|
Inverkip,
a steel barque of 1466 tons was built by Russell
& Co. at Port Glasgow, 1893. She measured 8x36x22 ft and was owned by
the Inverkip Ship Co. Ltd. Captain Jones. Bound from Melbourne
to Queenstown, Ireland,
with wheat, she sank after collision with the Loch Carron, off Fastnet, Southern Ireland, 13 August
1904. The Inverkip sank almost immediately stem first. Only two survived of
the 22 crew: one seaman in the rigging was thrown on to the Loch Carron’s
deck, and the other scrambled to safety up her bowsprit. The rescued men are
Carpenter Luhimann and Seaman Stewart.
|
|
A PASSENGER'S STORY
Mr. W. P. Watson, of London, who was a
passenger on the Loch Carron, has made the following
statement: - "The Loch Carron left Greenock last Wednesday, bound for Sydney. The crew
numbered thirty hands, and there were three passengers. Captain Clarke was in
charge. All went well until Saturday night at a quarter to twelve. When south
of the Fastnet in thick weather, a strong wind and heavy sea prevailed. I was
in my state-room under the poop when I heard and felt a terrible crash as if
the ship had struck violently on a rock. I jumped out of my berth and rushed
on deck in my nightshirt. When I got on the deck the crew
were busy getting out the lifeboats. I was directed to put a lifebelt
on at once, which I did, as the forward part of our ship was all battered in
and water was getting into the fore compartment. My attention wag then
directed to the fact that we bad been in collision with another ship, and
that she had apparently gone down. Two of her crew were
on our deck. One man, who spoke English imperfectly, was in great torture.
Three of his fingers were cut off and he was covered with blood about the
head and face. It appears that he was in the rigging of the Inverkip, and
when the collision occurred he was pitched on to the deck of the Loch Carron.
The other rescued man scrambled up the bowsprit of the Loch Carron, and thus
saved himself. All our boats had meanwhile been got out and provisioned, as
we did not know how long our own vessel would keep afloat. No trace of the
Inverkip was seen after the collision, and she must have sunk within two
minutes. All the night we kept in the same position in the hope-that
something might be seen of the crew of the Inverkip, but we saw no trace of
them, and doubtless 18 men with Captain Jones and his wife, all went down in
the ship".
|
|
James Stewart, of Inverness an able
seaman on board the Inverkip, which was sunk in collision with Loch Carron
off the Fastnet on Saturday night, and one of the two survivors, was
interviewed at Queenstown. Stewart, in the
course of conversation, said: “The Loch Carron struck us between the
forecastle head and fore rigging. The impact was terrible. The Loch Carron's
forecastle rail was level with my position, and I scrambled on board her. I
did this because I knew that as our ship was struck in a vital part she had
little hope of keeping afloat. I then saw the Inverkip swing round and fall
off to about ten yards. Two of the crew I saw make
an effort, to spring on board from the poop, but they fell in the water
between the two ships. I also saw the captain's wife in her nightdress on the
poop screaming and praying, and the captain was also there. I then saw the Inverkip go down stem foremost. It all
occurred in about three minutes. I fear that some of my shipmates got injured
on the deck. I also observed that a few of the crew were making efforts to
get a boat out, but before they could do so the Inverkip went down. The night
was pitch dark. The sea was choppy and there was a
drizzling rain. The damage to the Loch Carron was considerable and signals of
distress were fired during the night. A steam trawler from Fleetwood came
down on us at half-past one a.m. and stood by until daylight.” Stewart added
that his fellow survivor was the carpenter, a German by birth. He sustained
bad injuries and had to be taken to the hospital.
|
