TEIGNMOUTH JETTY, WITH HALDON HEIGHTS.
In Torbay a French brig, the Emilie, of Cherbourg, was driven ashore at Hogg's Cove, under Berry Head, at about four o'clock on Tuesday afternoon. The coastguards and Royal Naval Reserve, under the direction of Mr. Drayton, chief officer of coastguard, and assisted by a large number of fishermen, got out the rocket apparatus, and the crew, eight in number, were quickly landed. They were at once invited to the house of the Misses Hogg, at Berry Head, and provided with refreshments. The vessel was badly injured, and became a total wreck.
The ketch Sunshine, of Faversham, from London to Exmouth, with manure, was fallen in with on Thursday at noon, by the Brixham fishing ketch Inter-Nos, Berry Head bearing north-west, and distant twenty-five miles. She had her mainsail blown away, and her boats and water-casks washed overboard. When fallen in with, the crew were without water to drink, and their vessel was labouring heavily in the trough of the sea. The Sunshine was taken in tow by the Inter-Nos, £250 being agreed upon for the service, and both vessels arrived at Brixham on the same night. The fishing ketch Gertrude arrived in Brixham on Thursday, having on her deck the boat of the Crusader, of Aberystwith, which she had picked up in the channel with eight hands on her, and landed at Falmouth on Friday. The ketch Annie also arrived, with sails blown away, and her ballast shifted. The Olive & Mary and the Pickwick, ketches, had their sails blown away and their bulwarks damaged. All the crews described the gale as the heaviest they had ever been out in, and one skipper stated that he had seen four vessels founder without being able to render assistance. Later news has not, however, verified this story.
Some trawlers were reported during the week as missing from Brixham, but in course of time anxiety on their account was removed, and they either reached home or news of their safety was received from other ports to which they had run for shelter. Some Plymouth trawlers were also in difficulties, and it was feared that they had been wrecked, but in a few days their whereabouts was ascertained, and it was discovered that they had escaped with somewhat severe damage.
Start Point was on Monday night and again on the succeeding Tuesday a scene of some heartrending disasters. Many vessels, including the iron steamer Marana, 1,682 tons register, belonging to Messrs. George Bell and Co. of Liverpool; and the full-rigged ship Dryad, 1,035 tons register, owned by J. B. Walmsley, of Water Street, Liverpool, were totally wrecked within a short distance of each other, resulting, it is calculated, in an aggregate loss of over fifty lives. The Marana left Victoria Dock, London, at 11 A.M. on Sunday, March 1st, with a crew of twenty-eight. She was bound for Colombo with a cargo of sleepers, but was proceeding first to Swansea for coal. Whilst going down Channel on Monday night she encountered the gale which, charged with blinding snow, was blowing heavily from the S.E., and struck on the Blackstone Rock, at Start Point. Seeing that the vessel must go to pieces very shortly, the officers and crew took to the boats, most of them having life-belts on. The starboard lifeboat, in charge of the boatswain and with twenty-two men on board, proceeded in the direction of Prawle Point, and was almost immediately followed by a smaller boat in which were the captain, the chief engineer, the mess-room steward, and three seamen. The latter boat was soon separated from the lifeboat, and was never seen again. The lifeboat got under the coastguard station at Prawle, but the appearance of the coast was threatening, and the crew pushed off again. Almost immediately a sea struck the boat and capsized her. A bitter struggle for life on the part of the twenty immersed seamen succeeded, and those who had clung to the boat managed to get her righted, and clambered on board, but soon after she was again turned over. Once more she righted, and eventually drifted on to the Mal Rock to the east of Prawle Point, where the four occupants—all that remained of the crew of the vessel—contrived to get on to the rocks.
After a while they climbed the cliff, three of them carrying the fourth survivor, who was suffering from exhaustion and injuries, and after heavy toil they managed to get near to Prawle. Here two of the men agreed to remain with the shipmate, who to all appearance was fast succumbing to exhaustion, while the other went into the village for help. The man, like his three surviving comrades, was a Swede, and consequently unable to make himself understood, but Mr. Perry, Lloyd's signalman at Prawle, and the coastguardsman on duty, supplied him with food and clothing, and then went to search for traces of the wreck which had clearly taken place not far off. It was not until long past midnight that the mates of the Swede were discovered, and then it was too late to save the exhausted man, who died almost immediately after their arrival. The remaining survivors were taken into Prawle, and under kind treatment soon recovered.
Mrs. Briggs, wife of one of the lighthouse keepers at the Start, says that she was looking out of her window a little after half-past five o'clock on Monday evening, when she saw the steamer pass very close to the east side of Start Point as if she had come out from the bay. Seeing her great danger, and thinking it was impossible for her to clear the rocks running off from the Point, she hastened to another window, from which she had a view of the Blackstone Rocks. She then saw the steamer broadside on to the rocks. She at once gave an alarm to Mr. Jones, the head-keeper, who hurried out to give any assistance in his power, but within a very few minutes the vessel parted in two, the stern part sinking near the rocks, while the fore part washed away and sank a short distance to the west of the Start.
Mr. Crickett, chief officer of Coastguards at Hallsands, has stated that he received intelligence of the casualty at 6·40 P.M. by a messenger sent by Mr. Jones, of the Start Lighthouse, who said the vessel had struck the rocks about 500 yards south-east of the Start. He immediately despatched a messenger to Prawle, a distance of nearly five miles, for the life-saving apparatus. Another messenger he sent to Torcross to Mr. Ridge, the chief officer of Coastguards there, and Mr. Crickett then proceeded to the scene of the wreck, but on arriving, nothing could be seen of the vessel, as she had totally disappeared, and she was supposed to have gone to pieces five minutes after she struck. The coastguard at Hallsands say that they saw the Marana fully an hour before she struck, and she was then near the Skerries Bank, off the Start, acting in such a manner that they considered her steering gear was out of order. They saw her come into the bay and afterwards go out again, and watched her very closely, but they thought she had gone clear of the Start until they heard otherwise from the lighthouse-keepers.
John Nelson, one of the survivors, said in the course of his evidence at the inquest held on the first eight bodies recovered from the wreck:—"On Monday, 9th inst., I had tea at five o'clock, and went to my bunk. It was the first mate's watch. As I was turning into my bunk I heard someone shout out, 'Land right ahead.' It was blowing a bit stiff in the afternoon at three o'clock, and as the gale increased the canvas was taken in. The vessel struck almost immediately after I heard the shout, and the engines were going full-speed at the time. I came out and stood in the forecastle door. The captain was then on the bridge. The vessel struck first at the bow. When I came on deck she struck aft as well, knocking her propeller and rudder away. The captain then gave the order to get the starboard lifeboat ready for launching. All the three officers were on the bridge. The wind was blowing hard, and the waves were dashing all over the ship. It was daylight, but the Start light was lit. We could see the land plainly enough, although it was thick with heavy rain. There were two lifeboats, one on each side of the ship, and two smaller boats. We lowered the lifeboat and got into it, some 20 or 22 being in it, and got away from the ship on the starboard side. The boat was in charge of the boatswain, and the second and third engineers and the chief steward were in the boat. We left on board the captain, the three mates, the chief engineer, and the mess-room steward. Just as we were turning to get clear of the rocks, we looked at the ship, and saw the captain and the others leave in the other boat on the starboard side. They got safely away from the ship. After the vessel struck we hoisted a red pennant with a white ball as a signal of distress. When we got away it was getting dark, and we saw nothing of the other boat afterwards, but supposed they were following us. We pulled in shore to a kind of bay, but not thinking it safe to land, we went out of that. We could see nothing but rocks on our coming down, and in getting out of the bay our boat capsized. There was a very heavy sea running up against the rocks. We got hold of the keel of the boat, some twelve or fourteen of us that remained, and then the boat turned over again. After that only four or five of us remained sticking to the boat. We stuck to the boat until she broke up on the rocks. When I let go the boat I could feel the rocks with my feet, and I then walked on shore. There were four of us that came on shore, but I could see nothing of any others. When we got on shore we walked to a brake and got shelter. We had to help Rasmossen up, as he had no boots on. He was living half an hour before the coastguards found us, but we had been on shore a long time before they found us—about five or six hours."
Many of the bodies of the unfortunate men were washed ashore within a few days, and not far from the spot where the vessel went down. All of them were not identified, as the survivors had joined the ship too recently to be acquainted with all the officers and crew.