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Calder | Official Number
17780 |
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Calder | Official Number
17780 |
The Calder was a brig built by Lumley Kennedy & Co. at Whitehaven and launched on the 21st November 1837. In 1840 she was registered at Whitehaven and was owned by Joseph Younghusband and others. Her master was Capt.William Turner.
The Calder foundered off Cape St.Vincent on the 16th July 1870, on passage from Huelva for Newcastle with copper ore. Her master, Capt.William Taylor, was found to have been negligent in stowing the cargo, and his certificate was suspended by a Court of Inquiry.
The Times, Friday, 23rd September 1870, page 4;
" FAULTY STOWAGE - the brig Calder was abandoned at sea,
about 50 miles to the S.W. of Cape St.Vincent, on the morning of the 16th
July last, under the following circumstances : - The Calder was
a sailing vessel, built of wood, at Whitehaven, in the year 1837, and registered
at the port of Liverpool of the burden of 200 tons. She sailed from Huelva, in the Bay of Cadiz, on the 12th of July last,
bound for Newcastle-on-Tyne, and was navigated by Mr.William Taylor, who
holds a certificate of competency as master, with a crew of seven hands,
all told. There were no passengers. Her cargo consisted of 370 tons of
copper ore in bulk. The weather was moderate and fine. Nothing particular occurred, and the ship proceeded on her voyage until
July 15, when at noon on that day it came on to blow fresh from the N.N.E,
she being then in latitude, by observation, 36N, and by dead reckoning,
about 8W longitude. Sail was then reduced, and the ship began to make water.
The pumps were set to work, but the leak steadily increased. At 9 pm she
had 13 inches in the well. The pumping was continued, but the water still
gained upon them, and at 4 am of the 16th it had risen to 3 ft. 8 inches.
Before this, however, the master, at 2 am, had consulted with the mate,
and it was thought prudent to put the ship before the wind. She was accordingly
steered to the SE, with the intention of going to Gibraltar. At half-past
5 or 6 am, a sail hove in sight to windward. A signal of distress was hoisted
by the Calder, and she was brought by the wind, heading towards
the stranger, who bore down to her. By this time there was from about 4
1/2 to 5 ft. of water in her. The leak was steadily increasing and the
ship labouring and straining, the wind blowing hard from the NE. At 7.30
the long-boat was with difficulty got out, and the crew proceeded to the
stranger in her. They were received on board the Austrian brig Celestina,
bound for Falmouth, at which port they were landed in safety on the 6th
of August.
A court of inquiry into the alleged unseaworthiness of the vessel has
reported to the Board of Trade that it is of the opinion that the captain
and crew were justified in deserting the ship. They did all they could
to save her, and their lives were in imminent peril. The Court is also
of the opinion that the cause of the loss of this vessel was executive
cargo badly stowed. The nature and amount of the cargo and the mode of
stowing it rendered the ship unable to stand the strain of a moderately
heavy sea. The Court was advised by the assessors that such a cargo required
special care in stowing. It should be conveyed in vessels having a platform
in the hold at about one-fourth of their depth from the bottom. Such a
precaution makes the ship lively in the sea-way, and less liable to strain.
This is the usual, and ought to be the universal, mode adopted. In the
Calder
there was no platform, and no means whatever were employed for the proper
stowage of such cargo, or in any way to relieve the dead weight. In these
circumstances, we could not hesitate to say that the law looks, primarily
at least, to the captain, and it is he who must suffer. He was guilty of
a failure in duty, the consequences of which might have been much more
serious and painful than the loss of the ship and its cargo. The sentence
of the Court, therefore, was that the captain's certificate be suspended
for the period of three months from the date of the report (Aug.31)."
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