Granadian - a general history

Completed June 1864; Official No. 49893.

Highly polished East India teak was used for the deckhouses, doors & panelling. The main deck was iron & the upper deck teak. The main saloon was 60 feet long & fitted out with Gothic panels in ebony, maple & teak.

Owners: 1864 West India & Pacific SS Co, Liverpool.

Master: 1864-65 Glover; 1865 Hoare; 1866 Henry Gabriel Swainson.

Bound from the West Indies for Liverpool with a crew of 30 & one passenger, when off the Azores,  Granadian developed a leak which put out her fires & disabled her engines. For 12 days efforts were made to save the ship but on 18 February 1866 the master took the decision to abandon her. At the Board of Trade inquiry it was found that more effort could have been made to bail the vessel & bring her into a port which was just 20 miles distant. The master was found in default & his certificate was suspended for 12 months. The newspapers of the day thought that the judgement was unreasonable & that the master had taken the decision to abandon ship rather than endanger lives. The vessel could still be seen drifting out to sea the following day. No lives were lost.

From The Times March 1866:

‘To the Editor of the Times. Sir, In the Times of this date I notice a comment on the unfortunate losses of the West India and Pacific Steam-ship Company, written in a tone calculated to give an erroneous and false impression of the character of that company's vessels. As the builder of the Granadian I ask, in justice to myself, my partners, and the owners, your insertion of the following particulars regarding her construction. This vessel was built under the inspection of Lloyd's surveyors for an A1 nine year’s class, the form of classification then in force, and under the rules of the Iron Ship Registry Association for 20 years' class in their book. She was also built according to the views of the owners' engineers, which much exceeded in strength that of ordinary ships of her classification and tonnage. Among other material points I may mention that she had a complete iron main deck, teak upper deck & fittings, three tiers of beams of the largest size for her tonnage, with extra broad stringers, and three large box keelsons; the thickness of her plating was equal to the AA class, and doubled in the principal places. When the vessel was completed the then owners (who were not the West India and Pacific Steamship Company) required accommodation for the master and officers on her upper deck, and this being a slight variation from Lloyd's rules then in force, the committee would not grant the class unless the deckhouses were removed; this the owners would not do, as they were satisfied the houses did not interfere with the strength of the vessel, and they declined to class her at Lloyd's, although it appears she was placed on their books, but took the A1 20 year’s class in the registry for iron ships. Since the Granadian was built Lloyd's rules have been so far altered that she could at any time have obtained the class for which she was laid down. I trust a Board of Trade inquiry may be ordered, as I am quite sure the dimensions, build, and strength of the vessel will bear the closest scrutiny. She was surveyed by the Board of Trade officials, and carried their passenger certificate.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant JOHN PILE of Pile, Spence & Co. March 10. West Hartlepool.’

Crew February 1866:

Forth, William, chief mate

Gabrielson, Thomas, boatswain

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