Hartlepools Voyage History

Official No. 81507: Code Letters TGDL.

Masters: 1880-82 John W Straughan: 1882 J Parker: 1883 John W Straughan: 1884-86 Beavan: 1887-88 J Race.

Voyages: Arrived West Hartlepool 9 January 1881 from Carthagena; left West Hartlepool 22 January 1881 for Aden; left Malta 5 February 1881 for Aden left Port Said 10 February 1881 for Aden; arrived Aden 19/219 February 1881; left Aden 24 February 1881 for Elephant Point, Rangoon.

Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail 13^th May, 1887:
HARTLEPOOL STEAMER IN PERIL. COLLISION WITH AN IMMIGRANT SHIP. NARROW ESCAPE OF 1000 PASSENGERS. Reports reached New York early on Thursday morning of a terrible shipping disaster said to have taken place in the lower harbour during the night. The reports prove, however, to be much exaggerated, although awful calamity was narrowly averted. The Antwerp liner Belgenland, 3,692 tons, with over a thousand passengers on board, chiefly emigrants, was passing off the quarantine station late Wednesday night when she collided with the steamer Hartlepools, of West Hartlepool. The shock is described as so tremendous that it a wonder that either vessel remained afloat. Both were seriously damaged. The bowplates and the upper works of the Hartlepools torn bodily away. The Belgenland had her plates the port side aft the mizen stove in, and was other ways badly damaged. The collision created fearful panic on board the Belgenland. Most of her passengers were below at the time and rushed on deck pell-mell, the majority them half-naked. For a moment it seemed though a rush, which must have proved disastrous, would be made for the boats. But the exertions of the officers, and the fact, which soon became evident, that the vessel was not sinking, recalled everybody to reason.

Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough 7^th December, 1888:
WRECK OF A HARTLEPOOL STEAMER. SEVENTEEN LIVES LOST. LIST OF THE DROWNED. About six o'clock last night the Hudson Shipping Company, West Hartlepool, received a brief message from Captain Race, of the steamer Hartlepools, announcing the loss of that vessel with seventeen of her crew. The Hartlepools was bound from the Danube with grain for Bergen, and went on the rocks yesterday at Egersund, on the coast of Norway, within a few miles of her destination. Full particulars of the disaster are not yet to hand, but there seems to be no doubt but that seventeen of the crew of the ill-fated vessel have found a watery grave. Captain Race's message gives the names of the drowned, and the following is a complete list obtained this morning from the offices of the Hudson Shipping Company : — DROWNED. J. McDonic, mate, Wesley-street, West Hartlepool, married and family; J. Muirhead, second mate, 397, Scotswood Road, Newcastle; W. King, cook; S. Boynton, boatswain, Newport. Mon.; W. Coul. A.B.; E. ?u?sell, A.B.; J. Murray, A.B.; M. Regan. A.B.; W. L. Hogg, first engineer. 34, Milton Street, West Hartlepool, widow and six children; H. Wright, second engineer, Swansea; J. E. Ayes, third engineer, Alma Street, West Hartlepool; J. Doyle, donkeyman; S. Comes, fireman, Berkenhead; G. Brown, fireman; S. McDonald, fireman; J. Connor, engineers' steward; W. Pragnell, steward;
SAVED. John Race, master, Upper Alma Street, West Hartlepool; P. Johnman, carpenter; J. Martin, A.B. Dublin; J. Caghlero, fireman.
A melancholy circumstance in connection with the disaster is the fact that three of the drowned —namely, S. Boynton, A. H. Wright, and J. McDonic, were rescued from the steamer Hughenden, belonging to the same Company, which was lost with several of her crew in September last. The third engineer, Mr J. E. Ares, of Alma-street, is a son of Mr. Ares, late manager of the Liberal Club, West Hartlepool, and this was his first voyage. The Hartlepools was built in 1880 by Messrs Gray and Co., West Hartlepool. She was 1,131 tons net register, and carried 2,400 tons dead-weight. Her engines were 150 h.p , by Messrs Richardson and Sons, Hartlepool. It was intended to put triple expansion engines into her next year.

Daily Mail 28 December 1888:
“Mr Aves, the third engineer, who was among those drowned, was, as we have already reported a son of Mr T Aves, of Alma Street, West Hartlepool, late member of the Liberal Club, & he was himself a member of the club. He was a promising young fellow & the ill, fated voyage was his first & last one. When the lifeboat went down he clung to the tackle & Captain Race grasped him, but at that moment the vessel settled down, Captain Race lost his grasp & the unfortunate young fellow was washed away & drowned. Northern

Survivors December 1888:
Coghlen, John, fireman; Johnman, P, carpenter; Morton, John, able seaman, Newfoundland St., Dublin; Race, J, master, Alma St., West Hartlepool.

Hartlepool & Stockton Herald, December 29^th, 1888:
Captain Race Interviewed. “Captain race and the three other survivors of the ill-fated steamer ‘Hartlepools’ which was wrecked on the coast of Norway in the early part of the present month, has now arrived home, and in the hope of hearing a few details with respect to the catastrophe, I visited that gentleman at his residence, Alma Street, West Hartlepool. He welcomed me, and judging from his demeanour, was decidedly averse to recapitulate the sad details of the disaster.

“I have told it so often” he remarked, “I feel as if I would like to say nothing more about it. I have made a deposition at the Custom House and you can get all that you’ll need there.” He then became silent on the subject, evidently in the hope that I would take my leave. But as I had comfortably ensconsed myself before the fire, and when he saw I had no intention of “shifting”, he at length relented and exclaimed “Well then, what can I tell you”.

“The whole story if you please” I replied. “First of all, what kind of a boat was the ‘Hartlepools’ and when was she built?”
“She was 1,131 tons register and was about eight years old; but you had better get that sort of information from the owners.”
“Alright then” I replied, “tell me the history of the wreck”.
“We left the Danube”, began the captain, “about the 14^th of November, bound for Bergen with a cargo of rye and oats. The weather, when we left, was moderately good, and it was not until we had been twenty days on the passage that the accident occurred. It was the 6^th of December, and a few minutes after two o’clock in the morning. I myself was on deck, and though the sea was perfectly clear and yet the land was obscured in thick fog. We ran right ashore among the rocks, and I soon found the vessel was sinking. The ship’s boat was ordered out, and the greater portion of the crew entered it before she was lowered. Meanwhile, I had let off several blue lights, and I discerned the rocks right ahead. I called to those lowering the boat not to be in a hurry to leave, and several of the crew remained on the deck. The boat on being lowered sank, and all its occupants drowned at the vessel’s side. My own impression is that it entered the water head and thus sank.

“Was that a fault in the lowering apparatus or in the manner in which it was lowered?” I interrupted.
“No” he replied, “it may possibly have been a fault in the boat”.
“We did our best to save them”, he continued, “but we couldn’t manage it. An hour later the vessel sank and two of us swam from the pole compass to the fore-mast, to which we clung. Two others also managed to reach it, but I think the remainder must have gone down in making the attempt. We remained there until nine o’clock, when we were rescued by fishermen and taken to a fisherman’s cottage, where we received the most kindly treatment. From there we walked to Egersund the same day, a distance of about four miles, and at that place the Consul took charge of us.”
“Is the vessel a complete wreck now?”
“Complete; she lies in about twenty fathoms of water and has been salved, but I can’t say what they have got for her.”
“Have any of the bodies washed up” I next enquired.
“Yes, two of them. The diver was down examining the wreck and I got him to bring two bodies up. But they were both unrecognisable, and were buried at Egersund.”
“Was there much of a sea running at the time?”
“No, not a great deal: and had the men made for the rigging they would all have been saved.” But as is only too well-known, seventeen were drowned and four rescued.
“Has the ‘Hartlepools’ been in many mishaps?”
“Yes, a few; but not during the ten months I have been in her.”
“Are mists common along the Norwegian coast?” I enquired in conclusion.
“They have been most extraordinary during the past winter, and have been almost unprecedented in number.”

Mr. Aves, the third engineer, who was among those drowned, was, as we have already reported, a son of Mr. T. Aves, of Alma Street, West Hartlepool, late manager of the Liberal Club, and was himself a member of the Club. He was a promising young fellow, and the ill-fated voyage was his first and last one. When the lifeboat went down he clung to the tackle and Captain Race grasped him, but at that moment the vessel settled down, Captain Race lost his grasp, and the unfortunate young fellow was washed away and drowned.

South Wales Daily News 10^th January, 1889:
THE LOSS OF THE S.S. THE HARTLEPOOLS. HOW NORWEGIANS BURY ENGLISH SAILORS. AN IMPRESSIVE CEREMONIAL. When the British steamer The Hartlepools was wrecked on the Norwegian coast some few weeks ago, much interest was taken in the event from the fact that her crew was shipped at Cardiff. The following- description of the funeral at Ekersund, a small seaport on the West Coast of Norway, of two members of the crew will be read with great appreciation by those who are aiready acquainted with the particulars of the disaster. It is translated from the Slavanger Amts, a popular Norwegian newspaper :—
"To-day (December 13th) two seamen, whose bodies had been taken from the stranded English steamship The Hartlepools, were interred in the town cemetery. The corpses were quite unrecognizable, but the captain, who still remains here, believes that they were the cook and one of the crew. Let them be who they may, the poor fellows were accorded such a funeral as no one has ever had before in this town. So many mourners have never, perhaps, been seen together here, although the funeral was not publicly advertised. Among the followers were 20 young ladies, each of whom carried a wreath. At the grave the Rev Magelssen spoke, and few of the by-standers could restrain their tears. The male choir sang in the first instance, and after the address by the pastor, the young ladies sang a specially-selected beautiful English hymn. The captain, who during the ceremonial was very much affected and sorrowful, utterly broke down when he unexpectedly heard the ladies sing in his own mother tongue."

South Durham Herald, 12th January, 1889:
Judgement of the Court.
On Saturday, judgement was given in the Board of Trade enquiry at Middlesbrough respecting the stranding of the steamer Hartlepools and the loss of 17 lives. The Court found the loss of 13 lives was caused by the rush to the lifeboat, which upset, and the washing off the ship and out of the jollyboat of the others. Captain Race was alone in default for the stranding, and his certificate would be suspended for three months.

Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 6th January, 1890:
HONOUR THE BRAVE. The Board of Trade have awarded gold medal to Claus Berntson Lodre, a Norwegian pilot, and a silver medal Clans l'ederson Lodre, his grandson, together with sums of money to both persons, in recognition their services in rescuing the survivors ol the screw-steamer Hartlepools, of West Hartlepool, which stranded near Egersund, Norway, on the 6th December, 1888.

Thomas Hudson purchased his first ship, Hudson, in 1878 and went on to found the Hudson Shipping Co. Ltd. which was registered in May 1884. The company was wound up in 1896.

Family History:

Thomas Sharp Hudson was born in 1847 at Sunderland to parents Joseph and Mary (nee Sharp). Between at least 1851 and 1871 he lived with his family at Seaton Carew. In 1871 his occupation was listed as a commercial clerk. By 1889 he was living at Victoria Terrace, Hartlepool.

He was chairman of the Seaton Carew Local Board from 1879 to 1881 and was also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Thomas travelled to the U.S.A. in 1881/82 and returned there in 1889. He died at Runnymede, Harper County, Kansas, U.S.A. on 31 January 1890 leaving a personal estate of £1,146.

"HARTLEPOOLS" (S.S.) 

The Merchant Shipping Acts, 1854 to 1876. 

IN the matter of a formal Investigation held at the Public Board Room, Post Office Chambers, Middlesbrough, on the 4th and 5th days of January 1889, before CHARLES JAMES COLEMAN, Esq., Judge, assisted by Vice-Admiral POWELL and Captains WILSON and HORE, into the circumstances attending the stranding of the British steamship "HARTLEPOOLS," of West Hartlepool, at or near Egersund, Norway, on or about the 6th day of December 1888, whereby loss of seventeen lives ensued. 

Report of Court. 

The Court having carefully inquired into the circumstances attending the above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds, for the reasons stated in the annex hereto, that the casualty was caused by the vessel being set 60 miles to the eastward of her course by a strong current, for which sufficient allowance had not been made, and by the neglect of the lead, and the Court finds the master, John Race, in default, and suspends his certificate (No. 01,209) for three months from this date. 

Dated this 5th day of January 1889. 

(Signed) CHARLES JAMES COLEMAN, Judge. 

We concur in the above report. (Signed) R. ASHMORE POWELL, R. WILSON, Assessors. KENNETT HORE.

Annex to the Report. 

The "Hartlepools," official number 81,507, which forms the subject of this investigation, was an iron steamship, built by Messrs. Wm. Gray & Co., at West Hartlepool, in the county of Durham, in the year 1880. She was 1,753.78 gross and 1,13111 registered tonnage, brigantine rigged, 258.5 ft. in length, 34.6 ft. in breadth, and 19.7 ft. in depth of hold, and was fitted with two compound inverted surface condensing direct-acting engines, of 150 horse-power combined. The diameters of the cylinders were 33" and 61", and the length of stroke 33", and they were made by Thos. Richardson & Sons, of Hartlepool, in 1880, when the vessel was built. She belonged to "The Hudson Shipping Company, Limited," Mr. Thomas Sharp Hudson, of Victoria Terrace, West Hartlepool, being the managing owner, and appointed the 24th October 1884. She was commanded by Mr. John Race, who holds a certificate of competency, as master, No. 01,209, he being appointed to her on the 18th February 1888. She was well found and equipped for the voyage, and had four boats, three of which were lifeboats and one a jolly-boat. The two largest lifeboats were stated to be 22 to 23 ft. long, the third lifeboat about 16 ft., and the jolly-boat about 15 ft. long. They were all properly supplied with oars, rowlocks, boat hook, beakers, baler, &c., and the two largest had masts, but the sails were not kept in the boats. The four boats stood on chocks on the bridge deck, and hung to the davit heads by tackles ready for immediate use. She had three compasses, the pole (a spirit compass, made by Macgregor, of Liverpool, in 1887, by which the courses were set and the vessel navigated), a steering compass, and one aft, the latter two being supplied, when the vessel was built, by Harris, of Hartlepool. They were all in good order and condition, and sufficient for the safe navigation of the vessel, and were last adjusted in Cardiff, in July 1888, by Mr. Stanton, a professional adjuster. 

The "Hartlepools" left Galatz on the 8th November with a cargo of 2,220 tons of rye and barley for Bergen, in Norway. On the 1st December she went into Dartmouth, where she coaled and trimmed, so as to adjust a slight list to starboard, which she got in crossing the Bay of Biscay. 

On the 3rd December, at 9 p.m., the North Hender Lightship bore S.E. by S. 1/2 S. 7 or 8 miles. A course was set N.E. 1/2 N. and kept until 6 a.m. on the 4th, when she had run 70 miles. The course was then altered to N.N.E., the weather being fine but hazy. 

At 8 a.m. on the 5th the course was again altered to N. by E. 3/4 E. in order, as the captain stated, to counteract any easterly current. The captain appears to have been continually on deck from the time that the ship took her departure from the North Hender, and at 1 a.m. on the 6th he told the second officer to call him if it came on thicker, and he sat down by the funnel. About an hour afterwards he was awakened by the ship striking the rocks. He ran on the bridge and found the engines already stopped. He ordered the port lifeboat and jolly-boat to be swung out and got ready for lowering, at the same time he ran aft and burnt a blue light. There appears to have been considerable confusion on board, and, notwithstanding the direction of the captain to the contrary, the chief officer and 13 men went into the lifeboat and ordered it to be lowered.

Unfortunately the fore tackle fouled, and the after one having been let go the boat filled and the men were thrown out. Ropes were thrown from the ship, but only one man succeeded in getting on board. The jollyboat had by this time been lowered, and, having cleared herself of the tackles, she drifted from the ship, when three of the men from the lifeboat reached her and got into her, but she was almost immediately afterwards dashed against the rocks, and two of the three were drowned. The survivor swam to the ship and was saved. At this time the sea was smooth outside, but a heavy surf was breaking on the rocks, and the ship was partially under water. Three of the crew got on the rocks from the ship, but two of them were drowned, and the third returned to the ship again; two more were swept off the decks, whilst the captain and three others took refuge in the rigging and on the yards, and were afterwards taken off by a boat from the shore. The captain on landing found the ship had been lost on rocks half-a-mile from the shore and about 4 miles to the southward of Ekersund. The next day the vessel had nearly disappeared, and became a total wreck. Of the crew consisting of 21 hands all told four only were saved. 

The Board of Trade desired the opinion of the Court on the following questions: 

1. What number of compasses had the vessel on board, where were they placed, and were they in good order and sufficient for the safe navigation of the vessel? 

2. When and by whom were they made, and when and by whom were they last adjusted? 

3. Did the master ascertain the deviation of his compasses by observation from time to time; were the errors of the compasses correctly ascertained and the proper corrections to the courses applied? 

4. Whether all the bulkheads were fitted with sluices? 

5. Whether all or any of them were open at the time of the casualty? 

6. If all or any of them were open at the time of the casualty, was it necessary and proper to keep them open; and, if open, did their being so contribute to the loss of the ship or the loss of life? 

7. Whether proper measures were taken to ascertain and verify the position of the vessel from time to time after leaving the North Hinder? 

8. Whether safe and proper courses were set and steered? 

9. Whether the master made a safe and proper alteration in the course at or about 8 a.m. of the 5th December, and whether due and proper allowance was made for tide and currents? 

10. Whether the master was on deck at a time when the safety of the vessel required his personal supervision? 

11. Whether he gave instructions to the chief officer that he should be called when lights were seen, and, if so, how did it happen that he did not verify the position of the vessel when a light was seen on the port bow about 9 p.m. of the 5th December? 

12. Whether, when the vessel struck, the master made every possible effort to preserve discipline? 

13. What was the cause of the complete failure of this vessel's boats in fine weather and a smooth sea? 

14. What was the cause of the casualty? 

15. What was the cause of the loss of life, and whether every possible effort was made to avoid it? 

16. Whether a good and proper look-out was kept? 

17. Whether the lead was used, and, if not, whether such neglect was justifiable? 

18. Whether the vessel was navigated with proper and seamanlike care? 

19. Whether the master is in default? 

In the opinion of the Board of Trade the certificate of John Race, the master, should be dealt with. To which questions the Court replied as follows: 

1. There were three compasses on board; a pole (by which the courses were set and the vessel navigated), one on the bridge, a steering compass, and one aft. They were all in good order, and sufficient for the safe navigation of the vessel. 

2. The pole, a spirit compass, was made by Mr. Macgregor, of Liverpool, in 1887, and the other two by Mr. Harris, of Hartlepool, when the vessel was built, in 1880, and they were last adjusted by Mr. Stanton, of Cardiff, in July 1888, a professional adjuster. 

3. The master did ascertain the deviation of the compasses by observations from time to time, and properly applied the errors found. On the N.E. courses by the pole there was no deviation, it being stated by the master to be correct magnetic. 

4. All the bulkheads, four in number, were fitted with two sluices each. 

5. Only two of them were open at the time of the casualty, the forward engine-room bulkhead sluices. 

6. The two sluices that were open were promptly closed when the vessel struck, and they in no way contributed to the loss of the ship or the loss of life which followed it. 

7. Proper measures were not taken to ascertain and verify the vessel's position after leaving the North Hender, inasmuch as the lead was not used to verify the position and distance found by dead reckoning. 

8. Proper courses were set and steered, but they were not made, and the use of the lead would have pointed this out. 

9. The alteration made in the course, at 8 a.m. of December 5th, would have been a safe and proper alteration had the vessel been in the position which the master supposed her to have been. 

10. The master was on deck but, not believing the vessel was in any danger, was sitting asleep by the funnel. 

11. He gave instructions to the chief officer that when lights were seen he was to be called. The light seen at 9 p.m. of December 5th on the port bow was a vessel's light to seaward and not reported to him, as no danger was anticipated. 

12. The Court is of opinion that the master did his best to preserve discipline, but in the excitement of the vessel striking the crew got completely beyond his control, and to this fact we attribute the sad loss of life which followed. 

13. Although there was a smooth sea outside, there was a very heavy swell breaking on the rocks, and we do not consider that there was an entire failure in the working of the boats. On lowering the port lifeboat the fore-tackle fouled, and the after-tackle being let go the boat canted and filled, and the men were washed out of her. The jolly-boat was safely launched, but drifted away. She was, however, caught and used to save the lives of three of the men, two of whom, we regret to say, were afterwards lost. 

14. The casualty was caused by the master being 60 miles out of his reckoning, and to the eastward of his assumed position, although he steered to be 60 miles west, showing sufficient allowance even then was not made. 

15. The loss of life was caused principally by the mate and crew rushing into the lifeboat in direct opposition to the captain's orders, who did all he could to prevent it, and in lowering her away in a hurry the fore-tackle fouled and the after one was let go. The men were washed out of her. Some men were also washed off the deck, and two off a rock, where they had attempted to land. 

16. A proper look-out was set, but we are unable to say it was kept, from the fact that the look-out man saw something dark ahead, 15 minutes before the ship struck, which he did not report. 

17. The lead was not used, and its neglect was not justifiable, as it would have shown the master that he was not in the position that he supposed himself to be. 

18. We cannot say that the vessel was navigated with proper and seamanlike care, seeing that the lead was not used, especially when sights and observations were not obtainable, and to this neglect the Court attributes the sad disaster which followed. Had the lead been used after leaving the North Hinder, it would have warned the master that the current was steadily setting him to the eastward before the night of December 5th. 

19. The master alone is in default. 

It is impossible, we think, to acquit the master of blame in the loss of his vessel. Of the unhappy result of the stranding, relating to the loss of so many lives, we do acquit him, as we think, that had the chief officer and the crew obeyed the captain's order, not to get into the lifeboat, no lives would have been lost, as the weather outside the rocks was smooth and the boats the vessel carried were amply sufficient for life-saving purposes. 

Now what brought the ship to the place where she struck and was lost? The captain had made an allowance for current, but it was not sufficient. Had he verified his position by occasionally sounding he would have ascertained that he was drifting to the eastward, and was approaching the land. He appears to have laid a course which he thought was sufficiently safe, but unfortunately the current was stronger than he imagined, and hence the ship was set further to the eastward and the casualty was brought about. The captain was constantly on deck, and so far looked after his vessel, but his remissness in not using the lead was a serious failure in seamanship on his part, and for this we feel bound to find him in default. 

Taking into consideration all the facts of the case, and giving the master the full benefit of his previous good character, we suspend his certificate for three months only from this date. 

The Court makes no order as to costs. 
Dated this 5th day of January 1889. 

(Signed) CHARLES JAMES COLEMAN, Judge. 

We concur in the above report. 
(Signed) R. ASHMORE POWELL, R. WILSON, KENNETT HORE, Assessors.