Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849 by William O. S. Gilly

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An instance of obedience and discipline, worthy of particular mention,
occurred before the St. George went down. A few men asked leave to
attempt to reach the shore in the yawl. Permission was at first
granted, but afterwards withdrawn, and the men returned to their posts
without a murmur. 'As if Providence had rewarded their implicit
obedience and reliance upon their officers,' says the narrative (p.
173), 'two of these men were of the few (seven) that were saved.'

The question now arises, to what are we to attribute the extraordinary
display of cool determination manifested by British seamen, in such
trials of nerve as are described in the following pages? The series of
shipwrecks extends from 1793 to 1847, a period of fifty-four years;
and tragic scenes are described, many of them far exceeding the
imaginary terrors of fiction, and all of them equal in horror to
anything that the Drama, Romance, or Poetry has attempted to
delineate.

We rise from the perusal with scarcely any other impression upon our
minds than that of wonder and admiration, at the extraordinary
self-command exercised when death was staring every man in the face.
Doubtless there are some instances of misbehaviour, and of lack of
firmness: it could not be otherwise. 'When the stormy wind ariseth,
and they are carried up to the heaven and down again to the deep,
their soul melteth because of their trouble. They reel to and fro, and
stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.' But such
examples are so few in the British navy, that we have little on this
score wherewith to reproach our seamen.

To what, then, are we to attribute the manly bearing of British
seamen, when the planks of their ship tremble under their feet, and
the waves are yawning to swallow them up!

First.--To the early training which almost all our youth receive, in
one way or other. It begins at school. The first principles of
generosity, as of obedience and order, are taught in our schools:
whether in the national and parochial schools, or at Westminster,
Eton, and Harrow, and other schools of a higher order, where in his
very games the boy learns to exercise presence of mind, daring, and
self-command. In our streets and play-grounds, where the humblest or
the proudest are at their sports, the germ of the manly spirit is
discernible in emulous contention as to who shall bear and forbear,
remain at his post, give and take, with most patience and good-humour.

Foreigners have allowed that there is nothing like an English school
to discipline a lad for the high places, or rough places, of
after-life; and that our mixed schools of every grade are the
seminaries, where one learns to lead, and another to follow, in the
path of honour and duty.

Secondly.--To the habit which prevails so universally in this country,
of giving place to those to whom deference is due, and of looking up
to those, who are above us in station, with ungrudging respect and
confidence. This goes with the man into all the walks of life. Some
attribute it to the aristocratic feeling, which is said to be stronger
in England than elsewhere: but it maybe more justly traced to that
good sense, which is at work in all orders of our people, and which
understands when to obey and to hearken. In the seaman it displays
itself in a predisposition to regard his officer as one worthy of his
confidence, and whom it is his safety as well as duty to obey in the
hour of danger. And this confidence is justified by the almost
unfailing manner, in which the officer shows himself deserving of the
trust reposed in him, and takes the lead in the very front of danger,
and exhibits in moments of doubt and difficulty all the resources of a
cool and collected mind, at the very juncture when life and death
depend upon his composure.

The leadership to which a British tar is accustomed, and which ever
responds to his own confiding spirit, is one of the primary causes of
his endurance and daring. His officer is the first to advance, the
foremost to encounter, the last to hesitate, and the most willing to
take more than his share of danger and of suffering; and this inspires
the men with an emulation to do likewise.

Conduct such as that displayed by the captains and officers of the
Queen Charlotte (pp. 37 and 41), of the Hindostan (p. 71), of the
Athenienne (p. 96), of the Anson (p. 128), of the Daedalus (p. 189),
could not fail of producing a sort of instinctive effect upon a ship's
crew. Under the command of officers who never flinch from their duty,
who share their last biscuit with the lowest cabin-boy, and who will
not move from the vessel when it is sinking under them, until every
other man has taken his seat in the boat, or planted his foot on the
raft that is to carry him from the wreck, where can be the quailing
heart or the unready hand?

Thirdly.--The blockading service has had much to do in training our
seamen for passive heroism and enduring fortitude. During the long war
with France, it was a service wherein all those qualities were called
into action, which are of most value in sudden emergencies. Vigilance,
promptitude, patience, and endurance, were tried to the utmost in the
course of those wintry months, and tempestuous seasons, when single
ships, squadrons, and fleets were cruising off the enemy's coast, and
every man on board was perpetually exposed to something that put his
temper or his nerves to the test. Then was the time to learn when to
keep a sharp look-out, to be on the alert in handling the gear of a
vessel, to respond to the word of command at the instant, to do things
at the right point of time, to hold life at a moment's purchase, and
to stare death in the face without flinching. It was a hard and
rigorous school; but if proficiency in readiness and fortitude was to
be attained anywhere, it was in the blockading service, and there the
heart of oak was tried, and the seaman was trained for the exercise of
that discipline, of which this Record of Naval Shipwrecks presents so
complete a picture.

But we will hope that the principal cause, to which we may ascribe the
good conduct of our sailors in the trying hour, when there seems to be
a span only between life and death, is the religious feeling which
they bring with them to their ship from their homes, whether from the
cabin on the sea-shore, or the cottage on the hill-side. The scene
described in page 115, and the anecdote of the poor boy, in whose hand
was found an open Bible when his corpse was cast on shore, show the
power of religious feeling in the soul of the sailor. It may be a very
imperfect feeling, but the sailor has it; and even in its
imperfection it has a strong hold on his mind. From the first outbreak
of the Revolution; the French sailor entered the service of his
country as a volunteer or a conscript, embued with infidel notions: or
to say the least, with the religious indifference which had become so
common in France. Not so the English sailor. He was not one of the
fools to say in his heart. 'There is no God!' It is not easy to define
the nature of that awe which fills the mind of a religions mariner;
but most certainly those 'who see the works of the Lord and his
wonders in the deep,' face danger more steadily, under the solemn
belief that there is a ruling power to control the waters, and to say
to the winds, 'Peace! be still.' They are predisposed to 'cry unto the
Lord in their trouble,' and to implore Him to 'make the storm a calm,
so that the waves thereof may be still:' and this fear of God, which
is before their eyes, has its influence in making them willing to
adopt every expedient proposed to them by their officers for their
common safety. Under this higher impulse, the spirit of obedience
works in them more confidingly; and humbled before the Supreme Power,
they are prepared to yield submission to every intellect superior to
their own. Now if there be a feeling of this kind already at work for
good in the minds of our seamen, it is of the utmost importance to
strengthen it,[2] to give it a sure direction, and to make it run in
a deeper and a broader channel, by all the appliances of instruction
and education.

To the credit of the official Boards, under whose administrative
authority provision is made for the religious and educational
improvement of men and boys in the Navy, very much has been done
lately to secure this great object. Within my own memory few seamen
could read, still fewer could write, but now the majority of them can
do both, and they respond largely to the instruction they receive, by
their intelligence and good conduct. There is no more imposing sight
than that of the crew of a man-of-war, when assembled for divine
service; and if the chaplain be a clergyman, who applies himself
zealously to his duties, he has a congregation before him, who show by
their attentive looks, that they are under the power of religious
impressions. Almost all ships commanded by post-captains have
chaplains and naval instructors, and where there is no chaplain, the
commanding officer is expected to read prayers on Sundays. In port
the crews of the Queen's ships have the opportunity of observing the
sacred day, either on board the flag-ship, the ordinary, or in the
dockyard chapel. I believe every ship in the navy is provided with a
library; and first, second, third, fourth, and fifth-rates have
schoolmasters. To men and boys desirous of entering the service, the
preference is given to those who can read and write; and an admirable
regulation has lately been adopted, which will contribute further to
advance our navy in the intellectual scale. Boys are entered as naval
apprentices, to the number of one hundred each, at Devonport,
Portsmouth, Sheerness, and Cork. They remain for one year on board the
flag-ship, under a systematic course of education, and are then
drafted into sea-going ships. The happy effects produced by mental
cultivation were felt in an especial degree, when the Discovery ships,
under Captain, now Sir Edward Parry, were blocked up with ice, and had
to pass so many dismal days and nights in the Polar Sea. A school was
established both in the Hecla and Fury, under able superintendence;
and men, whose time would have hung heavily during their icy
imprisonment, were kept in good humour and cheerfulness by the
intellectual occupations in which they were engaged. Captain Parry's
remarks in attestation of the moral effect produced by this means, and
on the uninterrupted good order which prevailed among his men, are
cited in page 243 of this work.

It would add greatly to the intellectual and spiritual improvement of
our seamen, if a Chaplain-general were appointed to take the oversight
of the religious instruction, and an _Examiner_ to direct the secular
instruction, of the Navy. The former should exercise authority
similar to that of an archdeacon, and the functions of the latter
should resemble those of her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. The
impulse given to parochial education by the latter is beyond all
calculation; and the difference of ecclesiastical discipline in a
diocese, where there are active archdeacons and where there are not,
is a matter of well ascertained fact.

The duties of a chaplain-general[3] should be to visit the naval
posts, and to go on board the Queen's ships, (especially before they
are despatched on foreign service,) for the purpose of reporting and
advising. He should look out for and recommend competent
chaplains,--consult with admirals and captains on the best mode of
securing the regular performance of the sacred offices,--make inquiry
into the state of the ship-libraries, keep them well supplied with
religious books and tracts, and direct observation generally to the
spiritual wants of ships and ports. He would thus be of infinite use
in making religion an object of more and more thoughtfulness to those,
who take an interest in the comfort and good conduct of the Navy: two
things which always go together.

If an Inspector of all the naval schools and schoolmasters were
appointed (Professor Mosely has now the inspection of the Dockyard
Schools,) he should consider it to be part of his office to look to
the libraries, and to recommend elementary books. His periodical
examinations would be likely to stir up the same spirit of emulation
on board ship, which has been the result in our towns and villages,
where the schools are visited by persons appointed by the Committee of
Privy Council on Education. I am satisfied with throwing out these
suggestions without dwelling further upon them, under the persuasion
that every practical hint of the kind will be well considered, and
acted upon (if it commend itself to their judgment,) by those who
preside over naval affairs, and who have at heart the mental
improvement of our seamen.

I have another suggestion to make, which is meant not for those only,
who are officially interested in the condition of the navy, but for
all who love and value it. The merchant service, the fisheries, and
the coasting trade are the nurseries of the navy. Every shipmate and
every boatman on the sea and on the river ought, therefore, to come in
for a share of our sympathy, because he belongs to a class to which
the Queen's ships must look for a supply of men. But none are exposed
to more trials than they, and especially in the larger ports. Many of
them come home from a voyage of danger and deprivation, full of
excitement, and become victims of plunder and temptation; and the man
who last week was impressed, by the perils of the tempest, with the
terrors of the Lord, and was inclined to fear God and to serve him, is
waylaid by unfeeling wretches, who first entice him into scenes of
profligacy and blasphemy, and then cast him off, robbed of his money,
seared in his conscience, and in a miserable condition of soul and
body. Many benevolent efforts have been made to protect and fortify
some of those who are thus beset, and to reclaim such as are not
utterly lost; and associations have been formed for the purpose of
affording temporary relief and instruction to seamen, who might
otherwise become outcasts, and perish in want and ignorance. I allude
to such institutions as the 'Sailor's Home,' or 'Destitute Sailor's
Asylum,' in London, for the reception of seamen who have squandered or
have been despoiled of their earnings after their return from a
foreign voyage, or who are disabled for employment by illness, age, or
accident. There is also. 'The Floating Chapel,' opened to invite and
enable mariners to avail themselves of the opportunity of attending
Divine service, (under the Thames Church Missionary Society,) which
moves from one thickly populated sailors' locality to another. The
establishment of a district church and minister in a large sea-port
parish, like that of St. Mary's, Devonport, to relieve the necessities
of a district crowded with mariners, and rife with all the snares and
temptations which entrap a sailor, and endanger his bodily and
spiritual safety, is another undertaking worthy of notice.

Institutions like these must depend principally on public and
voluntary support. There is much need for them in all our principal
sea-ports; for who require them more than the men who are perpetually
exposed to the double shipwreck of body and soul? The members of these
and similar institutions are instrumental in preserving some from
ruin--in restoring others to character and employment, to usefulness,
to self-estimation, and to religious feeling; and in making both our
merchant and naval service an example to the world of subordination
and patient endurance.

The promoters of these institutions are not satisfied with providing a
remedy for the evil which exists, but they do much to prevent the ills
of irreligion and immorality, by supplying seamen with instructive and
devotional books, and by employing agents to go among them and to tell
them where the offices of religion are performed. The countenance
which admirals and captains, prelates and lords of the Admiralty, have
given to them, are the best warrant for their necessity and
usefulness. A short notice of 'The Swan' and its Tender, will not be
thought out of place in this volume.

'The Swan' is a large cutter of about 140 tons. On her bows she bears
an inscription which describes her as 'The Thames Church.' She conveys
a clergyman and a floating sanctuary from one pool in the river to
another, to carry the Word of God to those who do not seek for it
themselves. Hers is a missionary voyage. She is freighted with Bibles
and Testaments and Prayer-books, and religious tracts. She runs
alongside colliers, outward-bound vessels, and emigrant ships
especially, that the services, the consolation, and the instruction of
the Church may be offered as a parting gift to those, who are taking a
last leave of their native shores, and are saying farewell to weeping
friends and kindred.

There is also a Tender, called 'The Little Thames Church,' which sails
lower down the river, as occasion may require, fraught on the same
holy errand. One extract from the last Report of the 'Thames Church
Mission Society,' which is patronized by the Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Bishops of London and Winchester, will suffice to explain the
nature of her mission.

'Sunday, February 24, Long Reach. Morning service. The congregation
was 128 seamen. Afternoon, Bible class, 62. Evening service,
132,--total 322. One of the captains observed that there was a great
change for the better, which he was rejoiced to see: 'For,' said he,
'about four years ago I attended a service, and found that I was the
only sailor that had come from the fleet; but this morning so crowded
was the church, that I had some difficulty in getting a seat.''

It is by means such as these, which as a Christian nation we are bound
to provide, that we might hope, not only to keep alive, but to improve
the noble spirit which distinguishes the British Navy.

The discipline which now prevails would be established on the highest
principle of obedience and action. The endurance, which now bears
suffering with fortitude, would learn to submit to severer trials
under the sanction of a higher teaching, and patience would have her
perfect work. The courage and steadiness of a brave crew would receive
an accession of energy from the hope that is set before them. The
allegiance, which they owe to their Sovereign, would be strengthened
by a sense of the more sacred duty which they owe to Him, by whom
kings reign and rulers govern: and committing themselves habitually to
the protection of Providence, they would face deprivation, fatigue,
and danger with unshaken composure.--with a hand for any toil, and a
heart for any fate.

WILLIAM STEPHEN GILLY.

_Durham, Oct. 28, 1850._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See also an elaborate article on the same subject in the
_Edinburgh Review_, September, 1818. No. 60.

[2] In September, 1849, five colliers were wrecked off the Gunfleet
Sands. The crews were saved, and the following extract from the
_Ipswich Express_, copied into the _Times_ of the 12th of December,
contains a proof of the strong hold which religious awe has on the
minds of seamen:--'Yesterday (Monday) afternoon, the united crews,
amounting to about thirty men, had a free passage to Ipswich by the
River Queen. The scene on board was of the most extraordinary and
affecting description. The rough, weather-beaten seamen, who had gone
through the perils of that night with undaunted courage, were, in the
review of it, completely overwhelmed with gratitude to God for His
mercy in granting them deliverance. For the most part they were in the
fore cabin of the steamer, and at one time all would be on their knees
in devout prayer and thanksgiving to God, then a suitable hymn would
be read, and the voices of those who had been saved from the yawning
ocean would presently sound it forth in solemn thanks to God. From
port to port they were entirely occupied in these devotional
exercises, and the effect of them, and indeed the whole scene, upon
several hardy sons of ocean who were on board, will never be
forgotten.'

[3] His duties would be similar to those described in the following
letter from a clergyman in one of the colonies, though more general in
their extent:--'My own duties are pretty much those you would suppose.
I visit the emigrant ships _immediately_ on their coming into port,
and am often on board before they drop anchor. I then inquire for the
members of the Church of England, and for such others as may require
the services of a Church of England clergyman; and having assembled
them together, inquire as to the occurrences on the voyage, whether
they have had schools, and a regular Sunday or daily service, whether
there are children to be baptized, and a thousand other matters of a
like nature, which it would be but tiring you to detail. We then
appoint an hour for holding a thanksgiving service for their
preservation from the perils of the sea, and their safe arrival in the
colony. This service consists in the proper service for the day, with
a short sermon suited to the occasion.'

THE BOYNE

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean--roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
Man marks the earth, with ruin--his control
Stops with the shore;--upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain
A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,
When, for a moment, like a drop of rain,
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown.

BYRON'S _Childe Harold_.

In the Preface to this work it has been stated that it is not our
intention to give a detailed account of every wreck that has happened
in the Royal Navy from the year 1793, to the present time, but only of
a few of those which appear to be most interesting. We therefore pass
over the first two years, giving only a catalogue of the wrecks that
occurred during that time; because the calamities that befel the
British Navy in 1793 and 1794 were but slight in comparison with those
of a later date. The first loss that we have to record is that of the
BOYNE, of 98 guns, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Peyton, and
commanded by Captain George Grey. This ship took fire as she lay at
anchor at Spithead, on the 1st of May, 1795.

The origin of the fire has never been correctly ascertained; but it is
supposed that some of the lighted paper from the cartridges of the
marines, as they were exercising and firing on the windward side of
the poop, flew through the quarter gallery into the admiral's cabin,
and set fire to the papers or other inflammable materials that were
lying there. Be this as it may, the flames burst through the poop
before the fire was discovered, and, notwithstanding the united
efforts of both officers and men, they soon wrapt the vessel in a
blaze fore and aft.

Upon the discovery of the fire, all the boats from the different ships
put out to the Boyne's assistance, and the crew, with the exception of
eleven, were saved.

The Boyne's guns, being loaded, went off as they became heated, and
much injury would have been done to the shipping and those on board,
had not the Port-Admiral, Sir William Parker, made signals for the
vessels most in danger to get under weigh. As it was, two men were
killed, and one wounded on board the Queen Charlotte.

About half-past one in the afternoon, the burning ship parted from her
cables, and blew up with a dreadful explosion. At the time of the
accident, Admiral Peyton and Captain Grey were attending a court
martial in Portsmouth Harbour.

THE AMPHION

The next catastrophe which we have to describe, was of a far more
appalling nature, and one which long threw a gloom over the
inhabitants of Plymouth and the neighbourhood.

The AMPHION frigate had been obliged to put into Plymouth for repairs,
and, on the 22nd Sept., 1796, was lying alongside of a sheer-hulk
taking in her bowsprit, within a few yards of the dockyard jetty. The
ship, being on the eve of sailing, was crowded with more than an
hundred men, women, and children, above her usual complement. It was
about four o'clock in the afternoon that a violent shock, like an
earthquake, was felt at Stonehouse and Plymouth. The sky towards the
dock appeared red, as if from fire, and in a moment the streets were
crowded with the inhabitants, each asking his neighbour what had
occurred. When the confusion had somewhat abated, it was announced
that the Amphion had blown up, and then every one hastened to the
dock, where a most heartrending scene presented itself. Strewed in
all directions were pieces of broken timber, spars, and rigging,
whilst the deck of the hulk, to which the frigate had been lashed was
red with blood, and covered with mangled limbs and lifeless trunks,
all blackened with powder. The frigate had been originally manned from
Plymouth; and as the mutilated forms were collected together and
carried to the hospital, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters
flocked to the gates, in their anxiety to discover if their relatives
were numbered amongst the dying or the dead.

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