“LIGHTNING,” on Fire at Geelong.
From a photograph belonging to F. G. Layton.
The cause of the fire on the Lightning was agreed to be spontaneous combustion. A very different reason was given for the burning of the second Sovereign of the Seas. This ship had just arrived in Sydney with emigrants in 1861 and was discharging at Campbell’s Wharf when the fire broke out, and at the coroner’s investigation the jury found “that the ship Sovereign of the Seas was wilfully, maliciously and feloniously set on fire on the 10th September, and that there was sufficient evidence to commit one of the ship’s sailors, then in custody of the water police, on the charge.” The Sydney fire brigade fought the flames for a whole day without avail; then half a dozen ship’s carpenters attempted to scuttle her, but all in vain, and she was left to her fate.
The Ocean Chief, which was burnt at the Bluff, New Zealand, was also said to have been set on fire by her crew.
The first Empress of the Seas was burnt at Queenscliff on the 19th December, 1861, three months after the Sovereign of the Seas had been set on fire at Sydney.
“Blue Jacket’s” Figure-head.
The first Blue Jacket left Lyttelton, N.Z., homeward bound, and was abandoned on fire off the Falkland Isles on 9th March, 1869. Nearly two years later, on 8th December, 1871, to be exact, Blue Jacket’s figure-head was found washed up on the shore of Rottnest Island, off Fremantle, Western Australia. Part of it was charred by fire, but there was no mistaking the identity of the figure-head, which was described as “a man from the waist up, in old sailor’s costume, a blue jacket with yellow buttons, the jacket open in the front, no waistcoat, loose shirt, and large knotted handkerchief round the neck; with a broad belt and large square buckle and cutlass hilt at the side. On either side of the figure-head was a scroll, saying:—‘Keep a sharp lookout!’”
The Loss of the “Fiery Star.”
On 1st April, 1865, the Fiery Star left Moreton Bay for London. On the 19th one of the men reported a strong smell of smoke in the foc’s’le—this soon burst forth in volumes and a fire was located in the lower hold. The captain, named Yule, immediately had all hatchways battened down and ventilation pipes blocked up. The ship was running free, 400 miles from Chatham Island. A few days before a heavy sea had made matchwood of two of the boats, so the westerlies were evidently blowing strong.
On the 20th a steam pump was rigged down the fore hatchway, and wetted sails were fastened over all scuttles and vents in the deck. But the fire continued to gain, and at 6 p.m. it burst through the port bow and waterways. The four remaining boats were at once provisioned and got over the side. Seeing that there was not room for everybody in the boats, Mr. Sargeant the chief officer, 4 A.B.’s and 13 apprentices agreed to stand by the ship—the remainder of the passengers and crew, to the number of 78, leaving in the boats under the captain.
As soon as the boats had left, Mr. Sargeant renewed every effort to subdue the fire, and at the same time altered his course to get into the track of other ships. Then for 21 days he and his gallant band fought the flames and the numerous gales of those regions. Finally on 11th May, when the foremast was almost burnt through and tottering, a ship called the Dauntless hove in sight and took the mate and his worn-out crew off the doomed Fiery Star.
For their gallantry in remaining behind, Mr. Sargeant and his men were presented with £160 by the people of Auckland, New Zealand, and right well they deserved it, for in all the glorious history of our Mercantile Marine fewer brave acts have ever been recorded.
Some Famous Coal Hulks.
Many an old Black Baller ended her days as a coal hulk. Even the winter North Atlantic could not down the Red Jacket and Donald Mackay, and eventually Red Jacket went to Cape Verde and Donald Mackay to Madeira as coal hulks. How many of the Union-Castle passengers knew, when they cast their eyes pityingly or perhaps disdainfully on the grimy looking hulk floating a cable’s length or so away from their spotless liner, that they were looking upon a crack passenger ship of their grandfather’s day.
Light Brigade was a coal hulk at Gibraltar for many years, having as a companion the famous Three Brothers.
The Golden South, after lying in Kerosene Bay, Port Jackson, for about twenty years with her holds full of coal, was burnt through sparks from the old reformatory ship Vernon falling upon her decks. The burning of the two ships lit up the hills for miles round, and many an old time Sydney-sider will remember the spectacle.
Loss of the “Young Australia.”
The Young Australia, after ten years’ successful trading between England and Brisbane, was wrecked on the north point of Moreton Island on 31st May, 1872, when homeward bound, just four and a half hours after leaving her anchorage off the pilot station. Whilst the ship was in the act of going about, the wind fell calm and the heavy easterly swell and southerly current set the ship towards the rocks. The anchor was let go too late, and the heavy swell hove the ship broadside on to the rocks. With some difficulty the passengers were got ashore; and before night, owing to the way in which the heavy swell was grinding the ship on the rocks, it was deemed advisable for the crew to abandon her.