Petro Beys - a general history

Completed January 1860; Official No. 28351; Code Letters PWDR.

Owners: Greek & Oriental Steam Navigation Co (Stefanos Xenos) London; 1861-62 Zachariah C Pearson, London; 1862 C Fleming, London; 1863 B Cobb, London-renamed Harvest Queen; 1863 Joseph Spence (2 Cooper St, London) West Hartlepool; 1863 West Hartlepool Steam Navigation Co (John Hartley & Co) West Hartlepool; 1867 Yeoman & Co, Dundee; 1870 PM Duncan, Dundee; 1877 Marquis of Londonderry, Sunderland; 1887 Marquis of Londonderry (SJ Ditchfield mgr) Sunderland.

Masters: 1860 Alexander Bartleman Davidson (C.N. 9750 Shields 1855); 1861-62 Henry Cole; 1862-63 William Dennes (b. 1814 Leith); 1863 Needham; 1864-65 Nash; 1865 A White; 1867-68 J Blair; 1868-74 J Spence; 1874-77 W Webster; 1877 Patterson; 1880-1904 Robert Huntrods.

In 1861 the Petro Beys was bought by Zachariah Person to be used as a blockade-runner but was never employed in this manner & she appears to have been re-sold almost immediately.

Miscellaneous: August 1892 as she was leaving port, James Fisher, steward on Harvest Queen for 15 years, was at the wheel when a large wave struck the rudder. The wheel was affected & the spokes caught the helmsman & knocked him onto the bridge with great force. He was taken to the infirmary at Seaham Harbour where he died from his injuries the following day.

Voyages: 24 June 1860 left London for Constantinople; December 1861 from Konigsberg for Hull during a terrible storm in the North Sea she narrowly escaped foundering. The crew had to keep at the pumps & were exhausted so were thinking about leaving the vessel when the smack Ellen of Scarborough came in sight & with the help of her crew they were able to replenish the fires of Petro Beys & continue to port; 27 May 1862 arrived Cronstadt from London; August 1862 arrived Hull from Cronstadt; 16 June 1862 arrived Hull from St Petersburg; 18 November 1865 Harvest Queen sank after a collision with the steamer London in the River Tay. She was abandoned to the underwriters, salvaged the following year, repaired & sold; April 1876 from Sunderland to Dundee ran aground during fog on Carr Rock. She was refloated & found to have sustained little damage; September 1884 in collision during fog off Flamborough Head with the Middlesbrough steamer Dalbeattie. Both vessels were damaged; April 1885 she made the passage from Gravesend to Seaham Roads in 24 hours & 30 minutes. This was believed to be the fastest time on record for a collier making that run.

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