Our Sailors Part 17

Their labours in the cause of humanity were, however, not over for that day. Soon after daylight broke, it was reported to Captain Wasey that another vessel had apparently sunk on the shoals which surround and extend to a long distance from the port of Fleetwood. Rising without a moment's hesitation, he summoned John Fox, chief boatman of the Coast Guard, and c.o.xswain of the lifeboat, with some other men, and two of his former crew, James Turner and John Aspingal, fishermen. The lifeboat was once more afloat, and, towed for two hours against a strong tide and heavy sea by the steam-tug, she at length reached the wreck, which proved to be the schooner _Jane Roper_, of Ulverstone. Her crew, consisting of six men, were in the rigging, crying out for aid. Captain Wasey and his men happily succeeded in getting them all on board, and in landing them safely at Fleetwood.

On the 19th of February, while it was blowing a heavy gale from the north-north-west, with squalls, the schooner _Catherine_, of Newry, went on sh.o.r.e, when again Captain Wasey went off in the lifeboat, and succeeded in saving all the crew.

On 20th October 1861, the same brave officer, taking command of the lifeboat, was instrumental in saving the lives of 16 persons from the barque _Vermont_, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, wrecked on Barnett's Bank, three miles from Fleetwood. For these and various other similar services he has received several medals and clasps from the Royal National Lifeboat Inst.i.tution.

GALLANTRY OF LIEUTENANT BOYLE, RN.

Lieutenant the Hon. H.F. Boyle, RN, chief officer of the Coast Guard at Tenby, distinguished himself in the same humane manner.

At daybreak on the 2nd of November, the smack _Bruce_, of Milford, anch.o.r.ed, being totally dismasted, about three miles east of Tenby. It was blowing a furious gale from the west-south-west, and the sea, running very high, threatened every instant to overwhelm the smack, or to drive her on the rocks. Lieutenant Boyle, immediately on seeing her condition, embarked in the Tenby lifeboat, and pulled off towards the unfortunate vessel. Her crew, three in number, were found in an almost exhausted state, and taken into the lifeboat, which then made for the small harbour of Saundershott, four miles distant.

On the 9th of November, at nine p.m., the commencement of a dark cold night of that inclement season, a large brig was observed to go on sh.o.r.e in Tenby Bay. The lifeboat, manned by her usual varied crew of coastguardsmen and fishermen, under the charge of Robert Parrott, chief boatman of the Coast Guard, who acted as c.o.xswain of the lifeboat, at once proceeded through a tremendous sea towards her, the wind blowing a gale from the south-west. The vessel was discovered to be on sh.o.r.e, in a peculiar position, on a rocky reef, so that she could only be approached from windward. The lifeboat's anchor was accordingly let go, with the intention of being veered down to the wreck, but a heavy roller striking the boat, carried away the cable and broke three of her oars.

Finding it then impossible to close with the vessel, in consequence of her peculiar position and the heavy sea breaking over her, the lifeboat returned to Tenby, and Lieutenant Boyle and his crew proceeded to the spot with all haste by land with the rocket apparatus. Several efforts were made before the party succeeded in sending a line over the wreck.

At length perseverance crowned their efforts, a line was thrown, and caught by the crew on the wreck; a stouter rope was next hauled on board, and by its means, in the course of three hours, the whole of the crew, who would otherwise have met with a watery grave, were safely landed. The silver medal of the Lifeboat Inst.i.tution was awarded to Lieutenant Boyle, and the second-service clasp was added to the medal received on a former occasion by Robert Parrott.

LOWESTOFT LIFEBOAT.

Few boats have been the means of saving more lives from destruction than that of the lifeboat belonging to Lowestoft, on the Suffolk coast. We will mention a few instances to show the way in which the seamen and boatmen of that place have risked their lives for the sake of those of their fellow-creatures. On the 26th of October 1859, the schooner _Lord Douglas_ parted from her anchors in a heavy gale from the south, and foundered off the village of Carton, on the Suffolk coast; the crew, as she went down, climbing into the rigging, where they lashed themselves.

The Lowestoft lifeboat proceeded under sail to the spot, and, having anch.o.r.ed to windward of the wrecked vessel, succeeded in getting lines down to the crew, who were then drawn from the masts safely on board, and were landed at Carton. So heavy was the gale, that she split her foresail in the service. Scarcely had the lifeboat returned from saving the crew of the _Lord Douglas_, than another schooner, though lying with three anchors ahead, drove ash.o.r.e at Carton. A foresail was borrowed, and the lifeboat again started on her mission of mercy. She reached the vessel under sail, and happily succeeded in rescuing all the crew; but having split her borrowed sail, she was compelled to run in for Yarmouth beach. Here the shipwrecked crew were hospitably received at the Sailors' Home.

Again, on the 1st of November, the screw-steamer _Shamrock_, of Dublin, ran on sh.o.r.e on the Holme Sand during a heavy gale from the south-west.

As soon as the position of the unfortunate vessel was discovered, the lifeboat was launched, and proceeded under sail to the spot. The sea was breaking fearfully over the mast-head of the steamer, repeatedly filling the lifeboat. To increase the danger, an expanse of shoal-water lay close to leeward of the wreck, so that had the lifeboat's cable parted, her destruction and that of her crew might have followed. Fully aware of the risk they ran, they persevered, as brave men will, in spite of danger to themselves; and, sending lines on board the wreck, the whole crew, not without considerable difficulty, were hauled on board.

BRAVERY OF JOSEPH ROGERS, A MALTESE SEAMAN--25TH OCTOBER 1859.

No one will forget the dreadful loss of the _Royal Charter_ on the Welsh coast, when, out of 490 souls on board, not more than 25 persons came on sh.o.r.e alive; but many may not recollect that it was owing, under Providence, to the bravery, presence of mind, and strength of one man that even these few were saved. When the ship struck on the rocks, the sea instantly broke over her with fearful violence, filling the intermediate s.p.a.ce between her and the sh.o.r.e with broken spars and fragments of the wreck; while the waves burst with fury on the hard rocks, and then rushed back again, to hurl with redoubled force on the iron sh.o.r.e the objects which they had gathered up in their forward course. Pitchy darkness added to the horror of the scene and the danger to be encountered by the hapless pa.s.sengers and crew of the ill-fated ship. Among the ship's company was a Maltese, Joseph Rogers--a first-rate swimmer, as are many of the inhabitants of the island in which he was born. To attempt to swim on sh.o.r.e in that boiling caldron was full of danger, though he might have felt that he could accomplish it; but the difficulty and danger would be far greater should the swimmer's progress be impeded by a rope. In spite of that, thinking only how he might save the lives of those on board the ship to which he belonged, taking a line in hand, he plunged boldly into the foaming sea.

On he swam; the darkness prevented him from being seen, but those on board felt the rope gradually hauled out. Anxiously all watched the progress of that line, for on the success of that bold swimmer the lives of all might depend. If he failed, who could hope to succeed? At length they felt it tightened, and they knew that it was being hauled up by many strong hands on sh.o.r.e. Now a stout rope was fastened to the line, and that being hauled on sh.o.r.e was secured, and a cradle was placed on it. No time was to be lost. The large ship was striking with terrible violence on the rocks, it appearing that every instant would be her last. One after the other, the people on board hastened into the cradle--as many as dared to make the hazardous pa.s.sage. Ten, fifteen, twenty landed--the twenty-fifth person had just reached the sh.o.r.e, when, with a horrible crash, the ship parted, breaking into fragments, and 454 persons were hurried in a moment into eternity. Even Rogers, brave swimmer as he was, could not have survived had he attempted to swim among those wreck-covered waves. For his heroic courage the National Lifeboat Inst.i.tution awarded the gold medal to Rogers and a gratuity of 5 pounds.

REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF ENDURANCE OF A CREW OF BRITISH SEAMEN.

A small fishing smack, with a crew of five people, was wrecked off Bacton, near Great Yarmouth, on the 27th of November 1859. The poor men were in the rigging, without food or drink, for 60 hours before they were rescued from the mast of their sunken vessel, to which they had been clinging for more than 60 hours. For three nights and two days they held on to this uncertain support, about 8 feet above the raging sea, without food, and almost without clothing. One of the men took off his shirt and held it out as a signal of distress, till it was blown from his feeble grasp. The vessel struck upon the Harborough Sand on Friday evening at nine o'clock, and they were not rescued till ten o'clock on Monday morning--a case of most remarkable endurance. The vessel was but a small one, a smack with four hands. The fourth hand, a boy, climbed the mast with the others, and held on till the Sat.u.r.day, when he became exhausted, and, relaxing his hold, slipped down into the sea. One of the men went down after him, seized him, and dragged him up the mast again; but there was nothing to which to lash him, and no crosstrees or spars on which to rest; so that during the night, when almost senseless with cold and fatigue, the poor boy slipped down again, and was lost in the darkness. On Sunday they were tantalised with the hope of immediate succour. A vessel saw their signals and heard their cries, and sent a boat to their relief; but after buffeting with the wind and tide, they had the mortification to see her give up the attempt, and return to the vessel. Then it was that black despair took possession of them, and they gave themselves up for lost; but clinging to their frail support for an hour or two longer, they heard a gun fire.

This gave them fresh courage, for they took it to be a signal, as in fact it was, that their case was known, and an attempt would be made to save them. The vessel stood in and communicated with the sh.o.r.e, and a boat put off to search for them; but they were such a speck on the ocean, that, night coming on, they could not be seen, and the boat returned to sh.o.r.e. For the third night, therefore, they had still to cling on, expecting every moment that the mast would go over and bury them in the deep. On the Monday morning the Bacton boat made another attempt, fell in with them at ten o'clock, and landed them at Palling, more dead than alive, whence, as soon as they could be moved, they were brought to the Yarmouth Sailors' Home, their swollen limbs, benumbed frames, and ghastly countenances testifying to the sufferings they had undergone. At this Home the poor men remained several weeks, receiving every attention from the officers of the establishment.

To conclude our short account of the services of lifeboats, we may state that in the year 1860 the lives of no less than 326 persons were saved by those stationed on the British coast, every one of which would have been lost.

We will give another example, to exhibit more clearly the nature of the work the brave crews undertake.

In the early part of that year, as the day closed, it was blowing a heavy gale off Lyme-Regis. About eight o'clock at night the alarm was given that a vessel was in distress in the offing. It was pitchy dark; indeed, the intense darkness, the strong gale, and the heavy surf on sh.o.r.e were enough to appal any man entering the lifeboat. After some short delay, however, the boat was manned by a gallant crew--her c.o.xswain, Thomas Bradley, being early at his post. Tar barrels were lighted up on sh.o.r.e, and the boat proceeded on her mission of mercy. So truly awful was the night, that nearly everyone on sh.o.r.e believed she would never return again. However, after battling with the fury of the storm, and after an absence of about an hour and a half, the lifeboat did return, laden with the shipwrecked crew of three men of the smack _Elizabeth Ann_, of Lyme-Regis.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.

A BRUSH WITH AN IRONCLAD.

On the 29th of May 1877 two British corvettes, the _Shah_ and the _Amethyst_, were engaged in the only encounter at sea in which Her Majesty's ships have been engaged, (with the exception of fights with slavers) for very many years, and this conflict was the more remarkable inasmuch as their opponent was an ironclad. Peru is the land of revolution and revolt against authority. Such a rising took place in the last week of May. Pierola, the leader, had as his friends the officers of the Peruvian ironclad the _Huascar_, and this vessel p.r.o.nouncing in his favour, put to sea with him on board. The Peruvian Government at once sent news of the mutiny on board this ship to Admiral de Horsey, and also notified that they would not be answerable for the proceedings of those on board. The _Huascar_ put into Perajua, and took coal from an English depot there; she then put to sea, stopped two British steamers and took coal also from them. As this was an act of piracy on the high sea, Admiral de Horsey determined to engage her whenever he met her.

On the 28th of May the _Huascar_ appeared off the port of Iquique. Her boats disembarked a portion of her crew, and after a fight with the Peruvian troops, they captured the town. A few hours after that the Peruvian squadron, consisting of the ironclad _Independencia_, the corvette _Unica_ and the gunboat _Pilsomayo_, arrived, and it was resolved to engage the _Huascar_. The fight lasted for an hour and a half, and then darkness came on and the _Huascar_ steamed away.

The next morning she met the _Shah_ and the _Amethyst_. Admiral Horsey sent an officer on board the _Huascar_ to demand her surrender. Pierola refused, and upon the return of the officer to the _Shah_, the battle at once commenced.

The _Huascar_ was built for the Peruvian Government by Messrs. Samuda, and was a turret-ship mounting two 300-pounder guns in her turret. She had also two 40-pound pivot-guns. The _Shah_ and _Amethyst_ were unarmoured cruisers, but in point of number of guns they were superior to the ironclad. The fight lasted for three hours. The _Huascar's_ smoke-stack was pierced, and damage done to her deck beams, but the metal of the British guns were not heavy enough to pierce the armour.

In the course of the fight the _Shah_ launched a Whitehead torpedo against the ironclad, but it failed to strike her. The British ships were ably handled, and received no serious damage in the encounter; and after a three hours' engagement the _Huascar_ steamed away and made for a Peruvian port. As this was the first time that unarmoured vessels had ventured to engage an ironclad of modern type, every credit is due to the gallantry of our seamen, although they were unsuccessful in their attempt to capture or sink their opponent.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

GALLANT DEEDS PERFORMED BY NAVAL MEN.

DEATH OF CAPTAIN BROWNRIGG--1881.

This officer had greatly distinguished himself by the energy and success with which he had carried on operations against the slaving dhows during the term of his command on the Zanzibar coast. On the 27th of November 1881 he started in the steam pinnace of the _London_, accompanied by his steward, a native interpreter, and a writer, with a crew consisting of a c.o.xswain, Alfred Yates, three seamen, and three stokers. Captain Brownrigg was going upon a tour of inspection among the boats engaged in repressing the slave trade, and the various depots. On his way he examined any dhows he met which he suspected to contain slaves. On the 3rd of December a dhow was sighted flying French colours. In such cases it was not Captain Brownrigg's custom to board, but only to go alongside to see that the papers were correct. He therefore ordered the boat's crew to be careful not to board without direct orders, intending a mere cursory examination, and no detention whatever, as he did not arm the boat's crew, and directed the time alongside to be noted.

He went alongside without hailing or stopping the dhow in any way, the wind being light and the craft scarcely forging ahead.

Prior to getting alongside he sent the c.o.xswain forward to make a hook, with a chain and rope attached, fast to the dhow, his object in doing so seemingly being to prevent the necessity of the vessel stopping, and to enable him to converse with the captain and to quietly verify her papers. He took the tiller himself, and was alone, with the exception of his steward (a Goanese) and a native interpreter, in the after-part, which is separated from the rest of the boat by a standing canopy, over which one has to climb to get fore or aft. It was still more cut off by the fact of the main-boom having been raised to the height of the top of the ensign staff on the mainmast, and over it the after-part of the rain-awning was spread, being loosely gathered back towards the mast.

When the boat was quite close to the dhow, a man, supposed to be the captain of her, stood up aft with a bundle or roll of papers in his hand, and said something as he unfolded them, and pointed to the French flag. What he exactly said is unknown.

There were then visible on board the dhow four men, two aft and two forward, all armed with the usual Arab swords and creeses. The forecastle sun-awning was spread at the time from the foremast to a stanchion shipped abaft the stern-piece, and under it were two bluejackets and the writer, the leading stoker was at the engines, whilst the two stokers appear to have been sitting on the inside of the gunnel of the well, i.e. the s.p.a.ce for boilers and engines.

As the c.o.xswain was standing on the stem of the boat, in the act of making fast with the hook rope, he caught sight of some eight or ten men crouched in the bottom of the boat with guns at the "ready" position.

He sang out to the captain aft, when they rose up and fired; he flung the hook at them, and closed with one, both falling overboard together.

The Arabs, the number of whom is variously estimated at from fifteen to twenty-five, then jumped into the pinnace with drawn swords and clubbed guns. As their first fire killed one man (a stoker) outright, mortally wounded another, and severely wounded two others of the boat's crew, the Arabs found but little difficulty in driving the rest, unarmed as they were, overboard.

Captain Brownrigg and his steward were the only two left, and both were in the after-part of the boat. He seized a rifle, and at the first shot knocked an Arab over; but before he could reload three or four of them rushed aft to attack him, getting on the top of the canopy and at the sides, but he, clubbing his rifle, kept them at bay, fighting with a determination that filled the survivors, who were then in the water unable to get on board, with the greatest admiration, they describing him as "fighting like a lion."

He knocked two of his a.s.sailants over, but was unable to get at them properly, owing to the awning overhead, whilst they were above him on the canopy cutting at him with their long swords, but fearing to jump down and close with him. As he knocked one over, another took his place.

The first wound that seems to have hampered him in the gallant fight was a cut across the forehead, from which the blood, pouring over his face, partially blinded him. He was then cut across the hands, the fingers being severed from the left and partially so from the right one, and, badly wounded in both elbows, he could no longer hold the rifle.

He then appears to have tried to get hold of any of his foes or of anything wherewith to fight on, but, blinded as he was, his efforts were in vain. He fought thus for upwards of twenty minutes, keeping his face to his a.s.sailants, and having no thought, or making no effort, to seek safety by jumping overboard. At length he was shot through the heart and fell dead, having, besides the fatal one, received no less than twenty wounds, most of them of a severe, and two of a mortal nature.

During this time, of the men in the water, Thomas Bishop, seaman, was badly wounded, and was supported to the dinghy astern of the pinnace by William Venning, leading stoker, who was himself slightly wounded in the head by a slug. There he held on, but the Arabs, hauling the boat up alongside the pinnace, cut him over the head until he sank.

Samuel Ma.s.sey, A.B., was severely wounded, and was supported to the sh.o.r.e, a distance of about 700 yards, by Alfred Yates, leading seaman, and William Colliston, ordinary; the remaining stoker swam there by himself, as also did the interpreter. The writer (third cla.s.s), John G.T. Aers, having been mortally wounded at the first fire, there was left on board the pinnace only the captain's steward, who lay quiet, pretending to be dead.

The Arabs then left the boat and sailed away in their dhow, when the leading stoker got on board of her,--he having been in the water all the time,--got up steam, and picked up the men on the beach.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

THE EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN--1882.