Wreck
She departed Melbourne on 4 May 1866 bound for London via 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 Islands were sighted 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 sank 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.
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. A total of fifteen people including 9 crew and 6 passengers survived the wreck. The captain did not leave the ship.
Read more about this topic: General Grant (ship)
Famous quotes containing the word wreck:
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To forgive wrongs darker than Death or Night;
To defy Power, which seems Omnipotent;
To love, and bear; to hope, till Hope creates
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change nor falter nor repent;
This, like thy glory, Titan! is to be
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire and Victory.”
—Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
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—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)
“the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth
the drowned face always staring
toward the sun”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)