Port Stanley, South Atlantic Ocean

    The John R Kelley was built by Goss & Sawyer out of Bath Maine in the United States of America in 1883. At the time she was said to be the biggest sailing ship ever built in the USA, a “full-Rigged Ship”of 2,364 Tonnes, built for carrying big cargoes, known colloquially as a “windjammer” for her huge yardage of sail, between New York and San Francisco……but this is not a story about One ship alone, it would be foolish to write of the John R Kelley without at least passing mention of the Cyrus Wakefield, another American Schooner also frequently sailing the New York to San Francisco trade route and also renowned, but for far darker reason…..  

The John R Kelley was one of three ships (including the Ships: E F Sawyer & Charles E Moody) commissioned on the retirement of master mariner, John R Kelley, born in Phippsburg June 14^th 1828. John Kelly had been  captain of the ship “Genoa” at the age of 23, following an apprenticeship under his father (Captain Francis Kelley) from the age of 16 (Little, George T: “Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine” in “Kelley (IV) Captain John R.”: Lewis Historical Publishing Co New York 1909). The shipyard of Guy C Goss and Elijah F Sawyer (Goss & Sawyer) was started in 1865 and lasted under that name until 1873, when they were joined by Benjamin F Packard, becoming Goss Sawyer & Packard until 1883, just a year before the John R Kelley was launched and the yard became the New England Shipbuilding Co (Online resource: shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/texas.htm: Texas Steamship Company, Bath ME. Accessed 10/09/2020)

  Although the New England Shipbuilding Co, latterly named the Texas Steamship Company, closed in 1921 the site can still be visited in Maine, where Bowery St and what remains of the Pier and slipway on the Kennebec River still exist and, up to the date of publishing this post, have yet to be re-developed. The Cyrus Wakefield, another three masted Sailing Ship, was launched in 1882 just over a year before the John R Kelley, in Thomaston, another Maine Shipbuilding yard, just 40 miles from the Bowery St yard of Goss Sawyer & Packard

The New York to California sailing route had been established during the California Gold Rush of 1848 to 1855 when tens of thousands from across the USA, and indeed the globe, converged to pan the streams of California to find their fortunes, or to feed the logistics behind their need to survive whilst trying. Everything from grain to shovels, pots and pans to horses and carts were carried across the country or around Cape Horn, the record for that route was held by a clipper, the Flying Cloud, which completed the journey, some 12,000 miles, in just 89 days, lightning fast considering the cross country route, at its shortest (through Panama) usually took between 120 to 200 days to travel the 2,445 miles in a wagon train, with all the trouble that implied….. Although the Panama Canal had been started in 1881, it would not be completed until 1914 and the sailing ship attraction, if not the speed itself, (which was mostly comparable with that of the land route) was a considerably cheaper journey which involved less personal effort than the wagon train alternative

Now the seafarers of the Cape Sail-ship and Clipper days were a special breed, known as “Cape Horner’s” these were tough men used to harsh conditions and the often appalling weather, almost normal when sailing around the Southernmost tip of South America, (a desolate and mostly inhospitable place in those days) and the coast of Patagonia. To join the crew of a sailing ship like the John R Kelley or the Cyrus Wakefield even in the late 1800’s meant you either knew what you were in for or you wanted to escape from something even worse….. if that is imaginable? Whilst the Master of the John R Kelley, Captain O E Chapman, was known as an outstanding mariner, respected amongst all those that sailed the Southern route, the Master of the Cyrus Wakefield was held in a different light amongst his peers, indeed Captain Frederick Thomas Henry, his First Mate F Williamson and Second Mate Leonard, seem to have been reviled by most that sailed with them  (San Francisco Call, 31 August 1898: “CRUELTY ON THE HIGH SEAS”) the Boatswain (Bosun) of the Cyrus Wakefield, J A Jansen is quoted as saying “I have travelled in some pretty hard ships, but the Cyrus Wakefield takes the cake………When they got tired of beating us they started in and threw our clothes overboard, and when the men said they would have the law on them Second Mate Leonard laughed and said. ‘We’re going to Frisco; there’s no law in that hole” and, in validation of that piece, the Sacramento Daily Union reported (Sacramento Daily Union, September 01^st 1898: “CRUELTY CHARGED. Serious Accusations Against Mates of Bark Cyrus Wakefield.”) “To-day members of the crew of the bark Cyrus Wakefield, which arrived here last night from Baltimore, swore out warrants for the arrest of First Mate F. Williamson and Second Mate Leonard, charging them with brutality, assault and other violations on the high seas” The two captains and the conditions on board the two sailing ships could not have been more different it would seem

So the journey’s begin, the John R Kelley left New York for San Francisco on March 15^th of 1899, unknowingly  on her last journey, all must have seemed well to Captain Chapman, his holds full of the general cargo expected to make some $150,000, at least that was the value placed on it with insurers, although the John R Kelley itself was not insured, despite the owners (John R Kelley and James F Chapman & Co) placing a value of $75,000 on her……The list of cargo is known well, detailed in the San Francisco Call 17^th June of 1899 (San Francisco Call, 17^th June 1899, Volume 86 No 17: “LOSS OF THE AMERICAN SHIP JOHN R. KELLY”) and is seemingly quite likely to have been a significant “overload” in modern terms: 200 tons No 1 Tonowanda Scotch Pigiron, 26 barrels iron casters, 89 cases linoleum, 27 cases and half a barrel hardware, 400 drums caustic soda, 85 cases chalk crayon, 111 barrels iron pipe fittings, 650 kegs horseshoes, 6 cases blacking, 76 cases spools, 6 cases leaf tobacco, 5 cases hardware, 20 cases hair renewer and whisker dye, 60 bags ginger root, 50 bags cocoa dust, 1 barrel iron castings, 2 barrels sumac extract, 66 bundles 1 barrel stove castings, 890 kegs horseshoes, 3 bales burlap, 3 barrels varnish, 950 pieces boiler tubes, 3909 pieces 289 bundles welded iron pipe, 443 bars steel, 10 cases ball blue, 9 cases blacking, 440 plates iron, 80 packages marble, 193 packages pumps, 50 cases cider, 100 cases sheep dip, 294 bundles welded iron pipe, 405 bales carpet lining, 217 iron range boilers, 143 boxes 4 casks ink, 115 boxes mucilage, 31 cases cotton, 5 crates candles, 7 boxes 1 barrel iron strap hinges, 1 barrel whiting, 1 pump (cased), 40 barrels stamped ware, 20 crates chair seats, 320 steel beams, 46 channels 3037 steel rails……….You can read the rest for yourselves below but by now this is looking like a hell of a cargo and perhaps even a very dangerous load, unless there is an element of the Atlantic Conveyor lading list going on (see the Falkland islands war reports of 1982 and the “claimed” cargo of the vessel Atlantic Conveyor, sunk in the conflict, where every army stores warrant officer involved claimed every piece of lost kit they had on inventory…… “apparently” your honour)

  The John R Kelley was a big ship, 256 feet 9” long, 45 foot wide and a draft of 27 feet 8” and a net weight of 2,255 tonnes laden, as already mentioned, perhaps the biggest sailing ship in the USA merchant fleet of the time, however that cargo list seems quite incredible to me, perhaps there is someone who can spend the time estimating the weight and size of such an inventory, sadly that won’t be me, I shall just remain amazed at such a scale and scope of cargo, and of the belief it must in some way have contributed to the damage caused to the John R Kelley whilst en route and approaching Patagonia. The damage said to have “disabled” the ship forcing Captain Chapman to re-route to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands in order to make repairs, the San Francisco Call reporting (same issue and piece) that “….it is a very dangerous place to enter and the chances are  that something gave way at a critical moment and the ship went ashore”  The John R Kelley just failed to make it to Port Stanley, becoming unmanageable off Cape Pembroke in the Falkland Islands, and anchored up near Tussac Island 25^th June of 1899, in violent weather that prevented any rescue attempt until the next day

News came to Port Stanley of the fate of the John R Kelley following a desperate dash by Charles Coulson (Jr), ward to the lighthouse keeper on Pembroke Point, a Mr James Hocking. Coulson rode 7 miles in appalling conditions to Port Stanley to raise alarm that the James R Kelley was floundering on the rocks off Tussac Island, an effort that prompted the American Consul of the time to write: (On Line Resource: falklandsbiographies.org/biographies/129 accessed 15/09/2020) “I cannot exaggerate the conditions and the darkness caused by the wild storm. It was terrible and no reward is too much for this noble boy” The journey had taken Charles Coulson an hour and a half, risking death throughout, riding the banks of Cape Pembroke, but the act of unselfish bravery resulted in the launch “Sissy” making several attempts from Port Stanley to rescue those aboard the John R Kelley, an act that resulted in a presidential award to Sissy’s captain from the USA in gratitude

So to the Cyrus Wakefield, which sailed from New York on the 04^th April of 1899 bound for San Francisco and undoubtedly taking the same route as the John R Kelley, although if previous reports are to be believed, conditions on board would have been very different for those crewing the ship. The master on the journey was Captain Henry and the First mate still Williamson, clearly both had managed to avoid answering the charges of brutality and assault brought against them in August of 1898…..But, as always karma has a place in every story, and in every man’s path…… (San Francisco Call 05^th July 1899: “CAUGHT IN A STORM OFF CAPE HORN”) “The American ship Cyrus Wakefield, now on her way here from New York, has been particularly unfortunate this voyage. Heavy weather was encountered off the Horn, and in consequence the vessel was damaged and had to put into Port Stanley. Captain Henry died and was buried while the vessel was in the Falkland Islands” Now it may seem fortuitous that such a man as Captain Henry might be severely injured in a storm whilst navigating around Cape Horn, but when you add in a report that the First Mate Williamson was injured during the same storm, it might perhaps provoke a feeling of impending unease, even a deep seated curiosity as to the circumstances of such injuries…….

I spent quite some time looking for reports contemporary to the time, as men of such violence as Henry and Williamson seldom come to entirely  “natural” endings, it did not take long to find Graham Faiella’s book “Misery, Mutiny and Menace: Thrilling Tales of the Sea (Vol. 2)” (Published by The History Press) in which claims are made that Williamson had argued with Captain Henry continually since leaving New York and that Williamson eventually took a hammer to Captain Henry and used the heavy seas breaking over the ship to cover his murder. Is this just a flight of fancy to sell a “Penny Dreadful” article in a book unashamedly seeking a ghoulish audience by its title alone? If it were not for the charges laid in August of 1898 then I might have given scant regard to such an accusation, however, the background allegations of brutality towards previous crews on the Cyrus Wakefield means to do so would be perhaps ill-considered…..  

So the John R Kelley limped into Port Stanley Approaches in the midst of a horrendous storm, no one aboard was injured much more than bruising in the maelstrom of Cape Horn in May of 1899 and yet on the Cyrus Wakefield a lesser weather set, in June of the same year, supposedly caused the death of the Captain and the serious injury of the First Mate…….unless you lean more towards the accounting of events in Graham Faiella’s book…. The account here has First Mate Williamson responsible for the murder of Captain Henry and using poor weather as the cover-up: “On June 15, about 7:30 p.m., shipped a heavy sea on the port quarter, which struck Captain Henry and knocked him off the after-house down on the deck. He struck against some iron and received some terrible injuries to his chest, back and hips, and his head was cut to pieces. We carried him into the cabin and did everything in our power to restore consciousness, but failed, and Captain Henry died at 8:20 p.m.” (Log Book Entry, Cyrus Wakefield, First Mate Williamson, Quoted In Faiella, G. “Misery, Mutiny and Menace: Thrilling Tales of the Sea (vol. 2)”, History Press) The basis for an accusation of murder by First mate Williamson comes from testimony of the steward of the Cyrus Wakefield, Thomas Visiga, who further claims others who witnessed the event were paid off by Williamson on reaching Port Stanley and subsequently dispersed about the globe, making it impossible to prove the events (Visiga, T. Quoted In Faiella, G. “Misery, Mutiny and Menace: Thrilling Tales of the Sea (vol. 2)”, History Press) “The Captain and mate were always quarrelling, mate Williamson did not like the old man, and told him so on numerous occasions. On the night of the killing the mate got a hammer from the carpenter at a quarter to 7 and when he came down from the poop he still had the hammer in his hand and there was blood on it” When the Captain is eventually brought in to the cabin and laid on his bed Visiga has it that Captain Henry was still alive and describes events: “Captain Henry was carried in from the deck and laid out on the cabin floor. The mate went to the medicine chest and, making up a mixture, tried to get the Captain to take it. The dying man rolled his head and I heard him say, “No, no! don’t let him, Mr. Johnson” His mouth was forced open, however, and Mr. Williamson made him swallow it, saying, “Drink it down; it will do you good.” About 8:30 p.m. the Captain died.”

The assertion quoted in “Misery Mutiny & Menace…” by Thomas Visiga originally comes from the San Francisco Call of 12^th November 1899 and goes on to allege “When we got into Port Stanley the mate took possession of the ship’s money and paid off the man who was at the wheel when the captain and mate were quarrelling near the wheelhouse. He also paid off the four men who took refuge in the rigging just before the sea broke aboard and who had seen everything that took place. Then he left the ship himself and Captain Chapman of the John R Kelly took command” As Thomas Visiga goes on to say First Mate Williamson “left the Ship” it would seem, if everything Visiga alleges is true, the foul crime against Captain Henry went unpunished and the Laudanum administered by Williamson, finally ended Captain Henry’s suffering and ultimately his life

There are opportunities to look further into the case if an autopsy was properly carried out in Port Stanley on the body of Captain Henry, perhaps there was a report of events logged with the Port Stanley judiciary at the time? For two such prestigious sailing ships to have entered Port Stanley waters, one to flounder just in the last few miles to the port itself and one to dock with the Captain dead, to have gone mostly “unremarked” seems bizarre. If, as Visiga alleges this was a foul murder at sea, how was the crew allowed to disperse from port Stanley, without question, on the word of someone (Williamson) who had been subject to a warrant for arrest, on grievous assault charges in New York so recently?

Faiella’s book and Visiga’s San Francisco Call allegations raise serious questions as to the conduct of those in command of the Cyrus Wakefield and perhaps also the procedures surrounding the handling of the death of Captain Henry on arrival of the Cyrus Wakefield at Port Stanley. If, however, the allegations of Thomas Visiga have embellished Captain Henry’s death, questions surrounding motive must be investigated, what would such allegations do for Visiga, those responsible had vanished, unpunished and into history from Port Stanley. There is unlikely to have been financial gain for Visiga from the story itself, and what benefits Visiga in the telling anyway, revenge against poor treatment by Williamson perhaps? No mention of any conflict between him and Williamson is made by Visiga during his telling of the voyage, it seems the story has much more to give, something a criminal historian might take an interest in, it would certainly make a great additional entry into the history of Port Stanley and those who “rounded the Horn”….men of iron, in ships of wood!

One thing of this story is, however, certain, the death of Captain Frederick Thomas Henry is unlikely to have been mourned by those who sailed on the Cyrus Wakefield, equally, many who sailed on that “Hell-Ship” would be horrified, if unsurprised, to find First Mate Williamson might have escaped justice for murder

  So to the John R Kelley of 1996, and again we return to Exercise Southern Craftsman and our final Falkland Island diving location, based out of Port Stanley, my little Red Log book records: 03 February 1996, my 167^th dive “Ran aground 1892 steam ship SS Kelly, on Kelly’s Rock outside Port Stanley S.A. wedged between two outcrops of rock. Heavily Kelped at the surface which when underwater gives the effect of a forest round the remains. Really atmospheric lighting! Viz about 8m. The hull is timber, Copper plated at the waterline & below, near enough all of the length is still there but most of the bulk of the hull is gone plenty of marine life & a couple of large fish loads of nooks & crannies & holes – great dive” I have no idea who told us the John R Kelley was a steamship and I excuse my ignorance in not correcting that in my wreck log simply by lack of experience and a desire to report what was seen rather than what was not, I saw no boiler, but that wouldn’t mean to me at the time that there “were” no boilers, I saw no real pipe-work that would have been associated with a steamship of the era either, but again, the condition of the hull, filled mostly with the decay of a hundred plus years and the marine life obscuring detail, would not have caused me to comment either

I knew there were sailing ships of that period that had been converted to dual use, mounted with steam engines and sail, who knew if this had been one such ship, the hull was clearly large enough to have accommodated that type of arrangement. I note the date we had been given for the sinking was as inaccurate as the type of ship we were diving, but such was “as it was” so to speak, we had done no prior research on the wrecks of the Falklands (as we had not intended to carry out more than general diving in the areas of interest), to find there were wrecks was a surprise to me at the time, beyond those of the 1982 war, from which we had been gallingly and selfishly denied access by the MoD in short order! My recollection of the dive on the John R Kelley is one of real enjoyment of the kaleidoscope effects the kelp had on the light, she is a shallow wreck at 8-10m maximum and winding along her hull, looking at whatever was about was as much a gentle light show as it was a wreck dive. I mainly recall there was not much of her that was more than one level, her hull almost down to the waterline in most places, some framework evident and a mast spar if I recall correctly, but mostly an interesting, atmospheric root rather than an opportunity for involved investigation in stark contrast to the history of the ship herself

The epilogue of the entwined fates of the John R Kelley and the Cyrus Wakefield leave one ship sunk and irreparable, from which all usable cargo, fixtures and fittings was sold for £200 to a Mr Louis Williams (with the ships pumps being sold the day after for £150), and one ship “captainless” and docked at Port Stanley

I remember being in the post office in Port Stanley before we left for Weddell Island, at the start of our diving adventures, there were ink bottles in a small cabinet at one side of the counter for sale, marked “from the wreck of the John R Kelley”, I knew if I bought one the chances were it would get broken or lost over the next month of living somewhat rough nomadic existences across the islands, so I let it be and decided I would pick one up on the outward journey back home. As luck would have it, on our return the post office was closed and I left disappointed, it has taken 24 years to now, but with the help of Tara Hewitt from the Falkland Islands Museum & Trust, I have finally managed to keep the promise I made to myself so long ago

There followed a natural and perhaps ironic twist where Captain Chapman, formerly of the John R Kelley, took charge of the Cyrus Wakefield and brought her, from the dark voyage south from New York, to her eventual delivery of Captain Henry’s body to the port Authority in Stanley, finally in to San Francisco, along with the One remaining crew member, the steward Thomas Visiga, who would go on to tell a story of deceit and an unpunished murderer at large……

I would like to personally thank Ken Gross at the Walsh History Society & Camden Public library, Tara Hewitt of the Falklands Islands Museum Trust and the Jane Cameron Memorial Archives, to whom I am indebted for their permissions and help with the detail of this piece and for providing some of the photographs used

If you read the comments below you will see Paul Regan of Florida got in touch recently, Paul had the good fortune to purchase one of the navigational instruments off the John R Kelley. I am very envious of such a wonderful piece of the Vessels History and am delighted that Paul has allowed me to publish a picture of the ship’s Octant. An Octant allows the ship’s navigator to use a small mirror to measure the height of the Sun above the horizon giving the ships latitude, it’s position North or South. This when used along with an accurate chronometer and distance travelled would give the ship’s position. I think you’ll agree, it is a wonderful piece in beautiful condition and I’m grateful to Paul for getting in touch……..and if you ever tire of it Paul……

Epilogue

In my research of the John R Kelley over a period of a couple of years I believed I had found as much as I would ever uncover, little did I know at the time…..

As I looked for information on an unrelated wreck, another schooner written up on this site, the Crompton. I was in dialogue with Kelly Page at the (Boston) Maine Maritime Museum and it turned out Kelly had a diary that might be of some interest in respect to schooners that sailed out of the USA…….. The Keene Journal is exactly that, a daily diary (otherwise known as a journal), and was written on the John R Kelley in 1899 by Lydia Ford Keene, teacher of Captain Chapman’s young daughter, who was also aboard and relates their journey on the last voyage and shipwreck of the vessel John R. Kelley. To say I was delighted is somewhat of an understatement, this helped make Christmas of 2021 an exciting time. I suggest anyone interested in the John R Kelley, or schooners and Cape Horner’s, reads what is a wonderful insight into a travelers’ perception of life aboard such ships. I found the detail of a week’s menu very interesting, but there is detail specific to the loss of the John R Kelley that I want to share here:

(Keene, Lydia, F. “Log Book, Lydia Ford Keene” Online Resource: https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Lydia+Ford+Keene%22 Accessed 08/01/2022)

Lydia Keene goes on to describe some of the trivia of the aftermath surrounding the anchorage of the John R Kelley, down the headland from Port Stanley. It is a relief to all aboard as you will see if you read the journal, but Lydia does have a little more to add that I feel compelled to share:

“Capt. C. told me a week ago he had made up his mind that none of us would ever reach port. The heavy cargo had broken the ship. That was why she acted so queerly in the gale, and why the bow sprit rolled from side to side, and why the companion way doors worked up and down. During the gale he had decided that, if she foundered, he would lock the companionway doors, so that the fish could not get at us, and we would go down with the ship. Had we been a day later we should not have made port”

I would like to thank Kelly Page of the Maine Maritime Museum for kindly sharing the Keene Journal, from which these excerpts are taken, and to any living relatives of Lydia Ford Keene who should be very proud of such a fiercely brave and ground-breaking young woman

Weddell Island South Atlantic Ocean

  In Greek Mythology Castalia was a Naiad, a water Nymph, divine and sacred to the springs and rivers of the countryside. Daughter of the gardener Achelous, Castalia was believed to have come to Delphi in search of Python, but, pursued by the God Apollo, whose advances she would rather avoid, she turned herself into a fountain on the mountain of Parnassus North of Corinth. From that point onwards anyone who drank at the spring of Delphi or listened to the waters could be gifted the art of poetry by Castalia, indeed the waters of her spring were used to purify the temples of Delphi, where the oracles would speak in tongues to the likes of Leonidas, the Hoplite warrior king of Sparta, before the battle of Thermopylae………What better name for the sleekest of Yachts out of the Inman and Son’s shipyard at Lymington……

Shipbuilding at Lymington stretches back to the 1300’s when Lymington supplied 9 ships to King Edward the First in “defence of the Realm” between 1272 & 1307. Ownership of the Lymington Yard, now the home of prestigious Yacht Makers Berthon, can be traced to John Rogerys from 1513, then Charles Guidot, up to 1667 when it was bought by a John Coombes, all manner of wooden ships were traded initially and then, when Thomas Inman bought the yard in 1819, a move towards large schooners or “Gentleman’s sailing yachts” began to dominate the firm’s output. The origin of the America’s Cup can be traced to the race around the Isle of Wight between the “Gentleman’s Yachts” Alarm, Arrow and Lulworth, pitted against the yacht America 22^nd of August 1851. Castalia was one of those magnificent gentleman’s sailing yachts, a schooner, built and launched 07^th July 1874, at 120 tonnes and officially numbered hull 68834, Castalia was registered with Lloyd’s of London (1875) under the ownership of Adrian Elias Hope (son of a wealthy regency furniture designer), and skippered by O. Andrews

On the 07^th July 1874 Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 20^th Earl of Shrewsbury, 20^th Earl of Waterford (Ireland), 5^th Earl Talbot and Viscount Ingestre, was approaching his Fourteenth birthday and in school at Eton…… This just two years before the death of his father, his inheritance of the family’s hereditary titles……. and just Five years from his scandalous elopement with the wife of a commoner, Ellen Miller Mundy (Nee Palmer-Morewood) of Shipley Hall, in the parish of what is now the Borough of Amber Valley. More on the Miller Mundy family and Viscount Ingestre a little later, suffice to say destiny had an interest in the Nymph of Delphi and the errant Ellen Miller Mundy….. and a place for Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, the Viscount Ingestre

Castalia began her almost clandestine career in the ownership of A.E Hope, but came quickly under the new ownership of a John B. B. Coulson between the years of 1876 and late 1879, possibly even until the end of 1880. Now it should be obvious Castalia is not just a plaything, she was built at 120 Tonnes and designated a schooner, (a description of her rigging more than anything else), which certainly sets her above the weekend sail boats that hug the shores of Cowes, never to see the open ocean, but for their Victorian Gentleman Owners’ fear of spilling their martinis….  A typical Schooner of the time generally had Two masts, fore and aft rigged sails, occasionally “square rigged” but could oddly have up to Seven masts. It would be somewhat unlikely for an Inman & Son’s Schooner of that era to have more than three masts and it is reasonably assumed, in the absence of any other information, that two masts was the rig of the Castalia. Sadly, despite extensive searching, Castalia’s records at Berthon’s, (Latterly custodians of Inman & Son’s records) seem to have been amongst those lost to fire during the war years, long after her sinking, when Lymington Gosport and the Southampton area bore the brunt of Hitler’s Nazi bombing raids against British shipyards and coastal ports

Colonel John B. Blenkinsopp-Coulson was a descendant of Randulph de Blenkinshope of the town of Blenkinsopp, West of Haltwhistle in Northumberland, and landowners of that town since 1240. Little is known about Colonel Blenkinsopp Coulson (or of his ownership of Castalia), save that he built Blenkinsopp Hall, situated on the North bank of the Tipalt, and whose son William Lisle Blenkinsopp-Coulson (1840-1911), himself a colonel in the British Army, became well known as a philanthropist. There was a memorial fountain, (proposed by no less than the First Secretary to the Paris Embassy at the time, George Graham) erected in memory of Col William Lisle Blenkinsopp-Coulson, in honour of his charitable work with the “Humanitarian League” and many children’s and animal welfare charities. Once again Castalia seems to have slipped the net of publicity, despite being in such highly regarded ownership

Somewhere between 1880 and 1881 the Castalia is sold to Benjamin Nicholson of Portsmouth, Yacht Designer for Camper and Nicholson, where she stays for a brief 18 months or so, perhaps undergoing a refurbishment or re-fit before, in July of 1882, passing into the hands of one Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, Viscount Ingestre and 20^th Earl of Shrewsbury, 20^th Earl of Waterford and “Premier Earl of England”

Castalia is now owned by, literally, the highest ranking Earl of England (known as the Hereditary Great Seneschal) in the reign of the Queen of half the globe, Alexandrina Victoria….Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Here the Castalia nears infamy, through no fault but that of circumstance, of which, more later.  At this point in her history we know as much about the Castalia as can be known, we even have listed crew for both Benjamin Nicholson’s ownership and that of Charles Chetwynd-Talbot

In his defence, the Viscount Ingestre, Major Charles Chetwynd Talbot of Alton Towers, (his family home until his dalliance with Ellen Miller Mundy, wife of Alfred Miller Mundy of Shipley Hall in Heanor, Derbyshire) came to his titles very young. Only 16 when his father died (as was I when my father died) the inheritance of such power and position, let alone his father’s death itself, must have a considerable effect on any young person. It is inexcusable to most, for Charles to have become involved with a married woman, (indeed, a married mother with a child), it was especially inexcusable to Victorian society who shunned Ellen, (eventually Countess Chetwynd-Talbot on her marriage to Charles 21^st June 1882), from that point onwards. The role played by the Castalia in all of this is not yet played out, the circumstances of the elopement of Ellen with Charles was scandalous on more than one level, becoming an international news item, reported in many rag-tops of the day, including the Chicago Daily Tribune (June 23 1882): “England has a new premier countess [the earldom of Shrewsbury is the premier earldom of England] who is not likely to be received at court by the Queen with open arms”  Perhaps the Tribune knew more than most at the time? Indeed the Miller Mundy family, or more accurately the Palmer Morewood side of the family (Ellen’s side) had a scandal of their own. Ellen had Five Brothers, of whom the eldest, Charles, had inherited the family titles and lands. (Ellen and her family was distantly descended from Lord Byron, the infamous womanising Lord, & Poet) At a Christmas gathering of the family, towards the end of the evening Charles had been drunkenly confronted by the four remaining brothers, in an attempt to force him to relinquish the family fortune. Charles had steadfastly refused to do so, despite being beaten and stripped bare, indeed beaten until unconscious. The four brothers threatened Charles’ life with a pistol pressed to his head should he not agree their demands, but, holding against the assault, eventually the brothers fled empty handed, telling a servant his lord was indisposed through drink, before making their escape. Now it seems “somehow” those Four brothers made their way from England, fleeing the wrath of Charles on his recovery, and his reporting of the threats to his life and the assault on his person, something the magistrates frowned upon, so much so the extent the warrant for their appearance at court to answer the charges was set at £20,000, a huge sum in the day. Indeed the scandal was reported in the New York Times of 29^th January 1882: “….Had these civilised savages been lower in the social scale, it is said they would have been charged with a more penal offense and been offered no opportunity of liberty. Now they are reported to be laughing at the law in France or Spain. One account which reaches us from Alfreton declares they are about to embark for a cruise in the Mediterranean in the beautiful yacht of the Earl of Shrewsbury. “These four young aesthetes, their divorced and divine sister, and the lordly libertine,” says my correspondent “will make, no doubt, a merry crew.” It seems the Castalia had reached a zenith, now the most regal of getaway craft it could possibly be imagined

How might the Castalia have been “appointed” for such a prestigious client as Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, Viscount Ingestre?  Or, put another way, what would the Castalia have looked like if we were to sail her today? I have used a contemporary 120 Tonne schooner, the Ianira, sistership to the Castalia to give the closest look we perhaps can achieve in the circumstances, she certainly has the lines of an Inman & Son’s boat and is Schooner rigged of the day. For all her involvement in the notoriety and events of the time the Castalia remained a very private ship, I spent over two years trying to find any photos, plans or even mention of her (other than that included here) including dialogue with her makers at Berthon’s, Camper & Nicholson’s, her former owners the Falkland Islands Shipping Company, even the Falkland Islands Historical Archive, and could until recently, find nothing, even the curators of Ingestre Hall, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot’s archivists have no records of Castalia, it’s as if she were a ghost, something time wished to forget………

  How does such a thoroughbred, of the type Castalia must have been to attract the likes of Viscount Ingestre, the Earl of Shrewsbury, simply disappear….I have no answer to give, but I know where she went to die, and I have visited her resting place and touched her bones…….but let’s not dwell on that end yet, let us look at the remainder of her life and the passage into history of the finest Inman & Son’s had to offer in 1874……. James Hammond was instructed to sail from Eastbourne 05^th July 1881, Ellen Palmer Morewood having joined The Earl of Shrewsbury on the Castalia after a fracas in Strasbourg, where her husband and her brother had pursued Ellen and the Earl to confront them with their affair, both returned from Strasbourg to England via Paris and had joined the Castalia in Eastbourne and sailed (presumably amongst the Mediterranean ports) until arriving at Flushing, the Dutch port of Vlissingen 21^st of October 1881, returning to England around the 25^th of October 1881: “In July, 1881, the yacht was off Eastbourne, and a lady joined it with Lord Shrewsbury.” John Hammond the master of Castalia was asked if the lady was the countess and did the yacht sail with the Earl and the lady on board: “Yes…after a sail the yacht returned to England about October 25^th, and Lord and Lady Shrewsbury went to a hotel in Southsea”   (Hammond. J: Quoted in the New Zealand Herald 29^th Nov 1913). In another article (Priestley, K.C: Quoted in the Evening Post: 02^nd December 1913) reported that “…….Mrs. Miller Mundy joined Lord Shrewsbury’s yacht, ‘Castalia’ at Eastbourne. They went away from England and were absent until 21^st October 1881, when they reached Flushing”   and then that “….on 24^th November 1881, went to the Hotel Windsor, Paris, staying there until 31^st December of the same year. Next day they joined the yacht at Toulon and were cruising about together until 11^th March 1882.” 

The Earl of Shrewsbury’s ownership of the Castalia continued until somewhere around 1887 when, approaching 15 years old, she changed hands, becoming the property of the Falkland Islands Company. Now the Falklands Islands Company (FIC) had been founded in 1851, being granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria a year later (10^th January) in 1852, primarily to establish a shipping link to England with interests in farming, land owning and even a Falkland Island Hotel. The islands farming heritage goes back to the withdrawal of French interests in 1767, according to the FIC company history, in 1842, Richard Moody, the Islands governor wrote (Web Resource: the-falkland-islands-co.com/about-us/company-history/ .accessed 16/08/20) “….there are forty thousand head of cattle, fat, magnificent and better than the animals of the South American mainland, ready to be exploited by a well-financed commercial organisation” This information led to the setting up of a contract granting Samuel Lafone, an English merchant in Montevideo, sole rights to manage the cattle in the Southern Peninsula of East Falkland, now known as Lafonia, for fairly obvious, if seemingly rather egocentric reasons! The contract was purchased from Lafone in 1851 by the newly formed FIC. The Islands current farming of sheep can be traced to Frederick E Cobb, appointed to the position of “Colonial Manager”, it was Cobb who realised sheep were the most profitable resource despite the rather poor quality of the local flocks of the time, once properly managed and clear of disease the stock had risen from 35,000 unhealthy animals to 150,000 healthy wool producing specimens

When the Falkland Islands Company bought the Castalia it can only be imagined their intention was for the transport of people rather than commodities. It would not be beyond the wit of man to convert Castalia, but why go to the expense when far more suitable craft could have been purchased, presumably far cheaper, for the purposes of mere cargo? Far more likely that a fine schooner like Castalia would attract those with business interests and those looking for exotic travel between the lands of Argentina and the Falkland Islands, indeed Castalia’s known journeys would perhaps bear that out…… Castalia sailed from Portsmouth, departing 27^th of September 1888 commanded by Captain E F Collard, reaching Port Stanley 15^th December of that year. The passage took Castalia to Monte-Video, somewhere she would become used to in the next five of years. Interesting to note that the passage from Monte-Video to Port Stanley was storm lashed, Castalia lost her Jib Boom and Binnacle on the trip. On her arrival one Frederick Cobb (The aforementioned Colonial Manager of the FIC) recorded of Castalia “….She has a lamentably poor, undersized crew…” (Bishop. T. (F.I. National Archivist): e-mail correspondence to C Jones 04/20) and that Castalia carried too little ballast, to which he added 15 tonnes of iron!

Over the five years Castalia was owned by the FIC she seems to have mostly run the Port Stanley to Monte-Video route, twice in 1889 under skipper Mc. Laughlin up to June of that year, and then somewhere between June & September she transferred the helm to Frances Rowlands for her second trip, arriving safely back in Port Stanley on the 20^th October 1889. The journeys are recorded by the FIC which was also the Lloyd’s Shipping Agent for the Falkland Islands (and I believe still is). The Lloyd’s records are available to view on-line at the Jane Cameron National Archives of the Falkland Islands and a review of departures sees Castalia appear to have been in ballast out to Monte-Video, returning presumably with cargo of some sort, to some small amount, but more likely with human cargo

There are no Castalia journey’s in the Lloyd’s register for 1890, however the Falkland Islands Magazine record her bound for West Falkland carrying the Cobb family, Mr, Mrs and Miss Cobb, (20^th November of 1890) presumably the ubiquitous Colonial manager of the FIC and his family, I find it odd that there is no marked departure from Port Stanley noted in the Lloyd’s register, however, it may be that local “coastal” voyages were unmentioned as a matter of course, whilst international travel was mandatory, it would be fascinating to find the truth of the matter as it may explain a later anomaly too……..

Whatever the reason the voyage is not recorded in the Lloyd’s register, the trip around the Northern limits of East Falkland to the  accessible anchorages, most likely Pebble Island or West Point Island, is normally 2 days by sail, the weather not often favourable in the South Atlantic Ocean most of the year round! Castalia’s next voyage is recorded in the Lloyd’s register and sees her again bound for Monte-Video, departing on the 13^th November and again noted to be “in ballast”. Nothing is remarked in the register on her return to Port Stanley 21^st of December of 1891 her cargo is noted as “general” (annotated under the entry for the schooner “Ione” where “do” is taken to mean “ditto”), nor any passengers noted. There are no further entries in the Lloyd’s register for Castalia but there were definitely other journeys, the Falklands Island Magazine again records a Mr George Cobb and his family arriving from Lively Island in Port Stanley aboard the Castalia 07^th October of 1892, the last mention for that year. There must have been at least one more sailing from Port Stanley, there may have been several (that cannot be determined)  however,  it is inevitable that there was a sailing to West Falklands, specifically, Weddell Island, around March of 1893 as the next entry in the lifetime of the Castalia would be her last………

Castalia appears briefly in the Falklands Islands Magazine of April 1893 “…During the good Friday gale, the Castalia dragged ashore at Weddell and was damaged on the rocks.” Lloyd’s list of Thursday 04^th May 1893 reports (Para 15: “Maritime Intelligence”) “CASTALIA. – Stanley F.I. (by Tel. from Montevideo, May 3, 8 p.m.) –Castalia schooner, belonging to Falkland Islands Company, ashore at Weddell Island, Falklands; considerably damaged.” The Lloyd’s list a month later, 23^rd June of 1893 reports “CASTALIA. – Stanley, F.I., May 19. – The schooner Castalia is not yet afloat, in consequence of the tides serving badly at this time of year. A Diver, however, proceeded to Weddell Island this morning, and it is hoped she will shortly be got off and sufficiently repaired to be brought here.” The final and sad demise of Castalia is borne to the world in a brief sentence in the Lloyd’s list of Friday 28^th July 1893 and reads “CASTALIA. – Stanley, F.I., June 27 (by Tel. from Montevideo received July 27.) – Castalia abandoned, being c nsidered a total loss.” Thus ends the Castalia, forlorn and abandoned off the settlement at Weddell Island, not only in sight of shore, but hard against it and the hidden rocks of the headlands of a remote Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, brutal and unforgiving, wild and untamed, with weather that can turn in minutes from benign to terrifying and which, in a gale on Good Friday of 1893, took the Castalia, the Nymph of Delphi to ruin

05^th January 1996 and Exercise Southern Craftsman is in full swing, we are doing a shake-out dive in our first location and my little Red book records: “Ran into the wreck of Castatia on a checkout dive. She was a Schooner (100 Ton 80 x 20 ft) wrecked on Good Friday 1893 little remains of her but Rib Spars and a good length of hull timbers which are heavily rotted & covered in kelp but we were short on time towards the end of the dive – worth another look & a good root round.” Even then there was ambiguity around the Castalia, as borne out by the incorrect naming of the wreck from the outset…. We did return to her two days later (07^th January 1996) and the Red book notes: “ Castatia Pre-Survey buoyage down on to the wreck then along to the stern. Fixing buoys for the survey team (to remaining wood work) then in & out amongst thick kelp along the remaining timbers. A good dig round but I feel the Islanders stripped her bare for timber etc. Atmospheric though, after 100 years below.” The last sentence was prescient as during my correspondence with the Falklands Islands Archivist, Tansy Bishop (to whom I am very grateful for the assistance with this piece) notes: “The Castalia was abandoned by the Falkland Islands Company Ltd as a total wreck in June 1893.  All of the vessel’s gear, etc, that could be was collected and sold by auction” which is not surprising considering the lack of timber available on the Falkland Islands and the need to re-use whatever could be obtained at the time

As usual, there’s half a story in the dive log and the remainder in my head, the first encounter with Castalia came as a surprise, neither I nor my buddy on the day, Chris, had any idea there was a wreck anywhere on the island (Weddell Island, our first stop in the Falkland Islands on exercise Southern Craftsman, there’s more on the Weddell dives elsewhere on here). I was genuinely surprised to be in amongst wooden ribs, so much so that it took a couple in a row before I realised what we were gently finning through. We didn’t have long left in terms of air, we had already been out 15 or so minutes, on a shakeout dive from the shore, off a decent rock plateau covered over at high tide. The dive had been uneventful and it looked like we would have to wind our way to shore through the kelp until it dawned on us this was a little more than just kelp. I had come in at an angle to Castalia, and was somewhere near the Transom in the last few rib spars before some more substantial wood appeared which turned out to be her stern, which meant she had come to rest Port side against the rocks off-shore by 80 or so meters in around 6-8 meters of water, enough to have most of her hull underwater when she went aground. The second dive was a mission, as soon as Don Shirley heard we had come across a wreck he did some calling and talking with the owners of Weddell Island and the name Castatia came up, we know that was a mis-pronunciation or mistake at the time but it meant we could do a little research of our own, and Don instigated a video run down the keel of the wreck. For this we set up buoys as start and end point and a run line down her keel. On the second dive we found way more wreckage than we’d originally came across, the first dive had informed us of her “lie” in the water, the second allowed us to see the extent, including a ferret around her transom where we came across a couple of Brass letters still attached to the stern, two A’s and an L if I recall correctly, but it has been a while and I can’t honestly be sure

Castalia had an illustrious life, feted by the high and mighty of English society, her owners ranged from English Military to English Nobility and her passengers from Lords and ladies to would be murderers and to those seeking new lives on distant, windswept islands so remote as to be of a different realm…..and yet Castalia sailed unnoticed for most of her life, her name an occasional whisper, almost out of earshot in a wind that steals detail, a ship of the finest heritage, fitted in the most lavish way, by the most prestigious yard and the most sought after designers and yet, like the Marie Celeste, she ended up abandoned against a shore so distant as to be unreachable, with no headstone save 3 Brass letters under 6 meters of sea…….

Although at time of initial posting for this piece there were no known photos of Castalia, I am deeply indebted to Mr Robert Rowlands, ancestor of Captain Frances Rowlands, master of the Castalia on the night of the worst storm the South Atlantic had seen in years on that Good Friday of 1893, for the photos of Castalia hard ashore at Weddell island and for the following account of Castalia’s loss from Captain Rowlands himself, given at the time:

“We arrived at Gull harbour, Weddell on Thursday noon with  much rain and  fresh breeze from the north and landed the passengers but could not work cargo, anchored in 5 fathoms and paid out 30 fathoms of chain on the starboard anchor and had the Port anchor prepared to let go, the barometer  showing 29.40, about 8pm rain cleared and pleasant night and being very tired went to bed at 9pm,at about midnight the blast of wind awoke me and it was a great hurricane from the south east, I jumped out of bed without my boots, hat or coat and rushed forward and let go the port anchor and paid out until both anchors pulled alike, about 45 minutes past midnight a sudden blast of wind came down upon us that no anchors   could hold and touched the ground on the port side to the rocks and to my mind, I should say and judge she is badly damaged”

It is awful to imagine Castalia dragging her anchors, her lines straining against the inevitable, seas pounding her sleek flanks until it was all too late and fate and the Gods took Castalia back to the waters, not of Delphi and the gentle streams of the oracles….. but of the raging South Atlantic Ocean and the kingdom of Poseidon……..

I would like to personally thank Tansy Bishop, National Archivist of the Jane Cameron Falkland Islands National Archive, Anne Dixon & Giulia Callegari of Camper & Nicholson’s, and Anne Andrews, researcher & publisher of the Ingestre Family history, for their assistance with information for this piece, for which I am truly grateful 

Revision January 2021:

  I must also thank Mr Robert Rowlands, ancestor of the Castalia’s Master during most of her time in the Falkland Islands, Captain Frances Rowlands, for his correction of several inaccuracies in my initial post. I am indebted to Robert for the information provided and for his provision of the photos of Castalia and her sistership the Ianira

Kyle of Lochalsh, Skye, Scotland

  HMS Port Napier was initially intended as a refrigerated cargo ship, designed and under construction at Swan, Hunter, Wigham & Richardson for the Port Line.  Port Napier was named after the destination of Napier Port, of New Zealand, the port having grown around the Hawke’s Bay area, overlooked by Bluff Hill. Hawke’s Bay had been named in October of 1769 by Captain Cooke on his voyage in the Barque Endeavour, after, and in honour of, Sir Edward Hawke, First Lord of the Admiralty (www.rootsweb/napier: “Napier – New Zealand Bound” accessed 28/06/20)

    In 1939 local Government approved a new build of 197 houses in the Napier port area to meet the need of the growing population and increase of international trade, the construction of 134 houses started…. just as the world descended into World War II, with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, in September of 1939. The Port Line, recently re-branded, having originally been the Commonwealth and Dominion Line up until November of 1937, were prolific in the transportation of goods to and from the Antipodean region, having shipped the girders used for the Sydney Harbour Bridge from Middlesbrough between 1927 and 1932 (whilst under the ownership of Cunard), its business being predominantly frozen meat, hence the original intent of the Port Napier’s design. Under construction at Swan Hunter Wigham & Richardson’s Wallsend Yard in 1939, the Port Napier was requisitioned by the Admiralty and conversion to a minelayer began

The Admiralty was getting a fine ship for whatever money it would end up spending, although the design would be modified over a series of design changes, and permissions sought from the Admiralty by many hundreds (it seemed to me too many to go through in the time I had available, and that was after spending a couple of hours reading requests to move flanges and change materials…..) of communications between her designers at Swan Hunter Wigham and Richardson and the various hierarchical approvers at the Admiralty

Port Napier’s hull was improved by the addition of 2” armour plate, internal narrow gauge rails were fitted and her holds modified, four minelaying doors were cut in her stern, to allow the stern deployment of mines, pushed into the sea whilst tethered on their railway trolleys, and the Port Napier was given armaments in the shape of Two 4” guns, at her bows and Two 1.6”, 2 pounder guns along with Four 20mm anti-aircraft cannons. She was designated M32, and would join her squadron, the 1^st Minelaying Squadron, at the Kyle of Lochalsh, opposite the Isle of Skye in Scotland on successful launch. The reasoning behind her conversion to mine laying duties is well explained in a Kyleakin Local Historical Society talk by a Kingussie man, who lived through the times and witnessed the events surrounding the Port Napier’s arrival and subsequent sinking, Bill Ramsay (Web resource: kyleakinlocalhistorysociety.co.uk/portnapier.html Accessed 09/08/2020)  from the 27th October 2010: “The Admiralty had thought to close off access to the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans by laying a barrage of mines across from Orkney to the Norwegian coast, but later in July 1939 a new scheme was planned. They decided to lay minefields from Greenland, across the Denmark Strait to Iceland and from there to the Faeroe Islands, and thence to Orkney. Other fields would be laid from there along the route by Cape Wrath and the north west of Scotland, thereby closing the passage through the Minch. A minefield was established at the south end of the Irish Sea, with another on the east coast of Scotland and England”.  The make-up of the First Minelaying Squadron, as the Royal Navy would call it is again described by Bill Ramsey “….. fast merchant ships of the Blue Funnel Line, Prince Line and Port Line, the Southern Prince (10,917 tons gross), the Port Napier (9847 tons gross), the Port Quebec (8490 tons gross), the Agamemnon (7592 tons gross) and the Menestheus (7494 tons gross)”

  For those who love their figures, these are from the records of the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Wallsend Yard records held at the Tyne & Wear Archive:

Name:                PORT NAPIER

Type:                  Refrigerated Cargo Ship completed as a minelayer

Launched:          23/04/1940

Completed:       06/1940

Builder:              Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd

Yard:                   Wallsend

Yard Number:   1569

Dimensions:      9847grt, 5906nrt, 503.3 x 68.2 x 29.8ft

Engines:             2 x Oil engines, 2SCSA, 5cyl (26.5 x 91.25ins)

Engines by:        Wm Duxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland

Propulsion:        2 x Screws

Reg Number:    167578

Eventually the Port Napier, for all the design iterations, was completed and the Admiralty inspectors and Lloyds of London inspectors signed her off, approved as 100 A1, which is as good as given to any ship I know of (other than those of the Blue Funnel Line which were always 100 A1+ being considered “better” than the Lloyds classification could achieve) it is telling though that the Lloyd’s inspector clearly and unequivocally excluded the Admiralty alterations in the approval notification:

Now there are at least Two mainstream narratives on her sinking, the primary being the Port Napier was being Victualed (Fueled & Cargo’d) at Kyle of Lochalsh when she caught fire and had to be towed out and set adrift to prevent catastrophe to the quayside, and the second where she drifted from the Quay, fouling the anchor chain of another vessel whilst dragging her own anchor into the channel to Kyleakin and had to be cut free to drift into Skye, where she caught fire. These are ignoring a third suggestion, in certain circles, that she had been the victim of Nazi saboteurs who set her on fire in the harbour and…..well you get the picture! What is clear is that the Port Napier was alongside the dock at the Kyle of Lochalsh for several days before the incident on the 27^th November of 1940. She had been loading with mines for days, there were 550 to go aboard and they had been arriving at the Kyle railhead and being transferred by the dock workers, from the ammunition trains, until most if not all of the intended munitions were on board

   It is difficult to fathom the true sequence of events that led to the initial drifting of the Port Napier, if she was, as some report, still dock-side, and if common practice for the time meant detonators had already been placed in each of the mines before Port Napier’s planned departure (It’s not easy to fit detonators on a rolling or pitching ship, and time consuming too, far easier to fit in the calm of a port, whilst docked….), then she was in a very dangerous condition if fire did break out aboard. If there was little, or ineffective fire-fighting equipment at the remote Kyle dock then it makes sense to cut her adrift and hope the tide and current take her far enough away to make any detonation as safe as practical in the circumstances. If the “gale” theory, where the Port Napier dragged her anchors out into the loch, fouling another ship on the way, and then, on being freed by whatever means, beached against the Skye shore in Loch Na Bieste, and then caught fire, is correct then that is a series of very unfortunate events even Lemony Snicket would find hard to swallow. I rather favour the “fire breaking out dock-side” reports personally, and the tow out into the main channel, whatever happens after that being the “will of the Gods” in terms of drift, direction and eventual resting place. It more suits a logic I am comfortable with if you prefer, I can’t see a moored ship, even in a storm, drifting away from a dock, and why would her anchor be payed out if she was dockside? I can, however, see a close knit community realising they were ill-prepared to fight such a fire, in such a perilous circumstance, cutting a ship away from a dock….. and, yes, it is logical to let God or “happenstance” do its worst once the unlucky ship had been cut-away from her moorings, her anchor could have been dropped to slow any drift towards shore later. There is another equally logical explanation, a sort of half-way house if you like…..Let’s say loading had completed and the Port Napier was ready to sail, it would be natural to anchor up outside the harbour to await instructions and in order to allow other ships to dock. In such circumstances it makes it far easier to imagine her dragging her anchors in a gale, to drift across another ship’s lines taking her with the Port Napier, indeed Bill Ramsey’s history society account seems to agree with this “The Port Napier was at anchor one evening before setting off and a fierce gale caused her to drag her two anchors. She was almost uncontrollable without ‘tugs’ in a howling gale at night in confined conditions. Every effort was made to get underway and re-anchor in safety, when the ship was blown across the bows of an anchored collier and her screws fouled the collier’s anchor cables…..” and all stories fit from then……

In his piece on the Port Napier (www.submerged.co.uk/portnapier: accessed 28/06/20) Diver Peter Mitchell (sadly now deceased) has it that:  “Very quickly the Port Napier was careering completely out of control, and soon she smashed into an anchored collier who’s anchor chain fouled her propellers. With both engines stopped the Port Napier and the hapless collier continued to drag right across the Loch towards the Isle of Skye, where finally their combined anchors got a grip and brought them up safely in a shallow bay close to the shore. The next morning the Port Napier started the job of clearing her propellers and it was decided that they might as well complete her refuelling while they were at it. Halfway through the refuelling a fire started in the engine room and within minutes it was completely out of control. With the engine room a raging inferno, attention was concentrated on the two mine decks directly above the engine room, which of course were full of armed mines. Whilst the rest of the crew abandoned ship, the mine party, with almost unbelievable courage, went back to the mine decks and started to remove the detonators. After about twenty minutes the lower mine deck became white hot and it became obvious that the ship could not be saved. The mining party was ordered off the ship, and the Port Napier was left to burn. After a while the fire seemed to die down and once again a party of volunteers scrambled back on board to see what could be saved. Once on board however the crew found that the fire was burning just as fiercely and moreover the mine decks above the engine room were now starting to buckle in the heat. The volunteers started to chuck mines down the stern chutes, but soon the heat and smoke became too much for them to endure and so they had to abandon ship once again. They were not a moment too soon. As they safely cleared the ship there were two huge explosions. The first blew bits of the ship onto the Isle of Skye, some going two hundred feet into the air, and the other explosion shot a huge column of smoke and flames that mushroomed out over the Loch like a dark stain” I can’t verify where Peter Mitchell had this account, but it is descriptive enough to have come from a first-hand account contemporary to the sinking, it certainly fits the latter part of the “drift” scenario, and does not concern itself with the “dockside”, or “at anchor” question, sadly as Peter died in 2015 the trail runs cold

  There is a memorial to the disaster where a decommissioned sea mine and its base are set at the junction to Station Road and Main Street in Kyle of Lochalsh. The inscription on the memorial plaque says:

It would seem the official version of events favours the storm dragged anchor scenario, it is not often a commemorative plaque inscription is not well accounted for prior to casting or engraving, so this seems to confirm the fire aboard started following the Port Napier’s grounding against the Loch Na Bieste shore on Skye. Suffice it to say the brave souls who went onto the Port Napier to try to clear her of mines must have been horrified when fire was reported in her engine room, 550 mines in one place is likely to yield an incredible explosion, each Mark XIV sea mine, a 1920’s design prevalent in the early stages of WWII, contains either 320lbs or 500lbs of explosive depending on configuration

   The only “official” notifications that I could find are terse to say the least, the first is the “Report of Total Loss, Casualty, &c.” issued at Lloyds for the vessel Twin M S “Port Napier” of the Port Line, 88 Leadenhall Street, London E.C.3. 01 July of 1940. This record, No 89556 in wreck book 96/41 states that “Very confidentially reported that this vessel was destroyed by fire on Government Service in November, 1940.“

There is a second and more enquiring letter, presumably from the owners, Swan Hunter Wigham & Richardson, specifically it would seem from a Mr Reed. It seems Mr Reed had asked of the loss of the Port Napier and had been directed to the Admiralty with his enquiry “Do you know anything and was she Marine or War, as the B.T. return “Burnt” may mean anything?” The result of such seemingly impertinent “digging” was an abrupt and thwarting response, (clearly approved for issue by a second level of administration from the penned underlining of “very confidential” and handwritten addition of “Broadsheet” following Lloyd’s List after it had been typed), “Mr Reed, This vessel was destroyed by fire, November, 1940 She is regarded as a marine loss and is very confidential. Never published in Lloyd’s List.” Evidently not even Port Napier’s owners would be allowed the full circumstances of her loss…….

My first dive on HMS Port Napier was taken on the 08^th of July 1995 as part of exercise Triton Triangle with TIDSAC, I remember the caution our D.O. Norman Morley gave us as we approached, “……we are at high tide, this wreck will show as the tide falls and we do not want to be parked over her at that point!” That meant locating a mooring location on Port Napier and putting a temporary buoy there so we could return over the remainder of the expedition, we had more than one dive planned on her! So my log records our first dive went like this: “Port Napier of the Port line of ships commandeered to be a mine layer. Set adrift when she caught fire with a full load. Wrecked opposite Balmacara. After tying off the buoy to the forward mast we dropped to the bow at 22m then worked along to the stern section, heavily broken midships, a lovely gun up for’ard, plenty to see & great viz (4m) a fair few large Pollack & Wrasse came off towards the stern in 14m deployed delayed SMB & had a 1min stop at 6m – great wreck” I had loved the wreck from start to finish, we had done 36 minutes on her and I wanted as much more time as I could get. I had noticed how broken the Port Napier was amidships but not yet realised this ran 2/3 of her hull from stern to almost the bow guns, of which there were actually Two, one either side of her forecastle area

The damage I had seen was not all the result of any explosion, it had been mostly deliberate and controlled by those clearing the remaining mines from her holds, only around 30m or so of hull had been damaged by the mine going off and sending her to the bottom, thankfully the remaining mines remained intact. The Royal Navy surveyed the Port Napier in 1940 then abandoned her until 1944 when they returned to try to gain access to her remaining dangerous cargo, wartime reporting restrictions had kept the loss secret until peacetime and she had lain undisturbed, with the still dangerous mines in place, until the Navy decided that the wreck should be made safe. In 1955 recovery work began, the salvage team, from HMS Barglow had developed a plan to remove a section of the plating on the ship’s port side to provide access to the holds. A lift system was devised then teams of divers began working to clear the holds. It took until 1956 to complete the work but then the Port Napier was finally declared safe, all mines and ammunition for her guns having been removed and the ship was again abandoned to the sea

My second dive on HMS Port Napier was the next day, Saturday 09/07/95, I was again buddying Mark and the little Red book records: “Penetration dive on the Napier, following the guide rope, through the railway tunnels which dropped the mines from the stern doors. Very eerie, the first section did have some light from the damage above. Once into the second stage all light had gone as it is intact throughout, very still and gloomy, but a really great dive which ends up in an ascent through the broken midships area, we found the seaward side after some disorientation & popped the delayed up from the broken mast abaft midships” Again this is the abridged version of events and falls short of a saga, but this was, in truth, my first wreck penetration and came with all of the apprehension and tension that implies

  I vividly remember the initial hesitation at the stern mine doors when I thought, there is a thick rope there, if I follow it and it remains a black-out in there I just turn around and follow it back out…… Every diver has heard tales of those foolhardy enough to enter shipwrecks, some of those tales don’t end well…I wasn’t aware of any divers losing their lives on the Port Napier, but neither did I wish to become the first….. this was about adventure and risk-reward, I could risk a short swim into the stern and along the mine rails, I could turn back if I didn’t like it or it became silted or darker, as long as the rope held I would be fine……as long as the rope held! It was over in an instant, the decision to go….I finned forward and Mark followed, it got darker for a short while, but ahead I could see shafts of light from above, streaming in to illuminate areas, and so I knew I could head forward if nothing else changed, I looked back to ensure there was nothing coming down from the rusting hull behind us, disturbed by our exhaled air and our fin strokes….. nothing, I could see the stern exit illuminated as a picture window might have appeared at dusk in failing light….I turned back to the shafts of light ahead and swam forward, there was tortured metal above wherever light streamed in, I could exit at points above me if needed, but there were more shafts of light ahead…….and she draws you forward…. It’s easy to see how divers are tempted into areas they should perhaps not be, but our story ended safely, we chose an easy exit, keen not to tear our dry-suits and end the exped prematurely, and we came out of the hull somewhere forward of midships and continued to the mast, the base at least still in place, sticking out horizontal to the sea bed below. I was elated, I had seen things I knew most others had not, I had been inside a ship sank 55 years previously in an event history will never forget, and I was a part of that, I had touched it, felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise, my heart rate increase and that fight or flight response that said…..well…are we going in then…….and I loved it!

   HMS Port Napier’s mines were made in Dagenham, Oxford and Birmingham and their explosives were fitted in Bandeath near Stirling. If you are wondering what it looks like when one of these mines goes off? Here’s one that was detonated in a controlled explosion by the UK military in 2019 after it was dragged up in a fishing trawl…… now  what if 550 of these went up in close or instantaneous succession……….

My next dive on Port Napier was on the Sunday, the following day (10/07/95) and again my buddy was Mark, this time we would try another area to start with and the log records: “Dropped down to the bow section & swam under to enjoy the view, round to the midships after passing the forward deck gun. Through the damaged mid-ships section & over the boiler to play with a very friendly Cuckoo Wrasse then down the wreck & past large Pollack/Coalfish & up for a 1 min stop @ 6m” This was a more scenic tour of the Port Napier, clearly, I wanted to make sure we spent time around the wreck too, Mark had enjoyed the penetration dive as much as I had but there was plenty more to see on the main of the outer areas of the wreck too. On the surface, waiting for the second dive pair to surface, we could clearly see the pieces of bridge section blown onto shore following the initial mine detonation that sent Port Napier to the bottom

  It would be another Three days until we returned to the Port Napier for our last dive of the exped, it was by far the most popular dive we did in the area and I couldn’t wait as we had agreed this would be another penetration if all looked good when we were down there. I couldn’t have asked for better weather, nor better viz and the log records: “Port Napier, the last dive on the Napier so another penetration – we entered mid-ships & once over the damaged area finned to the stern rapidly, located the roped mine tunnel & went through until we exited up @ 3m in midships, worked our way back through the closest hold & then went over the side & along to the bow & the foredeck. Spent some time around the gun & then came off the wreck & deployed the delayed for a 1 min stop @ 6m” I did not convey any of the wonder I had inside the hull, the light shafts knifing through the gloom, the torchlight picking up endless fittings and tortured steel shards, once pieces of deck supports and bulkheads….in truth the description just does not do the dive justice, but I use my log as a reminder more than a descriptive, it keeps me focused and means I do keep up a regular log book, rather than end up leaving log entries to the future and forgetting to fill in the dive details, at least that means the dives are captured and can be recalled at leisure, or for pieces such as this

I do not think there is a picture of HMS Port Napier, if there is I have yet to find it and I have spent several years looking, the two most common pictures used to represent her are those below, one is the first of her name, initially of the Commonwealth & Dominion line, launched 1912 (sold 1938)

The second picture is the third Port Napier, of the Port Line and built at the same yard as the 1940 ship, Swan Hunter Wigham Richardson, but launched in September of 1947, some Seven years later, this is perhaps the ship most used to represent the actual wreck, but is, nonetheless inaccurate

Be sure I will upload an accurate picture should I ever manage to obtain one, and if anyone reading this knows where I might find a genuine photo of the 1940 HMS Port Napier I would be excited to hear from them!

EPILOGUE: Jan 2022

Its quite amazing to me the co-incidences that come together to add something to a piece like this, another of my passions is steam trains, related of course to my love of steamships, the two are almost indivisible, without one there could not have been the other so to speak. I was lucky enough to visit the National Railway Museum in York just after Christmas this year and spent a wonderful afternoon around the exhibits, from locomotives to memorabilia, from Stephenson’s 1829 “Rocket”, trialed at Rainhill in Liverpool, my home town, to Nigel Gresley’s iconic “Mallard”, the fastest steam locomotive ever when in 1938 she reached 126 MPH, a record that still stands today! There, on a wall, high above, in the back room which is an absolute hoard of railway treasures and many steam ship models too, almost lost in amongst other plaques was this one: