Ella Beatrice - Wreck Report

"ELLA BEATRICE."

FINDING of a Naval Court held at Her Britannic Majesty's Consulate at Kanagawa, Japan, the 16th day of March 1881, to inquire into the cause of the wreck of the British ship "ELLA BEATRICE," official number 62,521, at Juisan Mura, Japan, on the 7th day of February 1881.

Present:

MARTIN DOHMEN, Esquire, Her Majesty's Acting Consul at Kanagawa, President.

WILLIAM McDONALD, Esquire, British Merchant.

MR. HENRY BEADLE, Master of the British ship "Cilurnum," and

MR. JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, Reporter, Clerk of the Court.

The Court is unanimous on the following points:

1. Having made the island of Koshima (or Kosima) with very thick snowy weather and a hard gale blowing from W. by N., and not being acquainted with the coast, it would have been prudent for the master to have tried to hold his position till the weather cleared up or the gale moderated.

2. Having however made up his mind to run for the Straits, he should have steered for the south point of Yeyo.

3. Having made the land at 4 p.m., it appears strange why, after having steered for mid-channel, he should, without any apparent reason, especially being under the impression that the ship had been running over a current from the N.E., which should make his course more southerly than steered, at once decide that the land in sight was the Yeyo instead of the Nippon shore. A cast or two of the lead, after hauling to the S.S.W., would at once have shown him his error in supposing (as he says he did) that he was opening the fair way of the Straits, whereas undoubtedly he was the whole time, that is, from making the land at 4 p.m., till the vessel struck on a lee shore and in good indicative soundings.

4. In his sworn declaration and his evidence, the master only mentions the vessel being put round at 8 p.m., and at midnight, but the chief mate, the boatswain, and a seaman state that in their opinion she was put round three or four times during that time. While attaching no undue importance to this discrepancy in the evidence, it seems clear to us that with the exception of the master himself, all the witnesses were aware that the vessel was on a lee shore long before she struck.

5. As the ship was put before the wind so often, had the lead been used at all the master would have known that this frequent bearing up before the wind could not fail to be fatal in the end; and we are of opinion that whatever other errors of judgment the master was guilty of, the total ignoring and neglecting the use of the lead was the principal cause of the loss of the "Ella Beatrice."

The decision of the Court therefore is, that the certificate of Andrew Thompson be suspended for the period of twelve months from this date.

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