The following year--1880--a much longer and most enjoyable cruise of
six weeks was undertaken on which the Captain, Mr. C. E. Seth-Smith,
was assisted by Messrs. A. B. Woodd and E. Graham as lieutenants. The
crew numbered twenty-five all told; Mr. Dodd again acted as boatswain,
and Mr. Brooks as chief petty officer. The 'Hornet' reached Copenhagen
on July 10, and after cruising among the lovely Danish islands for
some days, her officers and crew were hospitably entertained by the
Royal Danish Yacht Club, then holding their annual regatta at
Svendborg. From Denmark she passed to Christiania, and on July 25 the
ship's company landed in Norway and enjoyed a cariole trip of two days
across the country to the Falls of Hönefos. After cruising for two or
three days along the southern coasts and up the Fjords the 'Hornet'
left Norway and returned to England, arriving at Greenhithe on August
4 after a well-managed and most successful expedition. She was the
largest vessel, manned entirely by amateur sailors, that had appeared
in those seas.
The account from which the above particulars are taken appeared in the
'Illustrated London News' for February 12, 1881, and was accompanied
by illustrations from photographs by Mr. Henry Denison Pender, son of
Mr. (now Sir John) Pender, M.P., who was a member of the crew and an
enthusiastic Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer, and whose lamented death
soon after was the occasion of much grief to his many friends.
The following year--1881--a cruise of even more extended scope was
undertaken. The 'Hornet' left Dover on May 20, and proceeded down
Channel to Dartmouth under the command of Mr. C. E. Seth-Smith,
assisted by Mr. A. B. Woodd, Mr. Dodd again acting as boatswain and
Mr. Brooks at his old post. At Dartmouth all hands signed articles. On
Tuesday, May 24, the steam launch and boiler having been got on
board, the 'Hornet' left England for the South at 9 A.M. and lost
sight of the English coast at 11.15 A.M., Prawl Point being her point
of departure. The weather on her passage out was on the whole
favourable, and on Tuesday, May 31, the Burlings, fifty miles west of
Lisbon, was sighted, the ship's run from noon of the 30th to noon of
the 31st having been 218 knots. On June 3, after a period of light
winds and calm, the ship being about 120 miles west of Gibraltar, it
came on to blow from the eastward, and the square fore-topsail was got
in for the first time since leaving Dartmouth. On June 4, the wind
increasing to a whole gale from the east with heavy sea, they stood in
shore to south of Cape Spartel and lay to 'up and down' in Spartel Bay
all night. Next day, the weather moderating, the 'Hornet' stood over
to the Spanish coast and sighted Gibraltar Rock at 6.15 P.M., for
which she stood steadily in; but at midnight, being becalmed, she was
towed in by the gig, and at 2.30 A.M. the anchor was dropped in six
fathoms off the Ragged Staff in Gibraltar Bay, after a passage from
Dartmouth of thirteen days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account