Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849Gilly, William O. S.
History
Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849
Gilly, William O. S.
Great Britain. Royal Navy -- History -- 18th century; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- History -- 19th century; Shipwrecks
his attempts to get her afloat, under a galling fire of musketry from
the shore. All his efforts, however, were of no avail, as she had gone
on shore at high water; it therefore became necessary to set her on
fire, which was done; and the lieutenant returned with his party to
the Emerald.
In this gallant exploit, nine men belonging to the Emerald were
killed, and Lieutenant Bertram and several others wounded.
Captain Bertram, has lately accepted the rank of Retired Rear-Admiral.
THE PENELOPE.
We have now to relate the painful statement of a wreck, which was not
only one of the most disastrous, but the most disgraceful in its
consequences, of any that we have had to describe.
Unfortunately, the loss of the ship is not the darkest side of the
picture; and the insubordination of the crew of the Penelope in the
hour of danger was as fatal to themselves as it was rare in its
occurrence.
The Penelope, troop-ship, Commander James Galloway, sailed from
Spithead for Canada on the 31st of March, 1815, and had a favourable
passage to the Banks of Newfoundland. Here she fell in with large
masses of ice, fogs, and strong south-east winds, so that the captain
considered it unsafe to run in for the land until the weather cleared
up. On the 24th of April, they made the Island of Mequilon, and at the
same time encountered a very heavy gale from the north-west. On the
following day they were surrounded with ice, and were frozen up for
nearly twelve hours. When the ice gave way, all sail was set, and the
ship entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and for the next few days she
continued her course in a north-easterly direction, and passed between
the Islands of Brion and Magdalen. The frost during this time was so
severe, that the furled sails were frozen into a solid body.
On the 29th, they met with large quantities of field ice, which gave
the sea the appearance of one entire sheet of ice, but it was not
strong enough to stop the ship's way. In the afternoon of that day,
the land about Cape Rozier, on the coast of Lower Canada, was visible.
On the 30th, the weather was more moderate, though cloudy; at noon
they steered an eastward course, until the ship broke off about three
points, when at sunset they tacked, and stood in for the land, which
was set by the first lieutenant and the master, at three or four
leagues distance.
At eight o'clock, they sounded in seventy-one fathoms; the vessel
broke off to the west by north, and the captain ordered the master to
go round the ship, and caution the men forward to keep a good look
out,--at the same time desiring him on no account to leave the deck.
The captain then sent for the first-lieutenant into his cabin, and was
in the act of pointing out to him the supposed situation of the vessel
on the chart; the line was at the same moment passing forward for
another cast of the lead, when the ship took the ground.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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