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Doriga | Official Number
54977 |
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Doriga | Official Number
54977 |
The Doriga was an iron barque built by Williamson at Workington, Cumberland, first registered in May 1866. She had been owned initially by G.H.Fletcher, then was sold to Spanish owners. In 1873 she was owned by Johnston Churchill and Co. of Liverpool, and her command was given to Capt.Thomas Garry Fraser (see Source 3), a Harrington-born seaman who had served his apprenticeship and early career in the Corea and Carricks. His first voyage was from Greenock to Coquimbo and Iquique (Chile), then back to Liverpool, then to Valparaiso the following year. In 1877 the Doriga went from Liverpool to Argentina, then round Cape Horn to Chile and back to Dublin and Liverpool, followed by a second voyage to Argentina and Chile, returning to Hamburg and then North Shields.
The final voyage of the Doriga started when she left the Tyne
on the 17th January 1879. Four days out, at midnight, when "well past Ushant",
the barque capsized in a high sea. During the night the masts were cut
away, and in the morning Capt.Fraser sent the crew to the hold to trim
the coal cargo, locking them in for most of the day. In the evening an
Italian brig offered assistance, and Fraser had to arm himself with a revolver
to prevent the crew taking the only remaining boat. Later a steamer approached
and took off most of the crew, only Fraser and mate remaining on the Doriga.
Eventually they too abandoned the vessel, and the Doriga sank whilst
being towed by the steamer.
The Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society awarded silver medals to
Captain Henry Campbell, master, and John May, chief officer, of the
steamship Zena, and £10 to the boat's crew, who rescued the 18 men of the Doriga. The sea was so rough that the men from the Doriga had to be hauled to the boat on a line.
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Sources :