The Blizzard in the West: Being as Record and Story of the Disastrous Storm which Raged Throughout Devon and Cornwall, and West Somerset, On the Night of March 9th, 1891Unknown
History
The Blizzard in the West: Being as Record and Story of the Disastrous Storm which Raged Throughout Devon and Cornwall, and West Somerset, On the Night of March 9th, 1891
Unknown
Blizzards -- England -- Cornwall (County) -- History; Cornwall (England : County) -- History; Devon (England) -- History
The steamer _Stannington_, from Newport to Exeter with a cargo of
potatoes, broke her shaft on Monday off the Longships, and was towed
into Falmouth on Wednesday afternoon. The barque _Frith_, of Lorne, 333
tons, from Hamburg to Glasgow, in ballast, was in a critical condition
on Tuesday, about ten miles south of the Lizard. She slipped from the
tug towing her, and was on her beam ends, and fast making water, when
she was picked up by the S.S. _Anglesea_, of Liverpool, and towed into
Falmouth. A German steamer, the _Carl Hirschberg_, from Hamburg to
Cardiff in ballast, drove ashore at Portscatho. The schooner _Agnes and
Helen_, of Beaumaris, went ashore on Tuesday morning in Bream Bay. A
steamship named the _Dundela_, from St. Michael for Hull, with fruit,
was totally wrecked at Portloe, near Falmouth, on Monday night. All the
crew, except a boy named Taylor, who was lost, were brought ashore over
the rocks by the aid of the fishermen and coastguard, who contrived
to get a line from the shore to the vessel. The brig _Crusader_, of
Aberystwith, from Carnarvon, with slate for Hamburg, was abandoned
at one o'clock on Tuesday off Trevose Head, with seven feet of water
in her hold. The _Crusader_ left Carnarvon at nine o'clock on Monday
morning, in fine weather. It remained fine up to six o'clock the same
evening, when severe weather was encountered. At nine o'clock, off the
Bishop, it was blowing a gale, and the brig was fast making water.
The pumps were kept going until one o'clock on Tuesday afternoon,
when it was found impossible to keep the water under. The brig was
therefore abandoned, having seven feet of water in her hold. The
captain and crew, seven all told, took to the boat, in which they were
tossed about for nineteen hours, enduring great privation. The weather
was bitterly cold, and the men were almost frozen. One of the crew,
Thomas Owen, succumbed to his sufferings at four o'clock on Wednesday
morning. "Another two hours in the boat," remarked Captain Williams,
"and we should have all perished." To keep the boat from being swamped,
she rode with sea-anchor out, and everything was thrown overboard,
including spare clothes. At eight o'clock on Wednesday morning, when
thoroughly exhausted, they were fortunately picked up by the fishing
smack _Gertrude_, about thirty miles off the land, and arrived at
Falmouth on the same day. The crew were received at the Sailors' Home.
The crew of the Netherlands barque _Magellan_ were taken into Falmouth
on the evening of Sunday, March 16th, the vessel having foundered on
the previous Thursday in the Channel, in lat. 47·48 N., long. 6·53 W.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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