876
THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 23RD OCTOBER, 1897.
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.—No. 449.
The following Finding of the Marine Court of Enquiry into the loss of the British Steamer Numoa, Official No. 65,090 of Hongkong, is published.
By Command,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 22nd October, 1897.
FINDING.
J. H. STEWART Lockhart, Colonial Secretary.
We find that the steamship Namoa, Official No. 65,090 of Hongkong, of which THOMAS PHILLIP HALL, whose certificate of competency is 24,357, was Master, left Amoy on a voyage to Foochow with a general cargo at 4.45 p.m. on the 2nd October. That the crew consisted of forty-five "all told" on the Articles; that there were twenty-three passengers on board, of whom twenty-one were native steerage passengers; and that in addition there were nine Chinese on board who were engaged for service on board the ship, but who were not on the Articles.
That after leaving Amoy a fresh monsoon was encountered, and the Captain decided to keep close along the land, and, in consequence, proceeded by way of the Haitan Straits and Fairway Passage, which course, the Court is informed, he had frequently before followed.
That at about 10 a.m. on the 3rd October the ship struck, when in a position which cannot be definitely given, as no bearings were taken, nor were the log books or chart saved from the ship, but this position was probably somewhere about three to five cables WNW. of Brown Rocks.
That after striking, the ship was headed for the land, and, about half an hour after, was beached about 800 yards from the shore, and that at this time the weather was fine with a fresh NE. monsoon, and moderate sea.
That the boats had been made ready directly after the ship first struck, and that as soon as she was beached all hands were got into the boats and left the ship.
That unfortunately the landing was not accomplished without loss of life. The boats went through a surf in which all of them came to grief, and seven passengers, the carpenter, and three of the crew were drowned.
We are of opinion that the ship was properly found and fully manned, and was navigated in a sufficiently seamanlike and proper manner, also that the Master was justified in taking a course between the Cow's Horn Point and Fairway Island, and that the rock on which she is supposed to have struck is not marked on the chart which was in use (Admiralty No. 1985), and have been an isolated rock of which no break or other warning was given.
That the steps taken to beach the ship were, under the circumtances, justifiable. That the Captain committed an error of judgment in selecting the spot to land.
appears to
As we do not find that the loss of the ship was caused by the master's wrongful act or default, his certificate is not dealt with.
Given under our hands at Victoria, Hongkong, this 20th day of October, 1897.
C. R. H. ROBINSON, Staff Commander, R.N. HENRY PYBUS, Lieut. R.N.R.,
Commander R. M. S. “Empress of China.”
EDWARD JAMES BULLER,
I
Master, S.S." Phra Nang.”
Master, S.S. "Chunsang.”
W. H. WATTON,
Rider by the President.
agree with the above Finding in general, but I desire to record the dissatisfaction with which I view the following facts relating to the doings on board, subsequent to the ship being beached, in which the other members of the Court do not concur.
First, as to the loss of logs, and charts, &c.
The ship was fully manned and officered for a ship of her size, and we have it in evidence that she was equipped in accordance with Board of Trade Regulations, which are generally considered sufficient; I am also led to infer that a proper state of discipline was maintained on board. Yet, although there were only twenty-three persons on board who were not part of the ship's company, the Master states that he was himself so much engaged in superintending the preparation for leaving the ship that he had no time to save his charts, and logs, &c.
Next as to the loss of life.
The ship was hard and fast, beached within a short distance of the shore. It was 10 a.m. in the day. All the boats got away with the entire crew and passengers, and no boat need have been overloaded. But they were taken, presumably by the Captain's orders, and at any rate without his endeavouring to prevent it, through a surf, which could be seen from the ship, in preference to running further to leeward to look for a less dangerous landing. As a consequence all the boats were either capsized or swamped and in all eleven lives were lost out of a total of seventy-seven who left the ship.
R. MURRAY RUMSEY, Retd. Comdr., R.N.,
President.
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