SS Southern Cross (1886)

The SS Southern Cross was a steam-powered sealing vessel that operated primarily in Norway and Newfoundland and Labrador.

She was lost at sea with 173 crew on March 31, 1914, in what would later be termed the "1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster". More than the 78 crewmen who were lost from the crew complement of the SS Newfoundland in the same storm. A total of 251 or 252 men were lost in one storm from these two ships.

Background

The vessel was commissioned as the whaler Pollux at Arendal, Norway in 1886. Under the explorer Carstens Borchgrevink in December 19, 1898 Pollux made its first Antarctic expedition where it made marine history by breaking through the Great Ice barrier to the unexplored Ross Sea.

Pollux was sold to Baine Johnston and renamed SS Southern Cross^{[citation needed]} upon transferring to Newfoundland and Labrador in 1901. Southern Cross participated in every seal hunt from 1901-1914.

1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster

The 1914 sealing fleet included both the SS Southern Cross and the SS Newfoundland (under Captain Westbury Keane). In addition to minor crew changes from 1913, the fateful decision to remove the wireless set and operator from the SS Newfoundland in order to cut costs.

The fleet left St. John's on March 13, 1914. By March 30, The SS Newfoundland was "jammed" in the ice. The Captain, Wes Kean, could see signals from his father's ship, the SS Stephano, indicating that there were seals several miles away, and sent his crew in that direction to begin killing seals, under command of his first mate. A storm began that afternoon, and Wes Kean, believing that the men were safely aboard the SS Stephano, did not blow the ship's whistle to signal his location and assist the crew in returning to the Newfoundland. The dead and survivors alike were picked up approximately 48 hours later by another ship in the fleet, the SS Bellaventure, under Captain R. Isaac. Of the 132 men aboard the SS Newfoundland, 78 died, and many more were seriously injured.

Meanwhile, as the terrible news of the SS Newfoundland was reaching St. John's, the SS Southern Cross fell out of normal communication. The people of Newfoundland remained hopeful that tragedy would not strike twice, as evidenced by the April 3 newspaper article below:

The Evening Telegram April 3, 1914 Nothing has been heard of the Southern Cross since she was reported off Cape Pine on Tuesday last, and the general opinion is that she was driven far off to sea. Various reports were afloat in the city last night, one in particular that she had passed Cape Race yesterday afternoon, but upon making enquiries this and the other reports were unfortunately found to be untrue. At 5:30 yesterday the Anglo [Anglo-American Telegraph Co.] got in touch with Cape Race and learned that she had not passed the Cape neither was she at Trepassey. A message from Captain Connors of the Portia said she was not St. Mary’s Bay. A wireless message was sent by the government to the U.S. Patrol steamer Senaca, which is in the vicinity of Cape Race, asking her to search for the Cross. The S.S. Kyle will also leave tonight to make a diligent search for her and it is hoped that something will soon be heard from the overdue ship, as anxiety for her safety is increasing hourly. If she had been driven off to sea, which is the general opinion expressed by experienced seamen, it would take her some days to make land again. The ship is heavily laden and cannot steam at great speed.

Unlike the wreck of the Newfoundland, the disappearance of the Southern Cross remained largely unexplained as no crewmen or record of the voyage survived. While a marine court of enquiry determined that the ship sank in a blizzard on March 31, little evidence exists to verify this. Oral tradition suggests that rotten boards gave out in the heavy sea and allowed the cargo to shift and capsize the steamer. Though the wreck of the SS Southern Cross accounted for the greater human loss of the two shipwrecks, some historians argue that the emotional impact of the SS Newfoundland disaster was more intensely felt because of the horrific stories survivors were able to recount.

These two shipwrecks together constitute what is referred to as the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster. A total loss of 251 lives from a province with a population of approximately 250,000 devastated families and communities. In his autobiographical book, Rockwell Kent describes the impact of the loss on Brigus, where many of the sealers from the Southern Cross had lived. “It will pretty well clear out this place,” said one resident of the ship’s loss. According to Kent “The dread of the loss of this steamer had passed almost to certainty and the mention of the house, the wife, the children, the hopes and ambitions of any of those on her became a tragedy.”

Legislative Response

In 1914-15, the government held a commission of enquiry to examine the SS Newfoundland and SS Southern Cross sealing disasters. The commission’s findings made it clear that sealers faced extraordinarily dangerous working conditions on the ice.

While legislation concerning the sealing industry had existed as early as 1873, most regulations concerned maintaining seal stock. In 1898 legislation put a limit on the number of men on each steamer, and one year later in 1899, some wage protection was instated for sealers. Arguably as a result of the 1914 Sealing Disaster and subsequent inquiries, further legislation was put in place in 1916, aimed directly at improving the safety standards and well-being of sealers. The new measures prohibited men from working in the dark; prohibited captains from ordering their crewmen to travel so far as to not be able to return to the ship within the day, and provided for rocket signals, search parties, masters’ and mates’ certificates, medical officers, thermometers, barometers, and better food and compensation.

In response to speculation that the SS Southern Cross sank because of overloading, the government prohibited any ship from returning from a hunt with more that 35,000 pelts, and the Minister of Fisheries began to mark "load lines" on sealing vessels. Any ship that returned to port with its "load line" below the water would be heavily fined.

Public Response

Public sympathy was very evident after the 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster. By April 27, 1914, a disaster fund set up to aid survivors and their families amounted to $88,550. It’s notable that this was not limited to the sealing disasters; it was common practice in society at the time to respond to industrial accidents in this way.

SS Southern Cross in Popular Culture

The vessel was the subject of the book Death on the Ice by Cassie Brown, and a 1991 National Film Board of Canada documentary I Just Didn't Want to Die: The 1914 Newfoundland Sealing Disaster.

The loss of so many lives on the Southern Cross has caused the incident to be written in a song entitled Southern Cross.

SS Southern Cross officers and crew

Master George Clarke, Brigus - 2nd Hand, James Kelly, Brigus - Chief Engineer, David Parsons, St. John's - 2nd Engineer, Thomas Connell, St. John's - 3rd Engineer, W. Hammond, St. John's - Fireman, W. Walsh, St. John's - Fireman, M. Scammell, St. John's - Fireman, P. Stapleton, St. John's - Fireman, Gregory Bremnan, St. John's - Fireman, John Whelan, St. John's - James Batton, Foxtrap - Ed. Barrett, Tilton - Thomas Barrett, Spaniard's Bay - Thomas Bartlett, Turk's Gut - Arthur Benson, Harbour Grace - John Bishop, Kelligrews - James Blundon, Low Point, Conception Bay - John Boland, St. John's - John Bradbury, Harbour Grace - James Bray, Harbour Grace - Herbert Bray, Harbour Grace - Thomas Bright, Queen's Cove - Pat Burke, Colliers - James Bussey, Kelligrews - Jos. Bussey, Kelligrews - Noah Bussey, Foxtrap - Alfred Bussey, Foxtrap - Thomas Bussey, Foxtrap - Gordon Bussey, Foxtrap - Henry Butler, Foxtrap - Herb Butler, Foxtrap - Sam Butler, Kelligrews - W. C. Butler, Foxtrap - Uriah Button, Kelligrews - John Callahan, Harbour Grace - Walter Carrol, Outer Cove - J. Chafe, Petty Harbour - George Chapman, Spaniard's Bay - Nathan Chetman, Spaniard's Bay - Albert Clarke, Paradise - Art Clark, Spaniard's Bay - Hy. Clark, Carbonear - John Clarke, Brigus - John W. Clarke, Paradise - Walter Clarke, St. John's - Robert Clarke, Spaniard's Bay - William Clarke, Spaniard's Bay - Ed Cole, Colliers - John Cole, Colliers - John Conway, Colliers - John Comber, Island Cove - William Coombs, Harbour Grace - Jos. Corbett, Clarke's Beach - John Costello, Conception Harbour - Thomas Costello, Conception Harbour - Ed Crane, Spaniard's Bay - James Dunphy, Tor's Cove - Pat Dyer, Logy Bay - John Ebbs, St. John's - John Ellis, St. John's - John Evans, Torbay - Alex Field, Torbay - John Field, St. John's - Fred Follett, Broad Cove - James Foley, Grey's Islands - Oscar Forward, Carbonear - George French, Harbour Grace - Ed. Gibbons, St. Vincents - Sebastian Gibbons, St. Vincents - Thomas Gibbons, St. Vincents - Robert Gillett, Carbonear - Robert Gosse, Spaniard's Bay - William Gosse, Spaniard's Bay - William Gosse, Little Bay - John Griffin, Harbour Grace - George Hall, Colliers - John Hannon, Bay de Verde - Abner Harris, Adeytown - Pat Hearn, Goulds - Thomas Hickey, Holyrood - George Hiscock, Topsail - John P. Hiscock, Carbonear - James Hollett, Arnold's Cove - William J. Howe, Carbonear - Elias James, Harbour Grace - Isaac James, Harbour Grace - Thomas James, Harbour Grace - William James, Harbour Grace - W. C. James, Harbour Grace - William Kearney, Seal Cove - Samuel Kennedy, Seal Cove - Ed Kenney, Fermeuse - Ronald Knight, Harbour Grace - John Landry, New Chelsea, T. B. - Henry Leary, Kelligrews - Allan Lindsay, St. John's - Walter Maley, Kelligrews - Thomas Manning, Torbay - John Mansfield, Conception Harbour - John Mansfield, St. John's - Arthur Martin, Harbour Grace - James Martin, St. John's - Elias Mason, Catalina - Ambrose Matthews, New Chelsea, T. B. - John Mercer, Island Cove - Eleazer Morris, Clarke's Beach - M. Morrissey, Harbour Grace - Alec Morgan, Seal Cove - Joseph Morgan, Seal Cove - George Murray, Carbonear - James Neal, Island Cove - Fred Newel, Upper Island Cove - Josiah Newel, Carbonear - Martine Newell, Upper Island Cove - Charles Norman, Catalina - Noel Norman, Harbour Grace - William Norman, Cupids - Ernest Noseworthy, Harbour Grace - James Noseworthy, Harbour Grace - Walter O'Rourke, Outer Cove - James Patrick, Carbonear - George Patten, Foxtrap - Amos Penny, Carbonear - Norman Penney, Carbonear - Robert Penney, Carbonear - Walter Pierce, Catalina - Alfred Pike, Carbonear - James Porter, Long Pond, Manuels - Herb Pynn, Harbour Grace - Charles Quetel, St. John's - James Quilty, Horse Cove - Samuel Rideout, Kelligrews - Ben Robbins, Lower Island Cove - John Robbins, Island Cove - James Robertson, St. John's - Jacob Rowe, Chance Cove, T. Bay - Noah Rowe, Chance Cove - Ambrose Sharp, Paradise - William Sharp, Paradise - Leonard Skiffington, Newman's Cove, B. B. - George Smith, Spaniard's Bay - Henry Smith, Manuels - Alex Squires, Topsail - Ed Squires, Topsail - Fred Squires, St. John's - John Stanley, Long Pond, Manuels - William Stanley, Long Ponds, Manuels - Noah Sparkes, Brigus - Thomas Sparkes, Brigus - Ambrose Taylor, Foxtrap - Kenneth Taylor, Cupids - Kenneth Vokey, Cupids - George Vokey, Spaniard's Bay - William Vokey, Spaniard's Bay - James Walsh, Conception Harbour - James Walsh, St. Vincents - John Walsh, Colliers - William Walsh, Northern Bay - B. Watts, Brigus - William Webber, Harbour Grace - William White, St. Mary's - Angus Winsor, Brigus - Lawrence Yeo, St. John's - Jos. Yetman, Spaniard's Bay - Mark Yetman, Harbour Grace - James Youden, Brigus -

Bibliography

Shannon Ryan (1994).The Ice Hunters: A History of Newfoundland Sealing to 1914. Breakwater Books Ltd. ISBN 1550810952.
Cassie Brown (1972). Death on the Ice; the great Newfoundland sealing disaster of 1914. Doubleday. ISBN 0385251793.
"Tragedy on Ice." Maclean's 113, no. 48 (November 27, 2000): 76.
Evening Telegram, 3 April 1914.
Rockwell Kent (1996). N by E. Wesleyan. ISBN 0819552925.