Amcott - a general history

Completed May 1872; Official No. 67524; Code Letters LCBK.

Owners: 1872 J. Manners & Co. West Hartlepool; 1874 Alexander SS Co (J. Manners & Co.) West Hartlepool; 1876 E.H. Capper & Co. (Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff) West Hartlepool; 1885 Capper, Alexander & Co. West Hartlepool; 1886 Henry G. Harper & Co. West Hartlepool; May 1893 William Power Green, Holland & Sons, London.

Masters: 1872-73 Geddes; 1873-74 J Scott; 1875 G Cawley; 1875 D Davies; 1876 G Cawley; 1878-81 D Davies; 1881 William Henry Williams; 1882-93 R Henman; 1893 James Hunter Greig.

Voyages: 3 May 1881 left Newcastle-on-Tyne bound for Ellsinore with a cargo of coal & a crew of 23. At 2.30am on 6 May, during a heavy fog, she grounded on the Paternoster Rock close to the Hamnskar light, Sweden. She was refloated & taken to Gothenburg for repairs leaving on 21 May 1881 to sail for London; left Middlesbrough 2 June 1881 for Cronstadt, Russia with pig-iron & on 6 June she grounded on the Lavergrund Shoal, five miles SE of Faro Island, Sweden. She was eventually refloated & taken to Stockholm for repair.

On a voyage from South Shields to Belfast with a cargo of coal & a crew of 15 Amcott was wrecked off the coast of Aldborough on 20 November 1893. Most of the crew were married & from North & South Shields.

Shields Daily Gazette, Wednesday, November 22nd, 1893:
THE LOSS OF THE AMCOTT. HEARTRENDING SCENES. Perhaps the most heartrending story of the terrible devastation wrought by the recent hurricane is contained in the particulars attached to the wreck of the steamship Amcott, West Hartlepool, off Aldborough, a village on the north-east coast, nearly midway between Withernsea and Hornsea. When daylight set in on Monday morning several coastguardsmen who had been on the watch on Aldborough cliffs, observed the Amcott driving in a helpless condition about a third a mile from the beach. Her funnel and masts had gone, and cries for help were distinctly heard by those on shore. The wind was raging from the north and north-east, and a tremendous sea was rushing inshore, rendering all attempts at rescue by boat utterly impossible. The rocket apparatus was got out and a line fired. It took good direction, but fell short by a hundred yards. A cheer from the crew of the Amcott denoted that they had witnessed the effort, but, alas, this was the only sound audible to those onshore which they ever uttered again. Rocket after rocket was despatched, but the ship was too far off for the lines to reach, and all efforts in this direction had to be abandoned. A messenger was despatched to Hornsea on horseback for the lifeboat, this being the only chance left for the poor fellows. Stricken dumb by the deadly peril in which they were placed, they awaited heroically the doom which was too surely approaching them.
A great crowd of villagers was attracted to the beach, but all that could be done was to encourage the despairing crew by hopeful shouts. The Amcott had by this time become a complete wreck, and the crew were holding on where ever they could. One man with great courage jumped into the raging sea, and made a brave effort to swim ashore. He was knocked about like a cork, but notwithstanding made his way onward. The spectators cheered lustily as they saw him rise on the crest of wave and get a hundred yards from shore. Poor fellow, few yards farther and he would have been on the beach but his strength began to give way. William Foster, a coastguardsman, and George Anderton, a bystander, put on life-belts and rushed into the water to meet him; but thirty yards from the shore he threw up his arms, and, with a wild, despairing cry, was engulfed by the mad breakers. His body was recovered a few moments afterwards by the two men already named, and brought to shore, but life was extinct.
The crew of the Amcott grew less and less in full sight of those on shore, the survivors falling off the ship through complete exhaustion, and meeting their death in the terrible breakers round them. The scene was heartrending to those on shore, who, having no boat and no rocket line that could reach the ship, were utterly without means to attempt a rescue. Strong men wept at the terrible tragedy which was being enacted before their eyes. The last man on board had been swept off the ship and drowned, when another breaker, rising to a great height, smashed the ship to atoms, and threw up pieces of her wreckage on the beach.
The captain and crew, 15 hands all told, lost their lives; several of the bodies being subsequently recovered. The Amcott left Hull on Wednesday, in ballast for Newcastle. She has been coaling during the strike. The master of the Amcott was Captain Greig, living at Dixon Street, South Shields, and several of the crew are said to natives of South Shields.
The Amcott was a vessel of 998 tons gross register. She was built at Hartlepool in 1872. The managing owner was Henry G. Harper, of Fenchurch Street, London.

Early on Monday morning, while still dark, at Aldborough, a small village between Hornsea & Withernsea, the coastguard saw light out at sea to the north. There was a strong gale & the seas were very high. When it became light it could be seen that a vessel, with her masts & funnel gone, had come ashore about 500 yards from the beach. This was the steamer Amcott & cries for help could be heard from those aboard her. At the same time another vessel about a mile or so further north could be seen flying distress signals. The rocket apparatus was set up but although eight rockets were fired they all failed to reach the vessel. There were no boats at Aldborough so a messenger was sent to Hornsea to request the assistance of a lifeboat. Those watching called to the crew aboard the vessel telling them that a lifeboat had been sent for. Meanwhile two lines were fired to the second vessel, which was the barque Embla, but those on board did not seem to know what was required of them & no communication was made. Eventually the coastguard, who was within shouting distance, managed to make them understand that they should secure the line. One man was brought ashore by breeches buoy but then the rope broke & at the same time the vessel’s galley broke loose. Two men were clinging to it & battered & bruised were washed ashore. The other five members of the crew had drowned.

By this time Amcott was breaking up & the lifeboat had not arrived. On seeing one of the crew try to swim ashore a coastguard & an onlooker took a lifebuoy & tried to reach the swimmer but by the time they got to him he was already dead. The steamer continued to break up until all the crew were gone. All 15 lives were lost.

Crew May 1881:

Ravenburn, Charles Frederick, 1st mate

Lives lost November 1893:

Greig, James Hunter, master, 36, Dixon Street, South Shields; Kirton, 2nd engineer, East Hartlepool; Lawson, Matthew, able seaman, 33, South Shields.

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