Nagpore - a general history

Official No. 51449: Code Letters KTJG.

Owners: 1865 Peter McKinnon, William Frew & Co, Liverpool: 1882 Joseph Benbrick, Foley & Co, London

Masters: 1865-69 S Jenkins: 1870-71 Bynon: 1872-77 James W Morris (C.N. 24160): 1880-82 Robertson: 1883 JD Shand: 1887 Evan Evans: 1887 Phillips.

Nagpore caught fire about 25 miles south of the Isle of Man on 9 November 1873.

From the inquiry held at Liverpool.

Nagpore left Calcutta on 12 July 1873 bound for Liverpool with a cargo of jute, linseed, rice & saltpetre & a crew of 32. On 9 November, when the vessel was about 25 miles south of the Isle of Man, at about 5pm smoke was seen coming up between the chocks round the mizenmast in the cabin on the upper deck & also through the after scuttle. The cabin grate, the fire in which had been lit about 2pm for the first time in several months, was immediately pulled down & several holes were cut in the cabin floor. Out of these openings a deal of smoke issued, & the men were engaged in throwing water through them until driven out of the cabin by the dense smoke. The cabin hatchway was then closed & covered with tarpaulins & the windows of the cabin were also battened down. The master, after holding a consultation with his crew, decided to bear up for Kingstown, the wind being fair for that port, & blowing a strong gale at ESE. On approaching Kingstown Harbour signals were made for a pilot, but as no pilot presented himself, the master shortened sail & ran into the harbour with which, however, he was totally unaquainted. The port anchor was let go, but this not holding, the vessel fouled the schooner Pilot, the master of which vessel in endeavouring to get on board the Nagpore missed his footing, fell into the water, & was unfortunately drowned. The starboard anchor was next let go & the Nagpore was brought up after fouling two or three other small vessels. The master went ashore for assistance, & returned with the deputy harbour master & a number of men, who, aided by a small fire-engine on board a Revenue cutter, did all they could to keep down the fire till the arrival about 10am on the 10^th of the fire brigade from Dublin, which had been sent for by the Lord Mayor, there being no fire-engine at Kingstown. On cutting away the decks the flames burst out with great violence, & as all efforts to extinguish the fire proved unsuccessful it was decided to sink the vessel. Several shots were fired into her by the Revenue cutter, & she settled down about 5pm. Part of the cargo was subsequently discharged & the Nagpore was eventually taken to Liverpool where she arrived on 3 December.

The Court thought it desirable to make a personal inspection of the vessel. Had they seen her immediately after her arrival in Kingstown Harbour, & before any of her cargo had been removed, a more certain opinion as to the origin of the fire might probably have been formed. The evidence given by the officers & crew pointed strongly to the conclusion that the fire originated in the vicinity of the fire-place in the cabin, & the fact of their cutting holes in the floor & pulling down the grate certainly showed that such had been their impression when the smoke was first seen. It was subsequently suggested that the fire had been caused by spontaneous combustion of the linseed in the after hold. Captain Touzel, a surveyor of the Port of Liverpool, gave evidence in support of this suggestion. He referred to certain marks of fire underneath the lower deck as proof that the fire must have originated there, & he traced its course diagonally from that part to the vicinity of the fire-place.

The Court, however, found it impossible to form any positive conclusion, either from the evidence or the inspection of the vessel, but they inclined to the opinion that the fire began somewhere about the part where the smoke was first noticed, which was within about 3 feet of the fire-place. Whether this opinion was correct or otherwise, they thought that the arrangements & position of the fire-place might be improved.

The Court exonorated the master & returned to him his certificate. They considered that he had adopted a prudent course in bearing for Kingstown Harbour upon the discovery of the fire.

In December 1880 Nagpore was in collision with the tug Great Emperor with both having to be towed into Liverpool with damage.

Nagpore left the Tyne on 27 August 1887 bound for Santa Rosalie, California with a cargo of 50 tons of limestone ballast, 650 tons of coal, 1,240 tons of coke, a crew of 29 & the master’s wife. On 10 October smoke was observed that steam or smoke was coming from the fore hatchway which had not been battened down. The master ordered that the temperature be taken which showed 95 degrees. The master was of the opinion that there was no cause for alarm. The temperature rose to 110 degrees but still nothing was done. During the night the temperature continued to rise & early the following morning had risen to 140 degrees & there was a considerable amount of smoke. At 4.30am the hose was turned onto the hatchway & the master gave instructions for the boats to be made ready for lowering. The course was altered to head for Pernambuco & the anchors & cables were prepared for going into harbor. At about 3pm the fire was gaining momentum so the two forward boats were lowered & passed astern. At about 5pm the Nagpore was hove to & the starboard quarter boat was lowered. At 6pm the fire broke out through the after hatchway & the cabin door so all hands were ordered to the boats. They lay to the vessel during the night but in the early hours of the morning of 13 October they set off for Pernambuco which was about 164 miles distant. All the crew reached their destination safely. The last any of them saw of the Nagpore she was in flames fore & aft. It was thought that there may have been iron pyrite in the coal. The coal had been wet when loaded & this combination with the limestone ballast may have caused arise in temperature which in turn caused spontaneous combustion with the iron pyrite. The master had his certificate suspended for six months for not dealing with the situation before it got out of hand. No lives lost.

Crew August 1887:

Taylor, John, chief officer

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