and on looking round the captain says he shall never forget it; there was only one poor fellow left, the other three had gone where no man knoweth. The weather now became foggy, and they could not see more than half a mile, and they then lost sight of the flames, and they cannot tell how long they burnt. By this time they had succeded in getting a piece of wreck and making it fast across the boom to keep it from turning round ; then all three got across it. The captain told them to call out along with him, "Ship ahoy i ship ahoy !" all the day, in the hope of some one hearing them. It now became very foggy. The other man, Alfred Nicholls, not with them, answered them until ten o'clock that night by the rising of the moon, when his voice was heard no more. The weather now became quite clear; the night was fine, but very cold, with a slight wind from the S.E. They still continued singing out all night; the captain perceived that their voices were becoming very weak, and they had commenced to get the cold shivers; the captain being much troubled with the cramp in his legs. He knew that one hour more would be as long as they could hold out, but Providence ordained otherwise, for about one or two o'clock in the morning, the captain saw a vessel to leeward, when he sung out there was a vessel. He then ordered them to sing out altogether, hut the other two men had a doubt, as they imagined they had seen many vessels during the night, but when she came in the moon's rays they acted upon the sails; they then saw the vessel and sung out together, never ceasing for one moment until they perceived that they had heard them by shortening sail and tacking. When abreast of them they sung out together, " Send a boat, send a boat," when they put out theii boat and succeeded in finding them, and took them on board of their vessel, which proved to be the German schooner Von Zedlitz, Captain Schoer. of Kendsburg, from Hamburg bound to Drammen. He lent the necessary clothing, and dressed their burns and wounds and treated them with the greatest kindness. The captain was burnt very much about the face and hands ; the other man, William Newton, was burnt about the arms and face. William Mellow, being in bed at the time of the explosion, had received no material injury, only by exposure in the water. When the captain landed them at Drammen, they received the greatest kindness from Mr Hutchinson, the British Consul, and great attention from Dr Holt. When they got sufficiently recovered they were sent home. Captain S. P, Schoer told Captain Wells

that he left Cuxhaven Roads at the same time that he did, and came up in time to save three poor sufferers from an untimely end, after being blown up, burnt out of the ship, and having to cling to a boom for a day and night. This is the most wonderful and miraculous escape that has been heard of for some time. The foregoing statement is signed by Captain Henry Wells, 9 Durham-street, Holdernessroad.