SS London (1864)
50114
The London was a 1864 put into service passenger ship in the British shipping company Money Wigram & Sons, which was built for the passenger and freight traffic between the UK and Australia. On January 11, 1866, the London sank in a storm in the Bay of Biscay, where 220 of the 239 passengers aboard and crew members were killed.
The ship
The 1652 -ton, built of iron steamship London originated in 1864 at the shipyard Money Wigram & Sons in London's Blackwall. The 84.3 meters long and 10.9 meters wide ship had three masts, two decks, a chimney and was equipped with a compound steam engine by Humphrys, Tennant and Dykes, who made 200 horsepower and enabled a speed of 9 knots. As is common in her time, she was also equipped with sails. The passenger capacity was 92 travelers in the first and 225 in the Second Class. There were 90 crew members.
The London was built for passenger and freight traffic from England to South Africa to Australia. She was launched on July 20, 1864 from the stack ( christened by Miss Wyndham ), completed on September 23, 1864 their test drives and ran on October 23, 1864 under the command of Captain John Bohun Martin on her maiden voyage from London to Melbourne ( Australia) from. On November 21, 1864 a man went overboard, who could not be saved. On January 8, 1865, was in Melbourne features an open day on which the ship could be seen.
The Downfall
On Wednesday, December 13, 1865 put the London in Gravesend (England) again under the command of Captain John Martin to another crossing to Melbourne from. The stopover in Plymouth was delayed because they first had to go to Spithead near Portsmouth at anchor due to bad weather. After she then still could invest in Plymouth, she laid on January 6, 1866 from to proceed.
On 10 January, the London had reached the Bay of Biscay, where they got into a heavy storm. The situation was so dangerous that Captain Martin, decided to cancel the trip and return to Plymouth. After the change of course of the steamer rolled heavily in the turbulent sea and sea water began to penetrate the hull. The water masses invaded the lower decks, eventually flooded the engine room and extinguished the fire in the boilers.
The chief engineer and his machinists remained so long in the engine room until it became apparent that the machine would not bring more performance. Captain Martin said the ship was lost and ordered passengers and crew to the lifeboats. From the boats on board, only one could be launched. Although it was only for twelve people, took 16 crew members and three passengers, all men, in place.
Stormy waves engulfed the ship and let it fill up. Shortly after the filing of the boat went under the London. The 19 people in the boat were the only survivors of the sinking. All other persons on board, including all women and children, were killed. The survivors were rescued on 12 January by the Italian Bark Marianople and taken on January 16 in Falmouth on land.
Among the deaths, Gustavus Vaughan Brooke were (1818-1866), a prominent Irish stage actor who excelled especially in plays by William Shakespeare; John Debenham, son of William Debenham, founder of Debenhams, one of the largest department stores Britain; James and Elizabeth Bevan, parents of James Bevan, the first international captain of the Welsh Rugby Union and Rev. Daniel James Draper (1810-1866), a senior member of the Methodist church and a delegate of the Australasian Conference. Gustavus Brooke's last words are said to have a salute to the people of Melbourne. He had been invited by George Coppin on the way to a two-year commitment in Australia. Draper and two other clergymen prayed surrounded by passengers while they worked on the pumps.
Injury
The Scottish poet William Topaz McGonagall, the many shipwrecks his time as the sinking of the Mohegan 1898 or the Stella 1899 held in poems, processed also the downfall of London in a poem titled The Wreck of the Steamer ' London ' While on her Way to Australia.
The Board of Trade examined the downfall. There were several factors that had contributed, according to the commission of inquiry into the disaster. Firstly, the fact that Captain Martin had decided to return to Plymouth and thus did not let the storm behind him, but returned in its center. Furthermore, the overloading of the ship is said to have played with 345 tons of building materials for the construction of railways a role. Also, have 50 tons of coal, which were stored on deck, torn by the storm and the scuppers blocked, thereby preventing water could be pumped out.