Wastwater

Official Number
74528

The Wastwater was an iron barque launched on the 8th May 1876 by the Whitehaven Ship Building Company. She was owned by Jackson & Metcalf and was registered at Liverpool. In 1879 the Whitehaven newspaper reported a court case between Capt.William Cowman and the owners of the vessel, who were disputing the ownership of shares given to Capt.Cowman as part of his agreement to take the command. Capt.Cowman had commanded the vessel on her second voyage, from Glasgow to Brisbane and Portland, Oregon. He was replaced by Capt.White for the next voyage, it being alleged by the owners that Capt.Cowman's disbursements for running the ship were excessive and had been the cause of the vessel losing money on the voyage.

The Wastwater, still owned by Jackson & Metcalf, departed Samarang on the 17th March 1880, bound for Holland with a cargo of sugar. She was commanded by Capt.White and had a crew of 18. On the 29th July the barque was at lat 28.9 N, long 38.30 W. The steward, Robert Branthwaite, went into the hold with a lamp, which toppled over whilst he was opening a barrel of flour. The lamp set fire to some flammable material, and the fire quickly spread out of control. The crew were forced to abandon the Wastwater in boats, but were saved by two other vessels standing off the blazing wreck. One, a Dutch ship, also bound for Holland from the Dutch East Indies, was carrying passengers and did not have sufficient provisions to take onboard the shipwrecked crew. The crew were therefore taken onto the Antonio Vinent, Capt.Piper, a Briish barque heading for her home port of Swansea. On the 9th August the British steamer Blenheim, Demerara for Plymouth, encountered the burnt and abandoned hull of the Wastwater at lat.27.15 N, long.43 W, still smoking and with masts, decks and all woodwork gone except the jibboom and bowsprit.

Name
Year Built
Gross Tons
Length (feet)
Breadth (feet)
Depth (feet)
Masts
Figurehead
Stern
Lloyd's Classn.
Wastwater
1876
835 
199.0 
32.2 
19.5 
3 
 
 
100A1 

Sources :

  1. "Shipbuilding in Whitehaven - A Checklist" by Harry Fancy, Whitehaven Museum (1984)
  2. American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, 1877: Wastwater, iron barque, owned by Jackson & Metcalf,  registered at Liverpool, master Capt.W.Cowman.
  3. Court case with Capt.Cowman reported in the Cumberland Pacquet newspaper, 5th August 1879, page 3.
  4. Wreck reported in the Times newspaper, Wednesday, 25th August, 1880, page 11, also in the Liverpool Mercury, Tuesday, 31st August, 1880, and the Glasgow Herald, Monday, 6th September 1880.