General Grant (ship)

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File:Wreck of the American Ship General Grant.jpg
Wreck of the General Grant

The General Grant was a 1,005-ton three-masted barque built in Maine, USA in 1864 and registered in Boston, USA.[1] She was named after Ulysses S. Grant, owned by Messers Boyes, Richardson & Co. and she had a timber hull with a length of 179.5ft, beam of 34.5ft and depth of 21.5ft.[2]

Wreck

She departed Melbourne on 4 May 1866 bound for London via the Cape Horn under the command of Captain William H. Loughlin. She was carrying 58 passengers and 25 crew, along with a cargo of wool, skins, 2,576 ounces of gold and 9 tons of zinc spelter ballast. Included in the passenger list were a number of successful miners from the Australian gold fields.

At 11pm on 13 May 1866 the Auckland Island's were sited dead ahead. With only light winds the crew were unable to change course and she collided against the cliffs and drifted into a large cave on Auckland Island's western shore. The rising tide and increasing swell caused the main mast to hit the cave roof repeatedly until the mast forced a hole through the hull and the ship sunk on 14 May 1866. Although the weather remained calm the boats were not launched immediately on the ship entering the cave as it was very dark, there was no obvious landing place and pieces of spars and rock were falling down continually.[3]

Once daylight arrived the three boats on board were prepared for launch. The boats consisted of two quarter boats (each 22 feet long) and a long boat of 30 feet. One of the quarter boats was launched first and sent outside to see if landing could be made. The boat was expected to return for more people but instead waited outside the cave as no landing could be found. By this time the swell was increasing. The second quarter boat took a number of passengers and crew including Mrs Jewell to the first boat for transfer. The long boat was lying on the quarter-deck and was filled with passengers. The ship was sinking fast and the long boat floated off the General Grant's decks. Unfortunately the long boat was swamped with water just after getting clear of the ship. The second quarter boat stayed out of the danger area but three people (David Ashworth, Aaron Haymen and William Sanguily) were able to swim through the surf to the quarter boat[4]. A total of fifteen people including 9 crew and 6 passengers survived the wreck. The captain did not leave the ship.

Passengers & Crew

The list of those on the General Grant includes:

  • William H. Loughlin of New York - Captain - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Bartholmew Brown of Boston - First officer - Lost at sea attempting to reach New Zealand
  • B. F. Jones of Massachusetts - Second officer - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Magnes Anderson of Sweden - Carpenter - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Keding - Steward - Drowned at time of wreck
  • William Newton Scott of Shields (also reported as W Newton Smith) - Able bodied seaman - Lost at sea attempting to reach New Zealand
  • William Ferguson - Able bodied seaman - Survived
  • Cornelius Drew - Able bodied seaman - Survived
  • Peter McNevin of Isaly - Able bodied seaman - Lost at sea attempting to reach New Zealand
  • Andrew Morrison of Glasgow - Able bodied seaman - Lost at sea attempting to reach New Zealand
  • David McLelland of Ayre, Scotland - Able bodied seaman - Died on the Island
  • Joseph Jewell - Able bodied seaman - Survived
  • William Murdoch Sanguily - Able bodied seaman - Survived
  • Aaron Hayman (also reported as A. Harpman[5])- Ordinary seaman - Survived
  • Corn - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Purser - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Cook - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Assistant Cook - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Mrs Brown - Passenger (wife of First Officer, Bartholmew Brown)- Drowned at time of wreck
  • Mrs Mary Ann Jewell - Passenger (wife of Able bodied Seaman Joseph Jewell) - Survived. She is often reported as a stewardess but this is disputed. She did pay for her passage but had to sign articles of employment as a stewardess to accompany her husband - a member of the crew - but she did not act as stewardess.[6] [7]
  • James Teer - Passenger - Survived
  • Frederick Patrick Coughey - Passenger - Survived
  • David Ashworth - Passenger - Survived
  • Nicholas Allen - Passenger - Survived
  • Mrs Ott and five children - Passengers - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Mrs Allen and three children - Passengers - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Mr & Mrs Oldfield and two children - Passengers - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Mr Laing - Passenger - Drowned at time of wreck
  • Mr Mitchell - Passenger - Drowned at time of wreck

Castaway

After the sinking of the ship and the capsizing of the long boat the remaining two quarter boats pulled up outside the cave and decided to row for Disappointment Island. They reached there at dark and then the next day made for the Auckland Island and Port Ross. They arrived there after three days and two nights in the boats. After exploring, the group found two huts at Port Ross and, on 13 July 1866 Musgrave's hut. The group split into two in order to keep watch for passing ships. After nine months ashore four of the crew decided to attempt to sail to New Zealand in one of the quarter boats. They set sail on 22 January 1867 without a compass, chart or nautical instrument of any kind. They were never seen again. Another survivor, David McLelland died of illness on 3 September 1867. He was 62.

The ten remaining survivors moved to Enderby Island where they lived on seals and pigs. On 19 November they sighted the cutter Fanny but she did not see their signals. The brig Amherst noticed their signals on 21 November 1866 and were rescued the group.

As a result of this shipwreck and two previous wrecks ( the Grafton (1864) and the Invercauld (1865), the New Zealand government established a network of castaway depots and regular visits by government vessels to the subantarctic islands for the relief of further shipwreck victims.

From as soon as 1868, the General Grant's cargo of gold attracted numerous recovery attempts, several of which proved deadly for the wreck seekers, but the exact location of the wreck has yet to be confirmed. The exact material making up the ballast of ship has been the subject of rumours with suggestions that the ballast was gold bars instead of the zinc spelter described in the manifest.

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Official Inquiry Under the Wreck's Act At Bluff Harbor". Southland Times, Issue 885, Page 2. 20 January 1868. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=ST18680120.2.5&e=-------10--51-byDA---0-all. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
  2. ↑ "Wreck of the General Grant". http://www.maanz.wellington.net.nz/projects/gengrant.html. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
  3. ↑ "Wreck of the General Grant at the Auckland Islands 18 months ago". Southland Times, Issue 885, Page 2. 20 January 1868. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=ST18680120.1.2&e=-------10--51-byDA---0. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
  4. ↑ "Wreck of the General Grant at the Auckland Islands 18 months ago". Southland Times, Issue 885, Page 2. 20 January 1868. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=ST18680120.1.2&e=-------10--51-byDA---0. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
  5. ↑ "Another Wreck at Auckland Islands". Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 56, page 22. 27 January 1868. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=HBWT18680127.2.7&cl=search&srpos=20&e=-------10--11----0Invercauld-all. Retrieved 27 March 2010. 
  6. ↑ "Official Inquiry Under the Wreck's Act At Bluff Harbor". Southland Times, Issue 885, Page 2. 20 January 1868. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=ST18680120.2.5&e=-------10--51-byDA---0-all. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
  7. ↑ "Joseph Jewell's Letter". 16 July 1868. http://wreckofthegeneralgrant.com/page10.htm. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 

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