Slingsby - Wreck Report 1901

(No. 6181.) 

"SLINGSBY" (S.S.). 

The Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. 
IN the matter of a formal investigation held at the Guardians Hall, North Shields, on the 3rd and 4th days of April, 1901, before GEORGE ARMSTRONG and THOMAS BYERS, Esquires, Justices of the Peace for the Borough of Tynemouth, assisted by Captain J. KIDDLE, R.N., Captain W. B. BIGLEY, and A. GRAY, Esquire, into the circumstances attending the casualty which happened on board the British steamship "SLINGSBY," on the 23rd February last, in or near latitude 48º N., longitude 66º W., whereby loss of life ensued. 

Report of Court. 
The Court having carefully inquired into the circumstances attending the above-mentioned shipping casualty, finds for the reasons stated in the Annex hereto, that the casualty in question, whereby Jacob Parker, one of the firemen, lost his life, was caused by his having improperly attempted to clear a block of coal in the 'tween deck hatchway in the port bunker from the top of the coals on deck. While thus engaged, he was buried in a run of coal and suffocated. 

The Court does not find the master and chief and second officers, and chief and second engineers, or any of them, in default. 

Dated this 4th day of April, 1901. GEO. ARMSTRONG, THOMAS BYERS, Justices.
We concur in the above Report. JAMES RIDDLE, WM. BARNETT BIGLEY, ALEXANDER GRAY, Engineer Assessor. Assessors.

Annex to the Report. 
This inquiry was held at the Guardians Hall, North Shields, on the 3rd and 4th days of April, 1901, before George Armstrong and Thomas Byers, Esquires, Justices of the Peace for the Borough of Tynemouth, assisted by Captain J. Kiddle, R.N., and Captain W. B. Bigley, nautical assessors, and A. Gray, Esquire, engineer assessor. Mr. W. S. Burton appeared for the Board of Trade, Mr. Dixon Jacks for the master, and Mr. W. C. Bell for the owners. The chief and second officers and chief and second engineers appeared in person. 

The "Slingsby," official number 98,528, is a British screw steamship, built of steel, at Stockton-on-Tees, by Messrs. Ropner & Son, in the year 1892. She is registered at the port of West Hartlepool. Her dimensions are as follows: Length, 322 ft.; breadth, 41.5 ft.; and depth, 20.65 ft. She is schooner-rigged, and is fitted with triple - expansion direct - acting surface-condensing engines of 270 nominal horse power. They were constructed by Messrs. Blair & Co., Limited, of Stockton-on-Tees. Her gross tonnage is 3231.38, and her net registered tonnage 2093.92 tons. She is owned by Messrs. Robert Ropner and others, Mr. Robert Ropner being designated her managing owner. 

The "Slingsby" left Norfolk, Virginia, on the 21st day of February last, on a voyage to Bremen laden with a general cargo of 4100 tons, principally cotton. She had a crew of twenty-five hands all told, and was under the command of Robert Burn Whalley, who holds a certificate of competency as master, No. 010,981. The chief engineer was Mr. Lornts Hangan, who holds a certificate of competency as chief engineer, No. 19,871. 

On leaving Norfolk, the "Slingsby" had on board 404 tons of bunker coal, 295 tons being in the bunkers, which were then full, and the remaining 109 tons being in bulk on deck. The starboard bunker held 60 tons more than the port bunker, therefore of the coal on deck 70 tons were stowed on the port side immediately above the bunker. This heap of coal was spread for about 40 ft. fore and aft; it was in breadth about 12 ft., and, according to the master's statement, was about 4 ft. in depth. The remaining 39 tons of coal on deck were stowed in a similar manner above the starboard bunker. Planks were placed round each heap of coal, and these were shored by uprights, which were lashed with ropes to each other and to the ship's rail. Trimmed in this way, the vessel was said to be upright. 

As regards each bunker, there were on deck two hatchways. In each case the after hatchway was battened down before the coal was stowed above it; the fore hatchway, about 3 ft. 6 in. square, was, however, left open. Immediately below this hatchway there was in the 'tween deck another hatchway of the same dimensions, and beneath this was the pocket bunker with a sliding door from which the coal was obtained for feeding the fires. In the side of the bunker pocket there was a small hole through which an iron rod could be used for the purpose of clearing any block of coal in the 'tween deck hatchway. The coal on deck having been spread above the open hatchway, there would be a continual flow from it through the hatchway in the 'tween deck into the pocket bunker, and according to the evidence from the time of the vessel's departure from Norfolk, the trimmers were employed occasionally during the day time in levelling the coal on deck over the open hatchways so as to keep the bunkers filled up. 

The chief engineer stated, that on the morning on which they left Norfolk he gave instructions to each of the firemen, including the late Jacob Parker, that they were not to trim the coals on deck at night, and from the statement of other witnesses, it appears that these orders were understood by those immediately concerned. It must, however, be mentioned that the chief engineer stated that he undertook the entire responsibility with reference to the trimming of the coals, and that he therefore did not think it necessary to communicate these instructions to the second engineer. The Court is of opinion that the chief engineer should have done so, in order that a more thorough supervision over the firemen might have been exercised. 

The daily consumption of coal on board the "Slingsby" was about 18 tons, about 9 tons from each bunker, which would each contain about 12 tons under the 'tween deck; and the chief engineer stated that when he went off watch at noon on the 23rd day of February, the day of the casualty, the coals had been levelled on deck over each of the open hatchways, and that coal was then running at both of the bunker doors below, so he considered that there was plenty of coal in the bunkers. 

On the afternoon of the same day, when a fireman named Frank Klembas was engaged in trimming the coal on deck above the starboard bunker, he noticed that the coal above the port bunker had not moved, and as he knew that those in the stokehold had been working the coal from that bunker, he came to the conclusion that a block had taken place. The port bunker was usually trimmed by the fireman, Jacob Parker. He came on watch at 6 p.m., and he was then told by Klembas that the port bunker was blocked. On Parker going to the stokehold, a fireman called Charles Englen, who had been on watch from 4 o'clock, also told him that the port bunker must be blocked. He said it must be stopped up at the hatch as the pocket was nearly empty, and he advised Parker not to go on deck but to try to clear the coal from below. Englen also told him he would find the hole in the bunker side, through which he could put a rod or slice. Parker, however, appears to have made no attempt to clear the block in that way. He tried to do it by hammering on the bulkhead, but this failed, and he then said he would go on top. Englen told him not to do so, saying it was dangerous. Parker, however, said he would "watch himself for that." Englen then advised him to get a light, and it was stated that Parker then said the mate would not give him one. There was, however, no satisfactory evidence that he ever asked the mate for a light, and the mats stated positively that he never did so. 

After the above conversation with Englen, Parker appears to have gone on deck and to have assisted in heaving up ashes from the stokehold until 7.25 p.m. Parker had been thus engaged on the starboard side, and when he finished he told his mate that he must go and try to clear his bunker. He then crossed over to the port side, and was not again seen alive. The weather at the time was fine; the night was dark, with a little rain, and there was a smooth sea. 

When the chief engineer came on watch at 8 p.m. Parker was missing. He could not be found, and on the chief engineer then reporting the matter to the master, he caused a further search to be made. The fireman with whom Parker had last been working told the master that Parker had left him to go across the deck, and suggested that he might have slipped down the hatch. On examining the coal above the port hatch, the master was convinced that there had been a run of coal. He took a globe lamp and went down into the bunker as far as he could, but he did not see or hear anything. He thereupon told the chief engineer to trim the coals from underneath. 10 or 12 tons of coal were as soon as possible taken from the door in the bunker pocket into the stokehold, and the legs of the unfortunate man were then seen coming down with the coal. The door being blocked by some large pieces of coal, a plate above the door was at once cut out, and the body of Jacob Parker was recovered. On examination, it was found that life was extinct. No bones were broken, there were no bruises on the body, and the master was of opinion that death had been caused by suffocation. 

The Court is of opinion that when Parker crossed over to the port side of the vessel, as he said, to try and clear his bunker, he must, notwithstanding the orders of the chief engineer and the warning by his mate in the stokehold, have gone on to the coal above the open hatchway, and that then, owing either to his own weight or to his efforts for the purpose of clearing it, the block in the 'tween deck hatchway gave way, and Parker was carried down into the bunker by the run of coal which then took place. 

The Court is of opinion that none of the officers were to blame for the unfortunate occurrence. The block in the port bunker was not reported to any of them, and as soon as Parker was missed, prompt measures were taken for his recovery. 

At the conclusion of the evidence, the following questions were submitted, on behalf of the Board of Trade, for the opinion of the Court: 

(1) What, if any, instructions were given by the master, chief and second officers, and chief and second engineers, or any of them, to the fireman with regard to trimming coal on deck at night? Were such instructions, if any, given to the late Jacob Parker, fireman? 
(2) Was there sufficient coal in the port side bunker at 6 p.m. on the 23rd February to last until the following morning? 
(3) Was there any necessity for the late Jacob Parker to trim coals in the port side bunker during his watch from 6 to 8 p.m of the 23rd February last? Were any instructions given to him to do so? 
(4) Did the late Jacob Parker ask anyone on board for light to aid him in trimming coals during his watch from 6 to 8 p.m. of the 23rd February? If made, was the request refused? 
(5) What was the cause of the casualty and loss of life? 
(6) Was the casualty which occurred on board the s.s. "Slingsby," on the evening of the 23rd February last, and the loss of life caused by the wrongful act or default of the master and chief and second officers, and chief and second engineers, or of any of them? 

Mr. Jacks having addressed the Court on behalf of the master, the Court, in giving judgment, replied to the several questions as follows: 

(1) No instructions were given by the master, chief and second officers, and second engineer to the fireman with regard to trimming coal on deck at night. The chief engineer stated that he instructed each of the firemen, including Jacob Parker, that they were not to trim the coals on deck at night, and from the other evidence, it appears that these instructions were understood by the firemen who acted as trimmers, but the chief engineer did not communicate these instructions to the second engineer. 

(2) There was sufficient coal in the port side bunker at 6 p.m. of the 23rd February to last until the following morning had not a block in the 'tween deck hatchway prevented the coal from running into the lower pocket. 

(3) There was no necessity for the late Jacob Parker to trim coals from the deck into the port side bunker during his watch from 6 to 8 p.m. of the 23rd February, and no instructions were given him to do so. It was necessary to clear the block in the 'tween deck hatchway, but this should have been effected from below by the use of a rod or slice through a hole in the bunker side, which had been provided for the purpose. 

(4) The Court is of opinion that the late Jacob Parker did not ask anyone on board for light to aid him in trimming coals during his watch from 6 to 8 p.m. of the 23rd February. 

(5) The casualty and loss of life were caused by the late Jacob Parker improperly attempting to clear the block in the 'tween deck hatchway from the top of the coals on deck instead of using the means provided in the stokehold. 

(6) The Court finds that the casualty which occurred on board the s.s. "Slingsby," on the evening of the 23rd February last, and the loss of life were not caused by the wrongful act or default of the master and chief and second officers, and chief and second engineers, or of any of them; at the same time, the Court is of opinion that the chief engineer, after giving his orders to the trimmers, should have made them known to the second engineer, and should have instructed him to see that they were carried out.

GEO. ARMSTRONG, THOMAS BYERS, Justices.

We concur. JAMES KIDDLE, WM. BARNETT BIGLEY, ALEXANDER GRAY, Engineer Assessor. Assessors.

(Issued in London by the Board of Trade on the 3rd day of May, 1901.) 

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