Undated newspaper cutting
 

ROANOKE

The New York & Virginia Navigation Co. Built in New York. Length 218’. Beam 32’ Dept 10’ 6”. 1071 tons. Provided a regular service between Cuba and New York. At 16:00 on September 29th, she left Havana with 24 cabin passengers, 16 steerage passengers and officers and crew numbering 50 – a total of 90 persons. Then, at 21:20, when 25 miles off the coast of Cuba, 10 men under Lieutenant John C. Braine, in the uniform of the Confederate Navy, went through he ship exclaiming :  “In the name of the Confederate States of America, I demand the surrender of this vessel as a lawful prize.” He then called upon Captain Drew to surrender, as a prisoner of war. The announcement was immediately followed by the discharge of several pistols with which the party were armed. Lieutenant Braine then secured the Captain and some of his officers on the upper deck, in irons, whilst the remaining officers and crew were secured on the main deck. In the space of 55 minutes, the capture had been achieved and the ship proceeded on her way as the Confederate Prize Steamship ‘Roanoke’. There had been little violent resistance except from the carpenter of the vessel who, after surrendering, threw an axe at the head of the Confederate 1st Mate. It fell short of its mark, however, and the carpenter was shot by four musket balls, dying from his wounds. Shortly after, Captain Drew was released on parole. The passengers were treated with the utmost civility and friendship. When the vessel arrived off Bermuda, it was Lieutenant Braine’s intention to take her into St. George’s to lay in a stock of provisions and coal and land the officers, passengers and crew before proceeding to Wilmington. It proved impossible, however, to take the vessel into  a British port so the
Lieutenant gave orders for the ship to be burned. This was done, after transferring everybody to a brig five miles off the coast, from where he and the others sailed into St. George on Sunday, October 9th . On arrival, he and his compatriots were arrested by the British authorities, Braine being charged with piracy and the unlawful seizure and destruction of the United States mail-steamer ‘Roanoke’ upon the high sea. The charge fell to the ground, however, on the production of Lieutenant Braine’s commission and his letter of instruction from Mr S.R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate Government. The prisoners were immediately discharged.

Newspaper report dated August 25th, 1888

THINGVALLA / GEISER

On the morning of August 14th, about 30 miles east of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, the ship was in collision with the ‘Thingvalla’ of the same company. The ‘Geiser’, of 1818 tons, was steaming eastward from New York to Copenhagen, carrying 107 passengers and a crew of nearly 50. The ‘Thingvalla’s’ course lay westward to New York, a little south of the ‘Geiser’s’  course. The ‘Thingvalla’, of 1630 tons was lightly laden and  carried 61 cabin passengers and 394 in steerage. There was mist and rain. Under these conditions, the ‘Thingvalla’s’ bow struck the ‘Geiser’ amidships, abaft the starboard main rigging, nearly at right-angles to the keel, and cut the ‘Geiser’ almost in two. Neither vessel had sighted the other until just before the collision. Neither of them could take effective means to prevent the catastrophe as both engines were put astern, unable to reverse the movement of the vessels quickly enough. The ‘Geiser’ starboarded her helm, throwing the bow to the north, but the ‘Thingvalla’ ported her helm instead of passing the Geiser’  to the south. The ‘Thingvalla’s’  bow was torn away, leaving a hole measuring 20-feet square open to the sea. The bulkhead, however, kept her afloat.  She rocked like a cradle and, within seven minutes, sank like a stone. As she settled more and more onto her
starboard side, she careened so that some of the passengers stepped into the sea. Others, dashing along blindly, fell into the hole made by the Thingvalla’. Many were crushed in their berths. The ‘Geiser’ launched three boats, one of which capsized whilst another floated so far away that no-one could jump for it. The third boat was over-laden and was sucked down, reappearing seconds later with no occupants. Meanwhile, the ‘Thingvalla’s’ boats rescued those who were floating on wreckage, namely 14 passengers and 17 crew. The ‘Thingvalla’, disabled and overcrowded with survivors, was relieved at noon by the German steamer ‘Wieland’ which took the passengers to New York, leaving the ‘Thingvalla’ to steam slowly for Halifax, 100 miles distant, where she arrived safely. Captain Moller, of the ‘Geiser’ stood-by his vessel until the last. Just as the stern of his ship disappeared, a wave swept over the bridge and carried him away. He was nearly drowned by the suction of the sinking vessel but managed to fight his way to the surface and clung to an oar for half-an-hour until being rescued by a boat from the ‘Thingvalla’.
 
 

HMS THUNDERER

The inquest held by the local Coroner, at Haslar hospital upon the death of the forty-five men killed by the explosion of a steam-boiler on board HMS. 'Thunderer', at Portsmouth, on July 14th, 1876, has been proceeding many days.  One of the most valuable witnesses was Mr.  F. J. Bramwell, the engineer appointed by the Lords of the Admiralty to examine the engines and boilers of the ship. His examination occupied three entire days of last week He ascribed the explosion simply to an excessive pressure of steam caused by the accidental sticking-fast of a safety valve, and he felt convinced that the valve had not been tampered with. The starboard forward boiler had exploded, blowing away nearly the whole of the top front plate.  This plate was about 15ft. long and 4ft. 3 in. deep.  It was broken into two pieces.  The top plate of the boiler was bent upwards in front.  There had been three wrought-iron columns, or stanchions, each eight inches in diameter, supporting beams over the stoke-hole and in the deck above.  The after stanchion was broken through at the level of the stoke-hole plates, and again ten or eleven feet above them.  The second was much bent, and the third was considerably indented. The construction of the boilers was described as follows: They were nearly rectangular boxes, about 15 ft. 3 in. long-ways by 13 ft. high, and 10 ft. 6 in. wide at the level of the furnaces. Each boiler contained four furnaces. The furnace was a box about 4 ft. high, 3 ft. 2 in. wide, and 7 ft. long. At its hinder end was placed the combustion-chamber, or flame-box.  Two furnaces united in one combustion-chamber, and the other two united in another combustion-chamber, the fire being made upon the bars, at a level about half way up the fire-box.  The flames and gases went into the combustion-chamber, and returned to the front of the boiler through the tubes extending from the combustion-chamber to the smoke-box.  In this boiler there were 306 tubes when the boiler was in its complete condition.  The front of the smoke-box was furnished with five doors, which lay at an angle.  The roof of the smoke-box rose gradually from the forward end of the boiler towards the after end: it terminated in a vertical opening called the up-take.  From the four uptakes, suitable conduits rose to the base of the chimney, where the super-heater was, and thus conveyed from the four boilers in one stoke-hole the production of combustion into the common chimney. The furnaces, combustion-chamber, and tubes were entirely surrounded by water.  To enable the rivets to bear the required pressure, they were strengthened by a cap.  Fore and aft in the boiler  were three rows of stays, containing five stays in a row: they were made of double-eyes which laid hold of the web of the vertical T-bars. The tables of  these T-bars were riveted to the side-plates, and in that way the side plates were held together.  To hold in
the side plates, and the flat sides of the fire-boxes, there were four rows of horizontal stays, eight stays in a row, at each side of  the fire boxes, and also to the plates. There were similar stays to stay the top and bottom of the boiler together and to stay the back and front. The front plate of the up-take was stayed to the front plate  of the boiler by screwed stays, the stays being 1 3/8 in. diameter over the thread. There is no kind of boiler, except a spherical or a cylindrical boiler exposed to internal pressure only, which could dispense with stays, for even a cylindrical figure subject to external pressure, such as the cylindrical flues of boilers, must be stayed unless they are very short. The flat ends of cylindrical boilers, and the fire-boxes of locomotives, all require to be stayed. Such as we have described is the ordinary type of marine boiler employed for low and medium pressures where compound engines are not used. Each of the four boilers, like the exploded one, had a pair of safety valves contained in one box. The valves were 5 7/8  in. diameter of bore. It is considered that the real cause of this great disaster was the failure of one ofthese valves, which might be due to corrosion. A separate inquiry has been made by a scientific commission, on behalf of the Board of Admiralty.
 
 

The piece is dated January 21st, 1882, (source unknown) but note that the event took place in 1881.

HMS TRIUMPH - CHEMICAL EXPLOSION

A despatch was received last week at the Admiralty from Rear-Admiral Stirling, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Station, reporting an explosion of some" xerotine siccative " onboard his flag-ship the 'Triumph', which caused the death of a seaman and two gunners and wounded seven other men.  This disaster occurred off Coquimbo, on the coast of Chile, on Nov. 22nd, 1881, at eight o'clock in the morning. Two men were killed on the spot and a third died on the following Saturday, while others were terribly burnt. The material which exploded was stowed under the paint-room, contrary to the Admiralty instructions.  It appears that a man went there with a light, and it set fire to the inflammable gas rising from the spilled liquid; he was literally blown to pieces.  The substance which has thus been the cause of a serious accident is commonly known as "patent driers," which are used in ironclads to prevent corrosion between the double bottoms.  The 'Triumph' is
an iron steam-ship of 6640 tons, carrying engines of 4890 horse power, with an armament of fourteen guns. Her captain is Captain Albert H. Markham.
 
 

January 27th, 1855. (No source details).

VICTORIA AND ALBERT. 1

Originally to be named ‘Windsor Castle’. Designed by the Surveyor's Department of the Admiralty. Building commenced, under the superintendence of O.W. Laing, Master Shipwright, at Pembroke Dockyard in May 1854 and the vessel was launched on Tuesday, January 16th, 1855, being named by Lady Milford. Length overall: 336'. Length between perpendiculars: 300'. Length of keel for tonnage: 275'. Extreme breadth: 40' 3". Breadth for tonnage: 40'. Depth of hold: 24'. Height between floor beams and beams of main deck: 7' 9". Engines: 600 hp. Speed: 15 knots. Burthen: 2,342 tons. Armament, 2 x light guns for signalling purposes.

All the space from the paddle boxes, aft, was devoted to the Royal accomodation. On the upper deck was a large dining room, 24' x 17', glazed all round and having uninterrupted sea views. From the interior, a staircase descended to the main deck where the Royal apartments were situated. The Royal nursery was on the orlop deck as were other cabins for use by the Queen’s suite. The forepart of the vessel housed the officers and crew. Felt was laid between the beams and the deck as sound-proofing. This ship succeeded another Royal Yacht, having the same name, which was then re-named 'Osborne'. The 'Victoria & Albert' was broken up in 1904. Interestingly, the crew wore soft-soled shoes when Queen Victoria was onboard and many orders were given by hand signal to keep unwarranted noise to a minimum.
 

VICTORIA AND ALBERT 2

One thing that distinguished the 'Victoria & Albert' from other paddle-wheel vessels of the same era, and indeed other ships of her size, were the extremely tall masts she carried in order to fly the over-sized ensigns when Queen Victoria was onboard e.g. the Royal Standard, the Admiralty Flag and the National Flag. Her hull was painted black and had a gold stripe all around, a tradition continued until the demise of the Royal Yacht 'Britannia' which was shamefully disposed of as a tourist attraction in recent years. The 'Victoria & Albert' didn't travel far afield, being used mostly for ceremonial purposes around the United Kingdom. Her most notable
public appearances were at the Royal Naval Reviews when elements of the Fleet were gathered at Spithead to show off the strength of the Royal Navy.
Her first attendance at these events took place in 1856 when she conveyed the Royal party through the lines of 240 ships that had served with distinction in the Crimean War. At the Review of 1887 she collided with the troopship 'Orontes', which was a great embarrasment, for, apart from having the Royal family onboard, she also carried the Crown Prince and Princess of Germany. This led the "Daily News" to comment that foreign dignitaries should have been kept at a safe distance until the Royal Navy had finished ramming itself.Her last appearance, on such a scale, was at the Diamond Jubilee Review of 1897 when it was noted that a great many old ships had been towed out of retirement to swell the ranks of British naval might. It is also interesting to note that the seamen of the 'Victoria & Albert'were
termed 'riggers'(rather than 'Seamen')and that her complement of Marines wore a specially-designed drill uniform, of white cloth, to match the summer dress of the 'riggers'.
             .

VICTORIA AND ALBERT 3

With reference to my prior two postings on this vessel, it may not be clear that the 'Victoria & Albert' was originally laid-down as the 'Windsor Castle' and building commenced at Pembroke Dock in May, 1854, under the supervision of O.W. Lang, Master Shipwright. It was in August of that year that Queen Victoria, "by Royal Command", had the name changed to 'Victoria & Albert.'The original yacht, to be named 'Victoria & Albert', was transferred to the Royal Navy for general purposes as the 'Windsor Castle'.The ships, accordingly, changed names.

Regarding the query if the Queen demanded a wheelchair to be carried onboard - it is highly probable for, in her later years, she was becoming increasingly infirm.

Was she attended by a *blue-eyed Cornishman* ?     After her being personally involved with John Brown, a kilted and bewhiskered Highlander, I would imagine that the attentions of anybody else would have been highly desirable.

VICTORY

Another example of a good crew/passenger relationship from GGGPa's scrapbook, dated March 20th, 1852.
 

Cook & Wilson, Dockhead, Bermondsey, barquentine, 579 tons, Captain William Lennox Mullens.

Chartered to carry Chinese coolies from Cumsingmoon to Callao, Peru, she sailed from China on December 6th,1851, with more than 300 on board and a
general cargo.

On the afternoon of 10th December,1851, between 15:00 and 16:00, the coolies rushed the cabin and seized the ship’s arms. The slaughter then commenced.
The Captain was, at the time, walking the poop and a party was sent to seize him. One of the crew, Henry Watt, made to protect him but he was murdered
and his mutilated body thrown overboard. Captain Mullens climbed up into the mizen rigging. One of the Chinese followed, armed with a cutlass, and eventually the Captain slid down one of the topmost back-stays. The moment he reached the deck, he was attacked with knives, cutlasses and iron bolts and his remains dropped overboard. Mr Fagg, the 1st Mate, had gone aloft on the foretopsail-yard to look out for land. The 2nd Mae, James Arauso and the cook, Edward Bailey, were killed in the forepart of the ship and the Chinese, believing they had killed everybody, suddenly spotted Mr Fagg and beckoned for him to come down. He did so and he was led to the wheel and directed to steer for land on pain of being  put to death if he didn’t. He shaped a course for Point Kamboja and, on reaching the coast, a few Chinese went ashore but returned when they discovered the area was uninhabited. They then endeavoured to beat up the coast to Cochin China but, that being difficult, they forced the Mate to steer for Pulo Ubi where the vessel was brought to anchor.  During this time, the Chinese destroyed the ship’s papers and log-book and, finding a convenient place on the coast where they anchored, they left the ship and went ashore with a considerable amount of cargo. For some reason they spared the life of the Mate who subsequently recruited a local crew and the ship arrived in Singapore in January 1852.

21.04.02ef