Tales of Shipwrecks and Other Disasters at Sea

by Thomas Bingley

About eight o'clock, the rudder was discovered to be unshipped, while the tiller was tearing up the gun-deck, and the water rushing in with fearful rapidity at the port-holes. At this moment most of the passengers and crew joined in solemn prayer to the Almighty; and while engaged in this act of devotion, the sea, foaming dreadfully, made a breach completely over them, so that they were obliged to exert every effort to prevent their being swept out of the ship. From the uncommon fury and roaring of the waves, the signal-guns, which they continued to fire from time to time, could scarcely be heard even on board; and no hope remained of their obtaining assistance from the shore. As a last expedient, the captain gave orders to cut away the anchors from the bows, when a violent swell immediately parted them, and the ship drifted with irresistible force farther on the piles.

The morning was unusually dark, and to aggravate the horrors of the terrific scene, the ship was not more than four or five cables' lengths from the shore; so that the crew could see that there were several people on the Wall, but who were unable to afford them any assistance. It was now half past eight, when a tremendous sea dashed with such force against the ill-fated vessel, that, after rocking like a cradle for two or three seconds, her timbers split, and she immediately broke in pieces. About one hundred and seventy persons were instantly overwhelmed by the furious element, and not one of them ever reached the land. The wreck, thus torn asunder, still presented nearly three hundred miserable objects clinging to the various parts that remained above water; while the tremendous noise of the foaming billows was drowned by the piercing shrieks and cries of the hapless women and children.

At the earnest request of the admiral, the jolly-boat, which was hanging over the stern, was now launched; and he, together with the colonel and eight females, were helped into it. They had not, however, proceeded far when a dreadful sea broke over them, and the boat instantly disappeared. In a few moments the colonel was observed endeavoring to support his wife above water, when a wave overwhelmed them, and they also sank to rise no more.

As the ship was now settling rapidly, each determined to risk some experiment to reach the shore. The captain proposed to his wife that they should make themselves fast to a large hen-coop, and commit their lives to the mercy of the waves. A few of the crew having cut away the coop, they with great difficulty made fast the captain and Mrs. Scherman, and after an affectionate parting, lowered them down over the stern. They had nearly reached the Wall, followed by the anxious looks of those who had remained on board the wreck, when a large piece that had been detached from it, was violently dashed against them, and they were never seen to rise again.

Painful as this spectacle must necessarily have been to the remaining survivers, their attention was completely absorbed in contriving means for their own preservation. A lieutenant, his wife, and two female domestics of the unfortunate admiral, still remained on the wreck, and the men agreed to make one more effort to save them. Seizing one of the hatches which had been torn asunder, they fastened it to a piece of the quarter-galley, and lashed the females to the planks, while the lieutenant, who was a good swimmer, stripped himself, and having taken a rope round his waist, the raft was lowered into the water. They had scarcely been a few seconds upon the water, when a violent gust of wind overset the raft, and every soul on it was hurried into eternity. Thus perished all the officers and females who had remained on the stern of the wreck.

About this time, the bowsprit was torn asunder from the other parts of the wreck. I have already told you that many of the females and officers had taken refuge upon it, and the number of persons about the rigging and various parts of the bows was now above a hundred, who were driven towards the Wall by the violence of the surf. Those who were upon the stern watched the progress of their companions with the utmost solicitude, and just as they supposed them to be beyond the reach of further danger, a tremendous sea broke over them, and whelmed them all in one general destruction.

The surface of the ocean was instantly covered with their bodies, and many of the unhappy creatures had almost reached the shore; but wave upon wave succeeded each other with fearful rapidity, and finally triumphed over all their exertions. Among the most distressing instances of individual suffering, was that of a captain of the marines, who was swimming with one hand, and with the other endeavoring to support his wife by the hair of her head; till, overcome by cold and fatigue, he turned round, clasped her in his arms, and both sank amid the waves.

The wreck, meanwhile, was gradually disappearing, and many of the seamen and marines, successively seizing on various timbers, precipitated themselves into the danger they were so anxious to avoid; but it may naturally be supposed, that after so many dreadful examples, those who still remained on the wreck should not be willing to attempt similar experiments. Of these there were now not more than forty-five on both parts of the wreck, which frequently became so entangled, that the men were near enough to hold a conversation with each other. Their fate, however, was now rapidly approaching to a crisis; from all parts, the planks were being torn away, and each succeeding wave was fatal to two or three of the wretched survivers. At length, two of the seamen determined to lash themselves to a large hog-trough, and endeavor to reach the land: they were handed over the larboard side, and after a miraculous escape from coming in contact with a fragment of the drifting wreck, they fortunately succeeded in reaching the shore in safety, being the first out of all the adventurers who had quitted the ship that were successful.

Their success greatly contributed to animate the exertions of those whom they had left behind, and who instantly fell to work to construct a raft, which, in a few minutes, was sufficiently compact for them to make the attempt. To this frail structure did the survivers commit their lives; and they had scarcely got clear of the wreck, when a heavy sea struck it with such violence, that it was dashed into a thousand pieces. The situation of those on the raft was now peculiarly awful, from the numerous fragments of the wreck, which were floating about in every direction, and by the violence of their motions threatening instant destruction. They continued, however, to drift nearer the Wall, when they were run foul of by a piece of the wreck, which swept off eighteen out of the thirty-three who were upon the raft, and wounded most of the others in a greater or less degree; at the same time they were driven forward with such velocity, that it was impossible to afford any relief to those who were struck off. About ten minutes after this fatal accident the survivers succeeded in reaching the long-wished-for shore, half dead with fatigue and the severe bruises which they had received.

Thus, of four hundred and seventy-two persons, who, but a few days before had left the city of Amsterdam, and who were but a few hours before on board the Vryheid, in full health and confidence of security, not more than eighteen escaped. This wretched remnant of the crew of that ill-fated vessel received from the inhabitants of the adjacent coast, such generous attention, as not only contributed to their recovery, but amply relieved all their necessities. The bodies of the unfortunate sufferers, which were scattered along the coast for many miles, were likewise collected, and decently interred. The bodies of Captain Scherman and his wife, and many of the officers and their ladies, were committed to the grave with every mark of respect.