LOSS OF H.M.S. EURYDICE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 120, 21 May 1878, Page 4

LOSS OF H.M. S. EURYDICE.

ItfQTTEBT AWP VWf.mCT. Thp irqnrpt on thp bodior* ef Frpflois Ftp TnVrr F!re» T.Knfpnnnt of the F»?t <-'/•«-., Pppfpin J.nn'p F^rripr, BE. arr 1 _VrrF*». nr prP'pprv PFnm»>ti, was rrrrrd nn TV^rrb 26, a* thp Ql.ppn'a pVfpi <bp "Fopinnp^p, Vpn'nor. before M- F T*'»kp, tbe enrocor for tbe Isle o' W : rbt PpTiFirJn Cnddifrrd waa pyaroined. He identifipd (hp bodies j. B tbop* of L ; eutpn»nt T R bor. a mnn nnmed Bpdre". vs-brsp O^'p*;*" r>j>ir>e hf, faA V at Irppt", **<* p fpTP^itri of fh-= I-oynl Fnp'nrrrp. wrn tp'k p-ppfpp brrnp in *bp ship ; bp Vrd bpnrd Mr rßme was Ferrier. Witpppe was an r.ble seaman on boprd the Eurydice. The greater part of the crew w»s composed pf ordinary sonropn, and tbere were aboufc thirty ship's eompeniea nt/nobed to the ship. On Sunday last, March 24, about two o'plock, tbey set tho lower sfunsails. Tho phip wnn then coming along the Isle of W'ghf. Bpfore spfting the stursflils we bar* all plain sail set, viz : tbe courses, fnpaaila, Sro.. They had all sfiils set, save top-gallant stunssils. The weather was very fine at the time, •a modprete brppze blowing juft nbout the bpflm. Bptwppn half-ppst. three Brd f«-_ir oVlork, the port watch wss CfiMed to tnke in the "lower sfunpail, fr thp wppthpr locked dirty. Thp Captain gnve tbe order to *' watch in " lower etonsnib It wns just coming on to blow. The sail was taken in, and then ordprs wprp tsken in to take in the rova's. Thfse were not, taken down, aa the Cpp'ain ortferpd the mpn down an the pquflll w«s coming on. The royals wprp lowprpr but not furlpd at this time. Thp epptain gave orders to let. go the toenail halyards p.nd the main Bheet. Witnpss saw tbat this order was done himself. Fe heard tho captßin gay "If you can't let it go, cut it." He did not know to what this referred. The water waa up to the men's waists on the starboard side. He expected that the order referred to th« foresheet. He was on the quarter-dpek at the time. The ship was on her beam ends. Hp saw thp ship sinking from forwards, iin«' tek'rg a body of men with her irto the wafpr. The water began to increase aft, and as it sot abreast of the roeinmsst she turned right over, the port cutter being bottom upwards. He stuck to the ship, Bnd the captain gave orders to get the fore cutter clear, but we wpre only able to get one gripe clear by cutting it with a knife. Witness tben jumped overboard, and passed the two doctors, who were drowning, but could render them no assistance. Tbere were many others in the water at the time. Witness turned his back to the ship ; and continued to swim about for an hour and twenty minutes, until he was picked up by the sbooner. An ordinary seaman named Fletcher was aleo picked up. On beiner picked up he felt giddy, but he was able to lay hold of the rope's end that had been tbrown to him. It came on a violent gust and snowstorm when he was taking in the stunsnil. Tbey bad had no warning that the storm was coming on, The ports were open on both sides. Tbe wind caught tbem from the same direction it had been blowing previously. There were six men at the wheel and the Hon. Mr G-ifford, who tried to put the helm up when the captain told thpm to let go the topsail halyards and main -sheet. When the ship was on an even keel the ports would be about sft. above lhe water. The guns were wel! secured, and did not move. Tbere wbs the Btarboard watch, about 150 in number, below when the order to shorten sail was given. They were lying down or writing. He could not

any whether they came up when the order waa given. No order was given to tbe watch below to shorten sail. It whs not usual to order up all hr-nds for tbat purpose. The wntch on dprk wns qni'e sufficient to do it. There were ten ports nnd two small ones. By tbe jury : Tt is quite usual in •be circumstances of Sunday afternoon to have tbe ports open to let in freeh air. Five minutes ehpsed after turning over before the ship s«nk. No Btt p mpt could be mnde to lower the boats. On Thursdays and Sundays it was tbe rule to relax the ordinary work of the ship, end to pipe down the h»n''s as soon as they had done the wo»k on which tbey were engaged. By Mr Hf rvey : As soon as the captain saw the storm coming m be ordered the stunßai), the largrsl sail in the 'ship, to be taken in. The men were ordered down because it wrs feared tliat the topPßllnntmaat and tbe royal mast might fall upon them. Tt. wbs necessary for the men's safety that thpy should come down. It was a sudden gust that sent hpr over without any warning. Ac one of the ship's company, be did cot expect thot any eucb thing would occur. The enpfnin Btoood on the ship's side after she heeled over. Everything was done to save the ship anl men's lives by tbe ! cnplain. There was no want of senI manship in the mnnutrement. of tbe ship. DuriDg tho wholo timo he ha ■» been in the eervice, now 21 ypsrs, he had never witnessed so quick a storm. One hundred ond fifty hands were enough to save the ship, could anything have saved her. If ehe bad heen been braced hard up, it would have tsken all hands to shorten sail. In the circumstances of Sunday, had all bonds been on deck they would have been only in each other's way. William Langworthy Jenkin, Master of the Emma schooner, of Podafow, said he encountered a, sudden pquall about ten minutes pust 4, when off Dnnnose. It looked rather bad to windward bfifore the squall came on, and they took io sail and left only the standing jib Bet properly. Part of this WB3 done during the squall, which lasted half-an-hour, They were from four to five miies from land when the storm struck them. There was nothing to prevent them seeing the Btorm approaching. He sow nothing of the Eurydice before she went down. After the snow hud cleared away he saw something floating on the water. He sent a man into the rigging, who reported th«t there waa a man in the water. He steered his vessel to the spot, which wbb to windward. They heard cries for help in the water, and found five men floating, whom he picked up. They were much exhausted, and were all insensible when taken on board. He di 1 not think the gale would have capsized such a ship as the Eurydice when under full sail. He never thought of such a thing. He imagined the men belonged to the boat's crew. The Emma was 137 tons register, and had a crew of six hands, all told. Thpy had a light cargo of coal. By the Jury : The wind was not off the land at first. They could not toka in their sails before the squall took them. As they were further aw»y from land tban the Eurydice, they had a better chance of seeing the Btorm rising. The Coroner briefly summed up, and the jury, after being absent from the room about half-an-hour, announced their agreement in the following verdict :— - " We find that Louis J R. Ferrier, Francis Hopa Tabor, and Bennett were accidentally drowned, owing to the capsizing of her Majesty's ship Eury- | dice by a .udden squall off Dv noose,

j 'on Sunday, (he 24th inßtfint, and the jury consider from thp evidenoe adduced that no blame whatever can be attached to the captein." Admiral Foley visited the wreck in the course of Monday afternoon, and from on examination of the rigging and pear of the ship he is firmly of opinion that the crew were in the act of shortening Bail at the time the chip Bank, In this opinion he is supported by the pilots who are assisting at tbe wreck. They found that the topsails had been let go, end the tnizen-topsail was actually resting on tbe cap. The squall, however, wna evidently too sudden and powerful for the crew to relieve the ship in time. Tl.pr« is also reason for concluding that the ports on both sides were open, and that the water rushed in on the starboard side, which prevented her from righting, and pulled her over.