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Inglewood | Official Number
63886 |
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Inglewood | Official Number
63886 |
The Inglewood was an iron barque built by R.Williamson &
Son at Harrington and launched in July 1875. The Inglewood was reputedly a sister ship of the Mallsgate
and Geltwood, and was owned initially
by Fisher & Sprott of Liverpool, and was registered at Workington.
She had been built under the personal supervision of her future master, Captain Brocklebank.
The Inglewood made her maiden voyage from Liverpool under the command of
Captain F.Brocklebank, departing 15th November, for Sydney, where she
arrived on the 20th February 1876, a passage of 91 days (see Crew List).
She carried a mixed cargo that included salt, soda, wine, beer and
whisky, pig iron, wire, bricks and earthenware, rope, and tobacco. She
went to Newcastle in March to load coal for San Francisco, and from the
Californian port she returned to London. Her second voyage was from
London to San Francosco, then to Portland, Oregon, from where she
returned to London with a grain cargo.
In September 1878 the Inglewood arrived at Otago, New Zealand, from London, bringing 1900 tons of general merchandiise, 5 tons of powder, 19 passengers and a Clydesdale horse called Lord Salisbury. The barque had left Gravesend on the 31st May, and the passage had taken 89 days, port to port., in the latter part of which rthe vessel had suffered some severe weather. In November 1878 the Inglewood again arrived at Sydney, from Bluff harbour (New Zealand), and still under the command of Capt. Brocklebank (see Crew List).
The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday, 18th August 1885, page 8;
" TEMPESTUOUS VOYAGE OF THE BARQUE INGLEWOOD, Brisbane, Monday - The barque Inglewood,
Captain Kelly, arrived from London to-day, after a passage of 110
days. The voyage throughout was very stormy. On one occasion a
heavy sea disabled the second mate, and on another a heavy sea
overthrew Captain Kelly, breaking his right arm and fracturing his
right shoulder-blade. Still another sea was shipped five days ago, when
the vessel was off the Queensland coast, by which four seamen were
totally disabled. One named Adolph Gustav had one leg broken in three
places, and another seaman was injured internally. On the arrival of
the vessel in Moreton Bay the second mate, Gustav, and another of the
seamen were conveyed to the hospital. Captain Kelly was removed to the
Queen's Hotel, where he is under the care of his wife."
The Inglewood continued
in these and similar trades under the ownership of Fisher and Sprott
until about 1889. She was then bought by her builders. From 1891 until
1896 she was commanded by Captain W.F.Bunn, later to command the Carmanian upon its launch from the Williamson yard in 1897. The Inglewood was
sold about then to Norwegian owners, and was registered at Laurvig. The
barque continued in her usual trades, first under Captain Nielson, and
then Captain Svensen.
The Inglewood, bound from New York to Stockholm with a cargo of naphtha and petroleum, put into Mandal (not Arendal, as in the newspaper report below) on Friday, 20th March 1908. She was forbidden to enter the harbour because of her dangerous cargo, so anchored in the roads outside. The following Saturday, 28th March, at 5 pm, the barque caught fire and her cargo exploded, killing most of her crew. According to the Times, 16 of her 18 crew were killed, including one of two men in a rowing boat who were returning from the shore with provisions. Other reports give the number of dead as 13 or 14, but some of the survivors were terribly burned and may have died later. The Times also reported that some fishermen from Mandal in Mannefjorden were also feared dead. The barque sank 20 minutes after the explosion. At least one seaman, 15 year old Lambertus van Laten, from the Netherlands, was buried locally, at Mandel Kirke.
The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday, 23rd May 1908;
" BARQUE INGLEWOOD DESTROYED - The Norwegian barque Inglewood (1077
tons), which loaded kauri gum at Auckland for New York in October last,
was totally destroyed by fire on March 28 while on her way from New
York to Stockholm. At the time of the disaster the Inglewood was loaded
with naphtha, and put into Arendal, a small
port on the east coast of Norway, in order to make inquiries regarding
the condition of the port of Stockholm, as the master feared that this
port was still icebound. While the barque was lying at anchor she took
fire, and the cargo exploded, completely wrecking the vessel, which
sank. Captain Svensen was ashore at the time, and of all the crew only
the chief officer, the steward, and the sailmaker were saved."
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