RMS Tayleur

The RMS Tayleur in a contemporary presentation

The RMS Tayleur was an iron clipper, which was chartered by the British shipping company White Star Line and went down on its maiden voyage in January 1854 in the Irish Sea after hitting a rock. 362 of the 652 people on board were killed. Although it is also referred to as "the first Titanic of the White Star Line", both ships were legally different but the same White Star Lines.

The ship

The built of iron clipper Tayleur was built in 1853 in the Bank Quay Foundry in the English town of Warrington on the River Mersey. She was the largest of the eleven -built iron ships, which originated 1852-1855 in the Bank Quay Foundry. The ship was finished after six months and was released on October 3, 1853 in front of a large crowd from the stack. The Tayleur was built for Charles Moore & Company and cost after damaligem monetary value of 34,000 pounds sterling. An experienced sailing ship designer William Rennie of Liverpool designed the design of Tayleur. When she was launched, she was the largest ship of its time. She was 1750 grt, 70 m long, 12 m wide and three decks high. 650 beds were the travelers. In their cargo holds 9000 tons of cargo could be stowed. It was named after the ship Charles Tayleur, founder of the Vulcan Engineering Works in Warrington and co-owner of the Bank Quay Foundry.

The new ship was chartered by the White Star Line, a British shipping company based in Liverpool, to put it in the booming emigrant traffic from the UK to Australia. Due to the large gold mining in Australia Auswanderströme had used there. Founded by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson White Star Line was a predecessor of the "actual" White Star Line, which was founded in 1868 by Thomas Henry Ismay and became one of the most successful shipping companies in Britain.

The first White Star Line melted later with other companies, including the Black Ball Line and the Eagle Line, together, but went bankrupt in 1867. Ismay bought the house flag and founded his own thriving company. After the completion of the Tayleur she went on 14 January 1854 in Liverpool at anchor to be prepared for her maiden voyage to Australia.

The Downfall

Concatenation of grievances

On Thursday, January 19, 1854, put the Tayleur in Liverpool shortly before 12.00 noon clock on her maiden voyage to Melbourne from. On board were 71 crew members and 581 passengers. Just over half of the passengers were British, the rest came from Central Europe and Scandinavia. The command had the only 29 -year-old Captain John Noble, who had been selected by the owners personally as commander of its new flagship.

The ship was what the crew was concerned, clearly understaffed. In later studies, it was found that among the crew were only 37 trained seamen, and only 25 of them spoke English. The rest were Chinese and Indians. In addition, it later came to reports, many of the crew members had only hired to get a free passage to Australia. Captain Noble also unveiled already established shortly after departure, the ship was difficult to control. In addition to that the compasses were not working properly on board because of the iron shell of the Tayleur. Thus the ship already came shortly after the expiry on a different course. On the bridge of the ship was believed to sail south through the Irish Sea, but instead took the Tayleur a westerly course and headed for Ireland.

On Saturday, January 21, after two days at sea, the ship ran into a storm while heading straight for the island of Lambay Iceland. Then there was dense fog. The rudder of Tayleur had a much too small for its size and was not able to maneuver the boat around the island. The rigging was in a defective condition, as many ropes were not yet sufficiently stretched, and the sails were thereby hung limp and barely controlled. Once the rocks have been spotted from Lambay Iceland on the banks, both anchors were lowered in order to avoid an impending collision. The helm was put hard to starboard.

Collision and sinking

Despite these measures, the Tayleur ran to the cliffs on the southeast shore of the island, about five miles from the Dublin Bay. The ship got stuck and was surrounded by a stormy surf and was dominated by 24 m high cliffs. The Tayleur has been raised several times and thrown back on the rocks. Anxiety and panic on board were great; the passengers went in search of their loved ones and for salvation around and were rinsed either to dozens of the breakers overboard or jumped in the lake.

The lifeboats were clearly made ​​for lowering, but after the first after veering crashed into the rocks and smashed, the evacuation was adjusted. The sailing ship was the shore so close that the crew precipitated one of the poles and thus could not establish a connection to the land. Several passengers were thus able to save to the shore. Some of them had taken ropes that were connected to the ship and other people served as a rescue. Mainly men made ​​it so in safety; most women and children lost his footing, slid down and were swept away by the raging sea.

Because of the raging sea No more lifeboats could be launched. The high waves tore down the Tayleur of the rock and pushed it in deeper water, so they eventually went ahead at 20 minutes after the collision with the rear. Most of the passengers were at this time on board the ship. Captain Noble waited until the last moment and jumped from his ship. He was pulled to shore and survived. After the Tayleur had fallen to the ground, still towered over the tops of her masts out of the water.

One of the passengers, who made it ashore, alerted the Coast Guard, who was best with a rescue boat on the way to the ship. There only one survivor has been found Vivers William, who had held 14 hours at the rigging. The head of the Task Force, George Finlay, was awarded on March 2, 1854 a silver medal for the rescue operation. Of the 652 people on board lost their lives 362. They were buried at Lambay Iceland. Of the more than 100 women only three survived. From the 71- member crew, however, survived the biggest part. After the news of the disaster had reached the country, the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company sent their mail steamer Prince to search for survivors.

The wreck of the Tayleur lies at a depth of 18 m at the bottom of the Irish Sea, approximately 30 meters from the shore of Lambay Iceland in position 53 ° 28 ' 54 "N, 6 ° 1' 12" W53.481666666667 - 6:02. The diving without permission of the Office of Public Works is prohibited.

Investigation

The disaster was followed by four different official investigations that ended in part, with different results. There were a forensic medical examination in Malahide, a place by the Board of Trade under Captain Walker, one of the British Admiralty under Mr. Grantham, the Inspector General for iron ships and the Liverpool Maritime Board.

Above all, the newspapers gave Captain John Noble to blame for the accident, but the investigation acquitted him of all responsibility and made the owner of the vessel for the tragedy responsible because they had the ship run out without ensuring the proper functioning of the compasses. Only the Board of Trade complained to Captain Noble, that despite land nearby and limited visibility conditions by Lot was the water depth can be measured. Also the numbers of people on board and the death toll vary depending on the source. Some texts according were 528-680 people on board, of whom drowned 297-380. It is generally assumed of 652 passengers, of which 290 survived.

Comparisons with the Titanic

Tayleur and Titanic were both Mailboats a shipping company called White Star Line, who perished on her maiden voyage with a large loss of life.

On both vessels contributed details during construction or equipment on the extent of the disaster. On the Tayleur it was the iron shell, which affected the compasses, as well as the insufficient fortified sails. On the Titanic, it was the lack of lifeboats.