went forward to hand and stow the jib. The men selected were John Dodds from North Shields, John Small from Dundee, John Caygill from Whitby and Konstantine Barintizous from Italy. Captain Williams instructed them to wait for his signal before going on to the jibboom, the light extension to the bowsprit.
Figure 5.2 Barque Cumeria – tragic loss of four men
Figure 5.3 Cumeria before and after shortening sail
He then ordered Able Seaman E.G. (Johnny) Johansson from Sweden, the man at the wheel, to bring the ship’s head to starboard to steer WNW, bringing the wind abaft the beam, so that Cumeria was running free on the port tack, easing the weight on the jib and reducing the extent to which the vessel was pitching into the heavy seas from the west. This action made it safer for the men to go onto the jibboom, and when Cumeria was settled on the new course Captain Williams waved to the men to loose the halyards and go onto the jibboom to hand and stow the jib. When they were so engaged Captain Williams saw for the first time, at a distance of about 1½ miles, a sailing vessel which he judged to be on a collision course crossing on the starboard tack. Captain Williams was required by the Rule of the Road to keep out of the way of the other vessel, and to do this he would have to alter course to port, returning towards the more hazardous course so recently abandoned. Standing at the fore end of the poop, he waved to the men on the jibboom to get back inboard immediately, but they did not notice his signals, the bows being about 60 yards/metres from the poop. He waited as long as he dared, then ordered the helmsman to make a two-point alteration of course, to steer west, in order to avoid collision with the other vessel.
As Cumeria came onto the new course the foretopmast staysail sheet carried away (i.e. broke), and the vessel, now with sails unbalanced, broached to (i.e. lurched heavily, in this case with the bow swinging rapidly to port), and a heavy sea struck the port bow and swept over the jibboom, the bowsprit and the forecastle. At that instant the four men were swept from the jibboom into the cold February waters of the Channel, and the chief mate and bosun, on the forecastle, were trapped, reportedly ‘under the port tack’.6 The cry ‘Man overboard!’ was heard, lifebuoys and ropes were flung overboard and the yards were braced to port, to back the sails and stop the ship. One man in the water managed to catch hold of the mizzen vang, and another clutched the patent log line, but the vessel was at that time still travelling quite fast through the water, perhaps 6 or 7 knots, and agonisingly they were unable to retain their grip.
John Isbester was sent aloft to keep a lookout for the four men in the water, but could see none of them. Captain Williams asked for volunteers to man a boat, but none was prepared to venture, one man saying that if any of the men overboard were still in sight he would have been prepared to go. Captain Williams sailed back and forth through the area of the loss for the next four hours, but then, having seen nothing, resumed the voyage, and called at Falmouth six days later to pay off Johann Baer, AB from Danzig (Gdansk) and Per Rudolf Malmqvist, ship’s boy aged 17 from Sweden and to sign six replacements – five ABs and one OS. The leavers were, presumably, unwilling to continue the voyage after the distressing experience of the first ten days.
The official log book was reported to contain an entry, signed by four ABs including Johansson, the man who had been at the wheel, to the effect that the loss of the four men had been an accident and that every effort had been made to save them.
That the foregoing traumatic events are on record is because a letter signed by H.B. Johnson and dated 26 October 1881 was subsequently received by the Board of Trade alleging that the deaths of the four men were the result of ‘A piece of wilful carelessness and unseamanlike piece of work amounting to manslaughter.’ A formal investigation was held at Westminster in December 1881, the voyage having ended at Gravesend in mid-November following discharge in Rotterdam of a homeward cargo from Bombay. Six witnesses were present at the hearing, one being Captain Williams, and another the cook who confirmed the captain’s evidence that another sailing vessel had been nearby. It is likely that John Isbester was present too. He was in the UK at the time, on leave or studying for his first mate’s certificate, which he passed in Liverpool on 18 January 1882. One man not present was bosun Robert Lloyd: he had been left behind in jail in Bombay for reasons not recorded.7 The investigation cleared Captain Williams of any blame, concluding that the broaching-to of the vessel, which increased the severity of the heavy sea striking the port bow, was itself caused by the giving way of the foretopmast staysail sheet and was the cause of the loss of the lives in question. They further concluded that proper and seamanlike measures had been taken to stow the jib and that, Cumeria being the give-way vessel, Captain Williams had acted reasonably and safely when altering course two points to port to avoid collision. It was also concluded that every possible effort had been made to save the lives of the men. The tribunal decided that the complainant was the man who had signed Articles as John Johnson (sic),8 the AB at the wheel at the time of the occurrence, now again away at sea in the Mediterranean, and that his motive for making the complaint was that Captain Williams had refused to pay him off in Bombay where he had had the opportunity to obtain a more attractive job as cook and baker on a steam ship. They considered that, as one of the ABs who had signed the log book entry to the effect that the deaths had been accidental and that every effort had been made to save the men in the water he would, if present at the hearing, have found it difficult to justify his accusation.
So what might John Isbester have learnt from these tragic events? That a mariner’s life was perilous and could be snatched away in an instant was obvious, and he had seen that previously. He might have wondered why the foretopmast staysail sheet had failed so disastrously and why the master had not sent someone forward to warn the men on the jibboom of the planned manoeuvre. He might have reflected on how easy it is to lose sight of a lifebuoy or a man’s head in a rough sea, even at 200 yards/metres. The court hearing could not fail to show him the desirability of having a statement of events entered in the official log book and signed by witnesses who could be assumed to be impartial. It would also have shown him that allegations made but not supported by a witness in court were liable to be given short shrift, and the worst of motives attributed to the absentee.
Within a fortnight of obtaining his first mate’s certificate John Isbester was back at sea as chief mate of the iron-hulled ship West Ridge, 1,496 tons gross, embarked on a 15-month voyage first to Calcutta, which they reached in May after three and a half months at sea, benefitting from the south-west monsoon in the final Indian Ocean stages of the passage. That same south-west monsoon became their enemy a month later when, having discharged their cargo, they cleared for Liverpool on 20 June. Fighting their way out of the Bay of Bengal against the strength of the monsoon would have been a difficult, perhaps impossible, task, and the master appears to have had second thoughts or new instructions. West Ridge remained in Calcutta until the monsoon weakened in September, when they sailed for the lovely Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Port Louis, the capital city and port of Mauritius, with its benign tropical climate, its gentle winds, blue seas, graceful palm trees and background of spectacular mountains, would have been a welcome contrast to the flatlands of sweaty, monsoon-drenched Calcutta. The Mauritian coconuts, bananas, grapefruit, oranges, limes, papayas, sugarcane, pineapples and guavas, available for the smallest coin would have been very welcome, there were lots of fish to be pulled from the waters of the harbour, and piglets and chickens might also have been available at a price. John Isbester might have noticed an intriguing similarity to his home port of Lerwick. In Port Louis he would see Arab dhows and Chinese junks alongside European square riggers and steamers just as in Lerwick he would see fishing boats from the Netherlands and Poland, from Portugal and St Petersburg as well as from England and Scotland. Both Lerwick and Port Louis are excellent sheltered ports situated at ocean crossroads.
West Ridge remained in Port Louis for two
