"Guluan" collides with "Sarah Jane" near Ailsa Craig

From "The Irvine and Fullarton Times" dated Saturday 20th June 1874

SHIPPING CASUALTY
Whilst between Ailsa Craig and Girvan on Sunday last, the "Guluan" of Belfast, bound for Troon, ran into the "Sarah Jane" of Stranraer, carrying away her starboard quarter and stern, and also mainsail.
As the "Sarah Jane" was light, she did not make any water.

Barque CHEVALIER cleared at Quebec (Canada) for Clyde (Scotland)

From "The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald" dated 27th June 1874

Cleared at Miramichi, N.B., on 9th June, Brigantine "Sir Michael," Irvine, and "Springbank" of Belfast, both for Irvine.
"Chevalier" barque of Irvine, cleared at Quebec, for Clyde 18th June

Ardrossan ship "Harvest Home" wrecked in Canada

From "The Irvine & Fullarton Times" dated 18th July 1874

ARDROSSAN SHIP "HARVEST HOME" WRECKED IN CANADA

New York 2nd.
Advices from the Magdalen Islands, received at Halifax on 26th June, state that during a severe storm there on the 19th and 20th June, the barque "Harvest Home," of Ardrossan, from Malaga, Spain, to Saguenay, Canada, in ballast, went ashore on the east end of the islands, and would probably have become a total loss ; crew and materials saved.

Webmaster Note : Magdalen Islands are in Quebec province, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada.

Excursions by "Rothesay Castle" from Ardrossan to Arran

From ?The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald? dated Saturday 20th June 1874

STEAMBOAT EXCURSIONS

The Saturday afternoon excursions to Arran promise well and will become more popular as the season advances.
Wednesday being the Fast-Day at Kilwinning, Irvine, Troon and Kilmarnock, the ?Rothesay Castle? had a full complement of passengers in the trip round Ailsa Craig.

Trade at Irvine Harbour in June 1874

From "The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald" dated 27th June 1874

TRADE AT IRVINE HARBOUR

Trade at the harbour has shown some improvement during the week ending Thursday last.
The shipments of coal were 1127 tons, being an increase of 161 tons, compared with the previous week.
The imports consisted of chrome ore, Dublin porter, oatmeal and limestone.
There were 14 arrivals and 14 sailings during the week.

Steamer "Duchess" carries dynamite from Irvine to Swansea

From "The Irvine & Fullarton Times" dated 11th July 1874

SHIPMENT OF DYNAMITE

On the 4th inst., 49 tons of dynamite were shipped at Irvine Harbour for Swansea, per the "Duchess" (S.S.) Lambie, Master.

Steamer "Kenilworth" launched at Irvine

From "The Irvine & Fullarton Times" dated 15th August 1874

On August 6 there was launched from the Irvine Ship-building yard, a small screw-steamer of 41 tons register.
She is named the "Kenilworth."

"Chusan" wrecked : Terrible Shipwreck at Ardrossan Harbour

From ?The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald? dated 24th October 1874

TERRIBLE SHIPWRECK AT ARDROSSAN HARBOUR

One of the most appalling shipwrecks which ever occurred on this coast took place at Ardrossan on Wednesday morning, so close to the harbour, that it was distinctly witnessed by hundreds of horrified spectators from both piers.
The ill-fated vessel was a new iron paddle steamer from Glasgow for Shanghai, named the ?Chusan,? and belonging to the China Steam Navigation Company, the London agents being Baring Brothers & Co.

Her engines were nominally 300 horsepower, and her measurement 3500 40.94ths tons, length between perpendiculars 300 feet, breadth moulded 50 feet,, breadth over sponsons 83 feet, depth moulded 13 feet.
She was built by Messrs. Elder & Co., Govan, and was launched in September last ? her register tonnage being 1000 tons.
Of a slender construction, she was not at all adapted for weathering a heavy gale like that of Wednesday morning; and what was fitted to render her behaviour in such a storm all the less seaworthy, was that after the fashion of American river boats, she had a beam engine on deck.
She was manned by a crew of 48, all told, comprising engineers, firemen, etc., and had the channel pilot, Mr. Moir, on board, one passenger (Captain King) who was on his way to take the command of one of the same company?s steamers in China.

The ?Chusan? was under command of Captain Johnson, whose wife, and child, four years of age, were on board with him.
His wife?s sister was also on board, in the capacity, it was stated, of stewardess.
She had no cargo, with the exception of about 800 tons coals to be used on the passage out, and ?1000 of goods belonging to the Captain, who intended to trade on his own account.

Thus equipped she let the Tail of the Bank, Greenock, on Saturday 10th, and got as far as Waterford in Ireland.
There, on account of some inspection of the vessel, she was put back, to be strengthened for proceeding on her voyage, and was caught in the gale of Wednesday morning.
At about 2 o?clock in the morning the vessel became unmanageable, and would not answer her helm.
She was then off Ailsa Craig, and the pilot determined to run for the Cumbraes, but could not get her to keep her course direct up channel. The Captain, who at that time sounded the hold, and found it to contain no water.
The whole of the hands were on deck, according to the statement of the boatswain, a negro, named Thomas James, who had, by the Captain?s orders, raised the crew at about half-past twelve o?clock.
At dawn it was found that the vessel had drifted towards the land ; and seeing that they would not be able to make up the channel, it was resolved to run for Ardrossan Harbour.
The Pilots on the lookout seeing the steamer making for the harbour, thought it was the Belfast steamer putting back, and went round to the berth it usually occupies, in order to get the moorings ready.
When the vessel came closer, however, they discovered their mistake, and were looking on when she struck on the Crinan Rock, which is about 100 yards from the mouth of the harbour ; and its presence is marked by a beacon. Its sides are almost perpendicular, and at low tide there is a depth of 18 feet of water alongside.
She was making for the harbour well enough, and would have taken it, they allege, but not knowing the harbour, and finding themselves close on the rock, the engines were reversed, and at that time, the storm getting complete mastery of her she swung round, and struck on the rock amidships.
She struck once, and rose on the waves again, struck a second time, and rose, but before she could get clear, she was caught in an eddy, and striking a third time, she parted amidships as clean as though she had been sawn right through.
The fires of the engines glared out on the raging sea as the stern half sank, and a scene of indescribable terror and confusion ensued.
Part of the bridge and paddle boxes remained above water, and to these and the rigging those on board clung, the water washing over them and knocking some of them adrift.
The fore part of the vessel, with a number of the crew on board, floated safely into the old harbour, the ship having been built in water-tight compartments. It was blown right up to the top of the harbour, and grounded without doing any injury whatever to the vessels moored there, settling into the best and safest spot that could possibly have been selected.
Not more than five minutes elapsed between the time when the vessel struck and the instant she parted, and as soon as the disaster was witnessed one of the Pilots rushed off to the residence of the coxswain of the Lifeboat, where the keys of the Lifeboat House are kept. The house was locked up, Phillips being absent at drill; and another set of keys being in the possession of the Harbour-Master (Mr. Arch. Steel).
Access was at length had to the Lifeboat, and a crew, consisting of one of the Pilots and a number of carpenters, was hastily extemporised.
The tug, meanwhile, had got her steam up, and was alongside the wreck, but the number of men on board was by far too few to cope with the task before them. A line was thrown to the wreck, and was caught by Captain Johnson, who made it fast to his wife. Seizing hold of it himself, he sprang into the water along with his wife. The weight was too much. Those on board the tug could not draw them up, and the water kept washing over them, and dashing them against the paddle-box.
Captain Johnson put forth every effort to keep his wife's head above water, and at last let go, sinking with his right hand raised, and in the act of pushing his wife towards the tug.
The second line thrown from the tug was caught by the boatswain, Thomas James, a negro, who was hauled on board, and who was several minutes - as far as he could judge about three minutes on board the tug - before Captain Johnson's wife was rescued. James says he has been shipwrecked more than a dozen times, and has seen women saved from wrecked vessels, but never saw one who held out so well as did Mrs. Johnson.
She was, however, very far gone when rescued. Her state is now regarded as most favourable - she being near her confinement.

The fourth engineer, George Mair, catching a line, twisted it round his arm, and was easily hauled up. The first engineer, Mr. Wm. Gardner, of Glasgow, however, had a very narrow esape. He was fresh from the hot engine room, and missing the line which was thrown to him, though unable to swim, he jumped into the sea, and caught hold of it. The rope was rather a thin one, and his hands getting numbed, he felt it slipping, and had almost given up hope, but he stuck to it till taken hold of and dragged on board the tug. The second engineer, Wm. Ortwin, and the third, John Wrench, were also saved.

A number more were picked up, and the tug brought them ashore. Other three were floated on pieces of wreck to the pier head and were rescued at the imminent risk of the lives of those who saved them.
Some of those who tried to reach land by means of pieces of wood were carried to sea and lost.

The water was breaking in solid masses over the pier, but the Captain of the Newry steamer "Amphion," the Pilots and a number of carpenters succeeded in saving the three who came within reach of the life buoys.
The Captain of the "Amphion" hauled one of them up with his own hands, and the three were very handsomely treated on board his vessel.
A number, however, who came very near the life buoys were carried past by the backset of the water, and drifting out to sea, were drowned.

The first mate, Mr. Johnston, was saved, but the second mate, Mr. Miller, was drowned. On inquiring at the boatswain and engineer as to how he had failed to catch a line, the other white men on board having done so, we were informed that neither of them had seen him during the whole time of the disaster, and one of the crew who was present at this interview said that before he got off the wreck himself he saw the second mate drifting out to sea on a fragment of the wreck.
Mr. Miller's chest came ashore in the course of the afternoon and was taken into the pilot house, and is now in the custody of the Collector of Customs. It contained, among other things, a bank book showing a deposit of ?35 at his credit.

The most heartrending scene of all was the spectacle presented by a poor fellow who got jammed at the stern of the vessel, and the brave attempts to rescue him by four carpenters when, notwithstanding, the violence of the storm, went out in a boat belonging to the pig-iron men, is deserving of the very greatest praise.
They got near enough to speak to the poor fellow, and throw him a line, but it proved to be of no use. They then towed close up, and one of them siezed him, but only succeeded in tearing the poor fellow's clothes off his shoulders.
The sea rose and fell over him continuously, and for more than an hour he kept his erect position - visible but for a moment, then hid again by a heavy sea.
At last he was seen to fall on his side, and after long and weary watching for a chance of escape, he was lost to view altogether.

The tug, meanwhile, having returned to the harbour, took on board a fresh crew, and towed the lifeboat on to the scene of action ; and allowed it to drop down on the weather side.
After several attempts they succeeded in fixing her grapplings on to the stern of the steamer, within a distance of not more than fifteen or twenty yards from the six persons still clinging to the wreck. Strenuous efforts were made to get them off. One of the crew had taken refuge in the rigging, and so was not at the mercy of the waves, as were those on deck.
Miss Eliott, along with the Captain's child, and one of the crew, had a rough time of it on the main boom of the ship.
Having got themselves firmly fixed between the wire rope near the end of the boom, they maintained their position for nearly an hour, being swung to and fro, clear of the deck of the ship, by the great violence of the waves.
For long the pilot on the bow of the lifeboat tried to cast a line over them, but it was for a time unavailing. At every failure Miss Eliott was observed motioning with her hand, as if signifying the hopelessness of the efforts that were being made to rescue the sufferers in the face of such a furious storm and blinding rain, from their dreadfully perilous position.
At last he succeeded, and one by one the sufferers were drawn through the angry waves, and safely lodged in the lifeboat.
It may be mentioned here that twice the child fell into the water, and twice one of the engineers got hold of him and brought him up again.

It was about 9 o'clock when the lifeboat came off with the last of the crew, who had for upwards of three hours borne their fate gallantly. All, save one, were helpless and unconscious on coming ashore.
Mr. Moir, the channel pilot, was taken off by the lifeboat, along with the others - all of whom were drawn through the sea to the boat by means of a line,which was passed round the body by one of the crew, who showed great agility, and strove hard, and succeeded, in doing for the others what they could not do for themselves when paralysed by fatigue and cold.

All the crew, with the exception of the officers and engineers, were coloured men. They received every attention as they came ashore, some of the young men standing by as they were brought ashore pulling off their jackets and giving them to the half-drowned men.

The stewad stripped and swam ashore. He was the only one whom we could discover to have accomplished this feat. Dr. Stevens sent him down a suit of clothes, and, along with Dr. Wallace, was most attentive to Mrs Johnson, her child, and sister.

Captain King, who, as we have mentioned, had made up his mind to stick by the wreck, was washed against the rail by a heav sea, and was latterly washed adrift, thereafer caught hold of a piece of wood, on which he managed to get ashore. He was hauled on board the tug-boat.

The paddle boxes were above water during the whole day, and portions of the wreck kept drifting to the harbour.
The scene was visited by thousands during the day.
Yesterday (Friday) it was ascertained that 9 lives had been lost. Thursday last, being Glasgow Fast-day, large numbers from the city visited the scene of the wreck, and looked with a melancholy interest on the noble ship which had so lately left their river now such a wreck, and on the spot where she lay, which will long be remembered as the scene of one of the most heartrending disasters in the "Wreck Register" of the West Coast of Scotland.

We may add that Mr. Gross, Procurator-Fiscal, was at Ardrossan on Wednesday and Thursday, making investigation into the whole circumstances of the wreck. Mr. Wield, surveyor to the Underwriters' Association, was also here on Thursday.

Our townsmen will excuse us making any attempt to name those who rendered special assistance - deeper interest in distressed men - stronger desire to give help of any kind, whether in food or shelter, could not possibly have been shown by any community.

STATEMENTS BY THE CREW AND HARBOUR OFFICERS

Statement by Mr. Steel.

Mr. Steel, Harbourmaster of Ardrossan, states:
- I was on duty when the vessel came in sight. I observed that she was in danger, and seemed to stand right to the harbour.
I was so convinced of this that I ordered the men to stand on the pier and we were there ready with heaving lines in case they should manage to reach the harbour.
All at once the vessel canted, or swung round to the north, and afterwards appeared on the other side of the Crinan Rock, which is 400 yads from the shore.
She was distant from the rock about half a boat's length. She occupied this position about a quarter of an hour after we first noticed her. She was very much stressed. The only thing we could make out was that her engines were working.
We observed that she reversed her engines, and that she was backing towards the sea. She continued backing when the smash occurred.
The engines seemed to be still going, but at this point they appeared suddenly to stop. She was contending against the elements, but had not struck the rock at that time. After that she struck upon the rock, as it appeared to us.
It was grey daylight, at that time.
She first drifted down, then her engines stopped.then she struck the rock, knocking away the post or beacon which stood there as a signal. There was no light on the rock at the time.
Just as she struck on the rock a heavy sea came, and the fore end of the vessel rose, and she seemed to us to part in two exactly at the middle. The fore end of her fell clear off the rock, coming in and striking the pier.
Three of the men who were on this part of the vessel made an attempt to run for the shore, and two of them succeeded. Those who were on shore cried to the third not to attempt it, as the vessel was then rebounding from the pier, and his chances of getting on shore were correspondingly diminished. They threw him lifebuoys and made every effort to save him, but the current was so strong that he was swept out and lost.
There might have been a dozen on the fore part when it came into the harbour. With the exception of that man, all the others who were on that part of the vessel were saved.
This occurred at the Steamboat Pier, which is the middle pier.
The fore part of the vessel drifted into the harbour and came right up till she struck at the top.

When the accident occurred, the after part of the stern seemed to keep tight, and the men all ran to it. We heard them screaming. About 20 minutes or half an hour after, that part of the ship went down, although it did so, however, it remained sufficiently above the water to have saved any one who had gone on the paddle-boxes ; but there was a great confusion, and it did not seem to occur to the men to go there. They remained on deck, and a lot of them were washed away and drowned.

Before the vessel struck I despatched one of the pilots to get together the lifeboat crew. A scratch crew were got together and the boat was launched but the sea was so strong that pull as they may they could not get out.
The lifeboat was a first-class one and was in good order.

The harbour tug was despatched with what expedition it could. This was before the lifeboat went out. It went as near the vessel as it could, and picked up two or three off the wreck.
Finding that the lifeboat could not get out, we signalled to the captain of the tug to come back if possible to take it out ; but the storm was so great that he could not get his tug in position to come back, and some time was lost in that way.
When he did return, however, the lifeboat was towed out to the windward of the wreck and anchored. The lifeboat was under the charge of Mr. Brackenridge, pilot.
The lifeboat went as near the wreck as it possibly could to save those who were still remaining - five in number.

MR BANNATYNE?S STATEMENT

Mr. Bannatyne, captain of the tug, which went out to the rescue of those on the after part of the vessel says :-
We did all in our power to rescue the people, but in trying to reach the wreck our vessel always went to windward, and we could not get at her. With considerable difficulty we did get pretty near.
We took nine persons off, including the captain?s wife, We threw out lines to them all, and pulled them up in that way.
The captain and his wife were lashed on one line ; but it is not true that the captain?s wife?s sister was lashed on the same line. We were doing the best we could to save them, and we had brought his wife on board, and had I almost succeeded in bringing himself in, when he appeared to become very much exhausted and slipped from the rope. The captain did all he could to hold his wife out of the water while he was bringing them across.
Four men went out in a little boat at the same time as we did, but they did not succeed in rescuing anybody. They went out in a little lull, but the weather soon became stormy again, and they could do nothing.

FIRST MATE?S ACCOUNT

John Murdoch Johnston, the first mate states :-

We left Glasgow on Saturday 10th inst., bound to Shanghai, with a channel pilot and two passengers on board. We put into Waterford for the purpose of landing the pilot.
We found that the ship was unseaworthy, and that she had broken some of her frame.
The fore part of the ship was all adrift, I think it was want of strength in the construction of the vessel.
She was condemned as unseaworthy in Waterford by the surveyors, and was coming back to Glasgow for repairs, and to get strengthened.

We left Waterford with a fine night, moderate weather, wind from the N.W. When the ship was abreast of the Maidens the wind veered round to the south-west, and we held away on the other shore as the weather got thick..
We steered for the Cumbrae. The gale increased, the wind from the N.W., till it blew a hurricane.
The ship would not answer her helm, and was unmanageable. There were four men at the wheel ? the second officer named William Millar, two quartermasters, and a seaman.
Three were washed overboard ? the second officer and two quartermasters.

The steamer was intended as a river boat, and could not stand a heavy sea. She was 300 feet long and 33 feet beam.
We made for Ardrossan to prevent the vessel going in pieces, and on entering the harbour we struck against the rock. There were four quartermasters, three of whom are downed. Before the vessel struck, one of the quartermasters got three of his fingers cut off with the wheel. He was taken below to the cabin, and was lying there when the accident occurred. We had no time to get him out, however, and so the poor fellow was drowned.
The second mate was at the wheel when the vessel struck, and immediately the rudder touched the bottom it lifted him into the sea, and no more was seen of him.
The vessel?s decks were iron, and they were all contracted before we came to run into this place at all.
She was measured for 3500 tons, builders measurement, but was only half fitted up, the intention being that when she got out to China she should be fitted out completely in the same style as the river steamers in America.
When she left Glasgow we had on board 840 tons of coal, and water and provisions which would bring up the weight to 950 tons.
The ship is registered in Glasgow as belonging to Messrs. Russell & Co., Shanghai, Messrs Baring Brothers, Bankers, London, being the agents in this country.
Mr. Moir, the pilot whom we took out with us from Glasgow, came back with us from Waterford, and he had charge of the ship.
She broke clean in two at the fore compartment, where we had discovered a defect on the passage to Waterford.
The night was as black and dirty as I have ever seen.
I have been nineteen years at sea, and I never before saw such a bad night so far up the Channel.
This is the second time I have been shipwrecked, but the first time was nothing to this.
Twenty-five men came into harbour on the fore-part of the ship. The clothes of all the men were in the fore-part and have thus all been saved. None of the officers saved any of their clothes.
We struck about six o?clock. The ship was just a perfect shell not fit to contend with wind and water at sea.

SECOND ENGINEER?S ACCOUNT

William Ortwin, Second Engineer, says ;-

The ship parted immediately she struck. The fore-part drifted into the harbour, but no white men were on that part. Those who remained were left on the poop. There were three boats, and we tried to get them out, but the men were washed away from them as fast as they got near them. They took refuge on the quarter deck.
The pier was crowded with people but no assistance came until about three quarters of an hour after we struck.
None of the ship?s boats were got out ; they were all smashed by the heavy seas which broke across the deck. The tug steamer was the first to come to our assistance. They made four efforts to get close to us before they succeeded.
Several of the crew jumped into the water, and ropes were immediately thrown out to them from the tug, and by those they were hauled on board.
Others got hold of pieces of wood and tried to save themselves by floating ashore on them. About six or eight got into the tug at that time. The reason why the tug did not take us all off at once was that the heavy sea which was running rendered the tug unmanageable.
The captain and his wife were trying to get on board the tug, and were being pulled by means of a rope to the deck of the tug when the captain became exhausted and had to let go, and was drowned. His wife was got on board,
The tug took out the lifeboat which let go her grappling irons and drifted astern of the steamer.
It was with great difficulty that those who remained were got into the lifeboat. A rope was thrown to them, and they were at last got on board.
The order in which they came was as follows :-
Miss Elliot, the captain?s sister-in-law,
The captain?s son,
The first mate,
Ortwin,
Humphreys,
And the pilot.

After much exertion we cleared the pier and got into the harbour. The crew of a vessel in the harbour, whose name I do not know, got out their own lifeboat and came out to the wreck, and did all they could to render assistance.

COAST GUARD?S ACCOUNT

H. Lipscombe, coast-guardsman, Ardrossan says :-

There are altogether five coastguardsmen here, the chief being George Mays. Mays and two others are present on drill at Greenock, and the fourth is at Lamlash. Just now I am the only man on duty here.
Nine persons were rescued by the steam tug, six by the lifeboat, six or seven by floating on pieces of wreck and several by the pilots throwing lines from the end of the pier. The rescued persons are distributed among private houses in Ardrossan.

The perilous position of the vessel was not observed till about seven in the morning. It was not quite daylight till that time.
The lifeboat returned from the wreck about nine o?clock. There was a terrific sea running, and it was with great difficulty the people were brought in. Lines were thrown from the lifeboat to the sinking vessel, and the crew got hold of them, and were dragged through the water. 36 are believed to be saved, leaving 15 drowned.
The three coast guardmen left for Greenock on Monday week, and the man who went to Lamlash left on the same day. I do not know when they are coming back, but I telegraphed for them today. Government sends us to drill at any time it pleases.

STATEMENT BY THE PILOT

Additional and most interesting particulars in connection with the melancholy loss of the ?Chusan? are supplied by the pilot in charge of the vessel, Mr. R.W. Moir, Greenock ? who arrived at his home, from Ardrossan, in a very exhausted state, on Wednesday evening.

The substance of his narrative is as follows :-

I am a pilot in the Greenock district, and have acted in that capacity for about twelve months. Previous to that I was a shipmaster, and I got my master?s certificate in 1864.

I left the Tail of the Bank on Saturday 10th inst. in charge of the ?Chusan,? and was to take her down channel. She was on her way out to China. We put in to Waterford as it was found that the vessel was not behaving satisfactorily. We had fine weather, a calm sea, and a slight breeze ahead, but the vessel was making only about six knots an hour, and the bow was working up and down like a hinge. The engineers were also wanting something to be done to the engines.

Some of the officers and crew formed a very bad opinion of the vessel, and did not believe she was seaworthy. At the request of the captain I remained on board till he would communicate with the agents in London, to see what was to be done.
Mr. May, the surveyor to the company that the ?Chusan? belonged to, came down from London to Waterford last Monday, and inspected the vessel, along with the captain and officers. It was found that beside the weakness in the bow, five of the frames on the starboard side, and two on the port side, had given way. The judgement of the surveyors was that the ?Chusan? was not fit to go on to China, but that she was fit enough to go back to Glasgow, where she would be thoroughly overhauled.
The weather at this time was beautiful, the wind from the west, the sea calm, the glass had been rising steadily, and the captain resolved to start for the Clyde at once.
We accordingly left Waterford anchorage between nine and ten on Monday night.

I studied to keep the vessel in calm water, and brought her all along the Irish coast. From Wicklow Head the wind began to increase, and graually it came on to blow a strong breeze.
I brought the vessel up into the smooth water past Belfast Lough; and with the object of running before the sea (allowing that the wind would stop at west) I headed for the Maidens.
Off the Maidens the wind changed to the south-west, and it was noticed with alarm that the glass was falling very rapidly, and that a storm was brewing.
We then shaped the course for Pladda, which we made between three and four o'clock on Wednesday morning.
The wind here "slapped" into the west again, and the storm had come down upon us with frightful violence.
As we shaped for the Clyde, and came across the north channel, it was something awful ; the seas running mountains high, and the spray was blowing over the vessel in perfect clouds. She was getting positively unmanageable, and although four men were at the wheel the vessel would not answer her helm.
After we got inside Pladda she would do nothing with us. The squalls were striking her broadside on, and she was at times entirely beyond our control.

The morning was, besides, pitch dark, the storm had waxed into a tempest, the vessel was drifting fast to leeward, she was only steaming eight or nine knots an hour, and to add to our misfortune, we had almost no idea where we were.
This state of matters lasted for about two hours, and the only thing I could find to tell me where we were was the reflection in the sky from the iron-works at Ardrossan.
The wind, I know, was blowing us bodily to leewad, but it would have been madness to try and force the vessel into the storm. She was not fit for that, and had we tried it something terrible would have happened.

About dawn when the weather cleared up a little, I made out Ardrossan lights on the lee bow. I knew then it was hopeless to try and weather Ardrossan, for even though we had been able to "wear" the "Chusan," she would afterwards have run right into land.
We were being rapidly driven on the lee shore, and I warned the captain to prepare for the worst.

I was intimately acquainted with the entrance to Ardrossan harbour - knew thoroughly the position of both the Horse Island and the Crinan Rock, and as I made out the light on the pier head, I told the captain that our last chance would be to try and enter the harbour.
He said not to mind much what might happen to the ship, but to do the utmost to save the lives on board. The engineers and stokers were below getting up the steam as much as possible, but I was told it was never higher than 30lb.

We were making for Ardrossan from the south-westward, broadside on, but we used the most strenuous efforts to get the vessel's head right into the harbour.
The entrance is a very dangerous one at any time, even with a vessel that steers well, but with the "Chusan" the risk was dreadful.
The squalls were coming down on her from all directions catching her big paddle boxes, and the great covering of her boilers like big sails, and I saw that the only possibility of getting in was by working her engines ahead and astern, and to allow her to drift broadside in.
I verily believe we would have managed that but by some unfortunate defect or overlook, the engines would not work reversely by steam, and the working of the valves had to be done by manual labour.

When the vessel was manoeuvring in this way she was struck by a sea and borne onwards ; but, instead of the stem remaining fast on the rock, and the stern slewing in, as we had calculated, the vessel parted, the after portion sunk, and the fore compartment floated into harbour.

Even then, had the people on shore been able to work the rocket apparatus, not a person on board need have been lost, as we were quite close to the pier.
I had kept to my post all the time, and was left in the after portion of the vessel, along with the captain's son, Miss Elliot, the second engineer, the mate and the purser.

I was the last man that was got off the wreck alive. I was in a very exhausted condition, for I had been clinging to the mast head for nearly two hours, and by that time had scarcely any clothes on. I had, besides, been two or three times nearly swept away.
I cannot too warmly express my thanks for the kind way that the people at Ardrossan treated me.. I was taken to the house of Mr. Robertson, assistant harbour master, and, after recovering somewhat, I was supplied by him with clothes, which enabled me to set out for Greenock.
My conscience is clear, that I did the very utmost that lay in my power to save the vessel and those on board.
From six o'clock on Monday morning till the wreck on Wednesday morning, I had never had any rest, except two hours that I lay down below before the storm had come on, and all the time the storm lasted, I was never off the bridge except occasionally when I assisted the men at the wheel.

**********************************************************

The crew consisted of

George C Johnson, master, belonging to Salem, United States of America,

John Murdoch Johnstone, first mate, belonging to Glasgow,

Wm. Miller, second mate, belonging to Fort William,

Wm. Gardner, chief engineer, belonging to Leith, a married man with a family,

Wm. Ortwin, second engineer, belonging to Liverpool, where he was married only four weeks ago,

Wm G Wreach, third engineer, belonging to Abernethy,

George Marr, fourth engineer, a native of Aberdeen, but residing in Glasgow,

Edwin Humphreys, purser, belonging to Salem.

These were whites, and there was also the following coloured men :- 3 stewards, 2 cooks, 15 firemen and 18 sailors.

Besides these there were on board -

Mrs. Johnson, the captain's wife,

His son George, about four years of age,

His wife's sister, Miss E Elliot,

Capt. King, a passenger,

and Mr. Moir, the pilot in charge of the vessel.

All those drowned - with the exception only of two - the captain and the second mate - were coloured men.

The latter part of the ship still lies agroung close to the rock. The boilers and machinery are lying about eight or ten feet under water, and are apparently quite sound. The paddle boxes rise above water ; and about 8 or 9 feet of the funnel is also observable.
On Wednesday night several of the crew slept in their usual berths in the forecastle as comfortably as nothing had happened to the vessl.
The "Chusan" was fully insured. Grappling operations were carried out on Thursday, and several articles were recovered from the wreck.

To be continued...image 287

CHUSAN wrecked : Terrible Shipwreck at Ardrossan Harbour (Firth of Clyde, Scotland, UK)

From The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald dated 24th October 1874

TERRIBLE SHIPWRECK AT ARDROSSAN HARBOUR

One of the most appalling shipwrecks which ever occurred on this coast took place at Ardrossan on Wednesday morning, so close to the harbour, that it was distinctly witnessed by hundreds of horrified spectators from both piers.

   The ill-fated vessel was a new iron paddle steamer from Glasgow for Shanghai, named the CHUSAN and belonging to the China Steam Navigation Company, the London agents being Baring Brothers & Co.

   Her engines were nominally 300 horsepower, and her measurement 3500 40.94ths tons, length between perpendiculars 300 feet, breadth moulded 50 feet,, breadth over sponsons 83 feet, depth moulded 13 feet.      She was built by Messrs. Elder & Co., Govan, and was launched in September last, her register tonnage being 1000 tons.

   Of a slender construction, she was not at all adapted for weathering a heavy gale like that of Wednesday morning; and what was fitted to render her behaviour in such a storm all the less seaworthy, was that after the fashion of American river boats, she had a beam engine on deck. She was manned by a crew of 48, all told, comprising engineers, firemen, etc., and had the channel pilot, Mr. Moir, on board, one passenger (Captain King) who was on his way to take the command of one of the same company's steamers in China.

   The CHUSAN was under command of Captain Johnson, whose wife, and child, four years of age, were on board with him. His wife's sister was also on board, in the capacity, it was stated, of stewardess.

    She had no cargo, with the exception of about 800 tons coals to be used on the passage out, and £1000 of goods belonging to the Captain, who intended to trade on his own account.

   Thus equipped she let the Tail of the Bank, Greenock, on Saturday 10th, and got as far as Waterford in Ireland.   There, on account of some inspection of the vessel, she was put back, to be strengthened for proceeding on her voyage, and was caught in the gale of Wednesday morning.

   At about 2 o'clock in the morning the vessel became unmanageable, and would not answer her helm.   She was then off Ailsa Craig, and the pilot determined to run for the Cumbraes, but could not get her to keep her course direct up channel.

   The Captain, who at that time sounded the hold, and found it to contain no water.    The whole of the hands were on deck, according to the statement of the boatswain, a negro, named Thomas James, who had, by the Captain's orders, raised the crew at about half-past twelve o'clock.

At dawn it was found that the vessel had drifted towards the land ; and seeing that they would not be able to make up the channel, it was resolved to run for Ardrossan Harbour.

   The Pilots on the Ardrossan Harbour lookout seeing the steamer making for the harbour, thought it was the Belfast steamer putting back, and went round to the berth it usually occupies, in order to get the moorings ready.

   When the vessel came closer, however, they discovered their mistake, and were looking on when she struck on the Crinan Rock, which is about 100 yards from the mouth of the harbour ; and its presence is marked by a beacon.

   Its sides are almost perpendicular, and at low tide there is a depth of 18 feet of water alongside.    She was making for the harbour well enough, and would have taken it, they allege, but not knowing the harbour, and finding themselves close on the rock, the engines were reversed, and at that time, the storm getting complete mastery of her she swung round, and struck on the rock amidships.

   She struck once, and rose on the waves again, struck a second time, and rose, but before she could get clear, she was caught in an eddy, and striking a third time, she parted amidships as clean as though she had been sawn right through. The fires of the engines glared out on the raging sea as the stern half sank, and a scene of indescribable terror and confusion ensued.

   Part of the bridge and paddle boxes remained above water, and to these and the rigging those on board clung, the water washing over them and knocking some of them adrift.    The fore part of the vessel, with a number of the crew on board, floated safely into the old harbour, the ship having been built in water-tight compartments.

   It was blown right up to the top of the harbour, and grounded without doing any injury whatever to the vessels moored there, settling into the best and safest spot that could possibly have been selected.

   Not more than five minutes elapsed between the time when the vessel struck and the instant she parted, and as soon as the disaster was witnessed one of the Pilots rushed off to the residence of the coxswain of the Lifeboat, where the keys of the Lifeboat House are kept.

   The house was locked up, Phillips being absent at drill; and another set of keys being in the possession of the Harbour-Master (Mr. Arch. Steel).

   Access was at length had to the Lifeboat, and a crew, consisting of one of the Pilots and a number of carpenters, was hastily extemporised.

   The tug, meanwhile, had got her steam up, and was alongside the wreck, but the number of men on board was by far too few to cope with the task before them.

   A line was thrown to the wreck, and was caught by Captain Johnson, who made it fast to his wife.    Seizing hold of it himself, he sprang into the water along with his wife.    The weight was too much.    Those on board the tug could not draw them up, and the water kept washing over them, and dashing them against the paddle-box.

   Captain Johnson put forth every effort to keep his wife's head above water, and at last let go, sinking with his right hand raised, and in the act of pushing his wife towards the tug. The second line thrown from the tug was caught by the boatswain, Thomas James, a negro, who was hauled on board, and who was several minutes - as far as he could judge about three minutes on board the tug - before Captain Johnson's wife was rescued.

   James says he has been shipwrecked more than a dozen times, and has seen women saved from wrecked vessels, but never saw one who held out so well as did Mrs. Johnson.    She was, however, very far gone when rescued.     Her state is now regarded as most favourable - she being near her confinement.

   The fourth engineer, George Mair, catching a line, twisted it round his arm, and was easily hauled up.    The first engineer, Mr. William. Gardner, of Glasgow, however, had a very narrow escape.    He was fresh from the hot engine room, and missing the line which was thrown to him, though unable to swim, he jumped into the sea, and caught hold of it.    The rope was rather a thin one, and his hands getting numbed, he felt it slipping, and had almost given up hope, but he stuck to it till taken hold of and dragged on board the tug.

   The second engineer, William. Ortwin, and the third, John Wrench, were also saved.    A number more were picked up, and the tug brought them ashore.

   Other three were floated on pieces of wreck to the pier head and were rescued at the imminent risk of the lives of those who saved them.    Some of those who tried to reach land by means of pieces of wood were carried to sea and lost.

   The water was breaking in solid masses over the pier, but the Captain of the Newry steamer AMPHION the Pilots and a number of carpenters succeeded in saving the three who came within reach of the life buoys.

   The Captain of the AMPHION hauled one of them up with his own hands, and the three were very handsomely treated on board his vessel.

   A number, however, who came very near the life buoys were carried past by the backset of the water, and drifting out to sea, were drowned.

   The first mate, Mr. Johnston, was saved, but the second mate, Mr. Miller, was drowned.

   On inquiring at the boatswain and engineer as to how he had failed to catch a line, the other white men on board having done so, we were informed that neither of them had seen him during the whole time of the disaster, and one of the crew who was present at this interview said that before he got off the wreck himself he saw the second mate drifting out to sea on a fragment of the wreck.

   Mr. Miller's chest came ashore in the course of the afternoon and was taken into the pilot house, and is now in the custody of the Collector of Customs.

   It contained, among other things, a bank book showing a deposit of £35 at his credit.    The most heartrending scene of all was the spectacle presented by a poor fellow who got jammed at the stern of the vessel, and the brave attempts to rescue him by four carpenters when, notwithstanding, the violence of the storm, went out in a boat belonging to the pig-iron men, is deserving of the very greatest praise.

   They got near enough to speak to the poor fellow, and throw him a line, but it proved to be of no use.    They then towed close up, and one of them siezed him, but only succeeded in tearing the poor fellow's clothes off his shoulders.

   The sea rose and fell over him continuously, and for more than an hour he kept his erect position - visible but for a moment, then hid again by a heavy sea.

   At last he was seen to fall on his side, and after long and weary watching for a chance of escape, he was lost to view altogether.

   The tug, meanwhile, having returned to the harbour, took on board a fresh crew, and towed the lifeboat on to the scene of action ; and allowed it to drop down on the weather side.

   After several attempts they succeeded in fixing her grapplings on to the stern of the steamer, within a distance of not more than fifteen or twenty yards from the six persons still clinging to the wreck.    Strenuous efforts were made to get them off.

   One of the crew had taken refuge in the rigging, and so was not at the mercy of the waves, as were those on deck.    Miss Eliott, along with the Captain's child, and one of the crew, had a rough time of it on the main boom of the ship.    Having got themselves firmly fixed between the wire rope near the end of the boom, they maintained their position for nearly an hour, being swung to and fro, clear of the deck of the ship, by the great violence of the waves. For long the pilot on the bow of the lifeboat tried to cast a line over them, but it was for a time unavailing.

   At every failure Miss Eliott was observed motioning with her hand, as if signifying the hopelessness of the efforts that were being made to rescue the sufferers in the face of such a furious storm and blinding rain, from their dreadfully perilous position.

   At last he succeeded, and one by one the sufferers were drawn through the angry waves, and safely lodged in the lifeboat.    It may be mentioned here that twice the child fell into the water, and twice one of the engineers got hold of him and brought him up again.

   It was about 9 o'clock when the lifeboat came off with the last of the crew, who had for upwards of three hours borne their fate gallantly.    All, save one, were helpless and unconscious on coming ashore.

   Mr. Moir, the channel pilot, was taken off by the lifeboat, along with the others - all of whom were drawn through the sea to the boat by means of a line,which was passed round the body by one of the crew, who showed great agility, and strove hard, and succeeded, in doing for the others what they could not do for themselves when paralysed by fatigue and cold.

   All the crew, with the exception of the officers and engineers, were coloured men.    They received every attention as they came ashore, some of the young men standing by as they were brought ashore pulling off their jackets and giving them to the half-drowned men.    The stewad stripped and swam ashore.    He was the only one whom we could discover to have accomplished this feat.

   Dr. Stevens sent him down a suit of clothes, and, along with Dr. Wallace, was most attentive to Mrs Johnson, her child, and sister.    Captain King, who, as we have mentioned, had made up his mind to stick by the wreck, was washed against the rail by a heav sea, and was latterly washed adrift, thereafer caught hold of a piece of wood, on which he managed to get ashore.       He was hauled on board the tug-boat.

   The paddle boxes were above water during the whole day, and portions of the wreck kept drifting to the harbour. The scene was visited by thousands during the day.

   Yesterday (Friday) it was ascertained that 9 lives had been lost.

   Thursday last, being Glasgow Fast-day, large numbers from the city visited the scene of the wreck, and looked with a melancholy interest on the noble ship which had so lately left their river now such a wreck, and on the spot where she lay, which will long be remembered as the scene of one of the most heartrending disasters in the "Wreck Register" of the West Coast of Scotland.

   We may add that Mr. Gross, Procurator-Fiscal, was at Ardrossan on Wednesday and Thursday, making investigation into the whole circumstances of the wreck.    Mr. Wield, surveyor to the Underwriters' Association, was also here on Thursday.

   Our townsmen will excuse us making any attempt to name those who rendered special assistance - deeper interest in distressed men - stronger desire to give help of any kind, whether in food or shelter, could not possibly have been shown by any community.

STATEMENTS BY THE CREW AND HARBOUR OFFICERS

Statement by Mr. Steel.

Mr. Steel, Harbourmaster of Ardrossan, states: -

   I was on duty when the vessel came in sight.    I observed that she was in danger, and seemed to stand right to the harbour.    I was so convinced of this that I ordered the men to stand on the pier and we were there ready with heaving lines in case they should manage to reach the harbour.

   All at once the vessel canted, or swung round to the north, and afterwards appeared on the other side of the Crinan Rock, which is 400 yads from the shore.

   She was distant from the rock about half a boat's length.   She occupied this position about a quarter of an hour after we first noticed her.    She was very much stressed.

   The only thing we could make out was that her engines were working. We observed that she reversed her engines, and that she was backing towards the sea.     She continued backing when the smash occurred.

   The engines seemed to be still going, but at this point they appeared suddenly to stop. She was contending against the elements, but had not struck the rock at that time.    After that she struck upon the rock, as it appeared to us.

   It was grey daylight, at that time.    She first drifted down, then her engines stopped.then she struck the rock, knocking away the post or beacon which stood there as a signal.

   There was no light on the rock at the time.    Just as she struck on the rock a heavy sea came, and the fore end of the vessel rose, and she seemed to us to part in two exactly at the middle.    The fore end of her fell clear off the rock, coming in and striking the pier.

   Three of the men who were on this part of the vessel made an attempt to run for the shore, and two of them succeeded.    Those who were on shore cried to the third not to attempt it, as the vessel was then rebounding from the pier, and his chances of getting on shore were correspondingly diminished.    They threw him lifebuoys and made every effort to save him, but the current was so strong that he was swept out and lost.

   There might have been a dozen on the fore part when it came into the harbour. With the exception of that man, all the others who were on that part of the vessel were saved.    This occurred at the Steamboat Pier, which is the middle pier.    The fore part of the vessel drifted into the harbour and came right up till she struck at the top.

   When the accident occurred, the after part of the stern seemed to keep tight, and the men all ran to it.   We heard them screaming.    About 20 minutes or half an hour after, that part of the ship went down, although it did so, however, it remained sufficiently above the water to have saved any one who had gone on the paddle-boxes ; but there was a great confusion, and it did not seem to occur to the men to go there.

   They remained on deck, and a lot of them were washed away and drowned.

   Before the vessel struck I despatched one of the pilots to get together the lifeboat crew.    A scratch crew were got together and the boat was launched but the sea was so strong that pull as they may they could not get out.

   The lifeboat was a first-class one and was in good order.    The harbour tug was despatched with what expedition it could.   This was before the lifeboat went out.   It went as near the vessel as it could, and picked up two or three off the wreck.

   Finding that the lifeboat could not get out, we signalled to the captain of the tug to come back if possible to take it out ; but the storm was so great that he could not get his tug in position to come back, and some time was lost in that way.

   When he did return, however, the lifeboat was towed out to the windward of the wreck and anchored.    The lifeboat was under the charge of Mr. Brackenridge, pilot.   The lifeboat went as near the wreck as it possibly could to save those who were still remaining - five in number.

MR BANNATYNE's STATEMENT

Mr. Bannatyne, captain of the tug, which went out to the rescue of those on the after part of the vessel says :

  We did all in our power to rescue the people, but in trying to reach the wreck our vessel always went to windward, and we could not get at her. 

   With considerable difficulty we did get pretty near.    We took nine persons off, including the captain's wife,   We threw out lines to them all, and pulled them up in that way.   The captain and his wife were lashed on one line ; but it is not true that the captain's wife's sister was lashed on the same line.

   We were doing the best we could to save them, and we had brought his wife on board, and had I almost succeeded in bringing himself in, when he appeared to become very much exhausted and slipped from the rope.    The captain did all he could to hold his wife out of the water while he was bringing them across.

   Four men went out in a little boat at the same time as we did, but they did not succeed in rescuing anybody.    They went out in a little lull, but the weather soon became stormy again, and they could do nothing.

FIRST MATE's ACCOUNT

John Murdoch Johnston, the first mate states :-

We left Glasgow on Saturday 10th inst., bound to Shanghai, with a channel pilot and two passengers on board.    We put into Waterford for the purpose of landing the pilot.   

   We found that the ship was unseaworthy, and that she had broken some of her frame.    The fore part of the ship was all adrift, I think it was want of strength in the construction of the vessel.   She was condemned as unseaworthy in Waterford by the surveyors, and was coming back to Glasgow for repairs, and to get strengthened.

   We left Waterford with a fine night, moderate weather, wind from the N.W.    When the ship was abreast of the Maidens the wind veered round to the south-west, and we held away on the other shore as the weather got thick.   

  We steered for the Cumbrae.   The gale increased, the wind from the N.W., till it blew a hurricane. The ship would not answer her helm, and was unmanageable.     There were four men at the wheel, the second officer named William Millar, two quartermasters, and a seaman.

   Three were washed overboard, the second officer and two quartermasters.   The steamer was intended as a river boat, and could not stand a heavy sea.

   She was 300 feet long and 33 feet beam. We made for Ardrossan to prevent the vessel going in pieces, and on entering the harbour we struck against the rock.     There were four quartermasters, three of whom are downed.

   Before the vessel struck, one of the quartermasters got three of his fingers cut off with the wheel. He was taken below to the cabin, and was lying there when the accident occurred.   We had no time to get him out, however, and so the poor fellow was drowned.   The second mate was at the wheel when the vessel struck, and immediately the rudder touched the bottom it lifted him into the sea, and no more was seen of him.

   The vessel's decks were iron, and they were all contracted before we came to run into this place at all.    She was measured for 3500 tons, builders measurement, but was only half fitted up, the intention being that when she got out to China she should be fitted out completely in the same style as the river steamers in America.

   When she left Glasgow we had on board 840 tons of coal, and water and provisions which would bring up the weight to 950 tons. The ship is registered in Glasgow as belonging to Messrs. Russell & Co., Shanghai, Messrs Baring Brothers, Bankers, London, being the agents in this country.   

   Mr. Moir, the pilot whom we took out with us from Glasgow, came back with us from Waterford, and he had charge of the ship.

   She broke clean in two at the fore compartment, where we had discovered a defect on the passage to Waterford.    The night was as black and dirty as I have ever seen. I have been nineteen years at sea, and I never before saw such a bad night so far up the Channel. This is the second time I have been shipwrecked, but the first time was nothing to this.

   Twenty-five men came into harbour on the fore-part of the ship.   The clothes of all the men were in the fore-part and have thus all been saved.   None of the officers saved any of their clothes.   We struck about six o'clock.

    The ship was just a perfect shell not fit to contend with wind and water at sea.

SECOND ENGINEER's ACCOUNT

William Ortwin, Second Engineer, says ;-

   The ship parted immediately she struck.    The fore-part drifted into the harbour, but no white men were on that part.    Those who remained were left on the poop.

   There were three boats, and we tried to get them out, but the men were washed away from them as fast as they got near them.    They took refuge on the quarter deck.

   The pier was crowded with people but no assistance came until about three quarters of an hour after we struck.    None of the ship's boats were got out ; they were all smashed by the heavy seas which broke across the deck.

   The tug steamer was the first to come to our assistance.    They made four efforts to get close to us before they succeeded.    Several of the crew jumped into the water, and ropes were immediately thrown out to them from the tug, and by those they were hauled on board.

   Others got hold of pieces of wood and tried to save themselves by floating ashore on them. About six or eight got into the tug at that time.

   The reason why the tug did not take us all off at once was that the heavy sea which was running rendered the tug unmanageable.

   The captain and his wife were trying to get on board the tug, and were being pulled by means of a rope to the deck of the tug when the captain became exhausted and had to let go, and was drowned.   

   His wife was got on board, The tug took out the lifeboat which let go her grappling irons and drifted astern of the steamer.       It was with great difficulty that those who remained were got into the lifeboat.    A rope was thrown to them, and they were at last got on board.   

   The order in which they came was as follows :- Miss Elliot, the captain's sister-in-law, The captain's son, The first mate, Ortwin, Humphreys, And the pilot.

   After much exertion we cleared the pier and got into the harbour. The crew of a vessel in the harbour, whose name I do not know, got out their own lifeboat and came out to the wreck, and did all they could to render assistance.

COAST GUARD's ACCOUNT

H. Lipscombe, coast-guardsman, Ardrossan says :-

There are altogether five coastguardsmen here, the chief being George Mays.

   Mays and two others are present on drill at Greenock, and the fourth is at Lamlash.

   Just now I am the only man on duty here.

   Nine persons were rescued by the steam tug, six by the lifeboat, six or seven by floating on pieces of wreck and several by the pilots throwing lines from the end of the pier.

   The rescued persons are distributed among private houses in Ardrossan.

   The perilous position of the vessel was not observed till about seven in the morning.     It was not quite daylight till that time.

   The lifeboat returned from the wreck about nine o'clock.   There was a terrific sea running, and it was with great difficulty the people were brought in.   Lines were thrown from the lifeboat to the sinking vessel, and the crew got hold of them, and were dragged through the water. 36 are believed to be saved, leaving 15 drowned.

   The three coast guardmen left for Greenock on Monday week, and the man who went to Lamlash left on the same day.

I do not know when they are coming back, but I telegraphed for them today. Government sends us to drill at any time it pleases.

STATEMENT BY THE PILOT

Additional and most interesting particulars in connection with the melancholy loss of the CHUSAN are supplied by the pilot in charge of the vessel, Mr. R.W. Moir, Greenock, who arrived at his home, from Ardrossan, in a very exhausted state, on Wednesday evening. The substance of his narrative is as follows :-

I am a pilot in the Greenock district, and have acted in that capacity for about twelve months.    Previous to that I was a shipmaster, and I got my master's certificate in 1864.

   I left the Tail of the Bank on Saturday 10th inst. in charge of the CHUSAN and was to take her down channel.    She was on her way out to China.   We put in to Waterford as it was found that the vessel was not behaving satisfactorily.

   We had fine weather, a calm sea, and a slight breeze ahead, but the vessel was making only about six knots an hour, and the bow was working up and down like a hinge.    The engineers were also wanting something to be done to the engines.

   Some of the officers and crew formed a very bad opinion of the vessel, and did not believe she was seaworthy.    At the request of the captain I remained on board till he would communicate with the agents in London, to see what was to be done.

Mr. May, the surveyor to the company that the CHUSAN belonged to, came down from London to Waterford last Monday, and inspected the vessel, along with the captain and officers. It was found that beside the weakness in the bow, five of the frames on the starboard side, and two on the port side, had given way.    The judgement of the surveyors was that the CHUSAN was not fit to go on to China, but that she was fit enough to go back to Glasgow, where she would be thoroughly overhauled.

The weather at this time was beautiful, the wind from the west, the sea calm, the glass had been rising steadily, and the captain resolved to start for the Clyde at once.

   We accordingly left Waterford anchorage between nine and ten on Monday night. I studied to keep the vessel in calm water, and brought her all along the Irish coast.   

   From Wicklow Head the wind began to increase, and graually it came on to blow a strong breeze.       I brought the vessel up into the smooth water past Belfast Lough; and with the object of running before the sea (allowing that the wind would stop at west) I headed for the Maidens.

   Off the Maidens the wind changed to the south-west, and it was noticed with alarm that the glass was falling very rapidly, and that a storm was brewing.

   We then shaped the course for Pladda, which we made between three and four o'clock on Wednesday morning.    The wind here "slapped" into the west again, and the storm had come down upon us with frightful violence.

   As we shaped for the Clyde, and came across the north channel, it was something awful ; the seas running mountains high, and the spray was blowing over the vessel in perfect clouds.    She was getting positively unmanageable, and although four men were at the wheel the vessel would not answer her helm. After we got inside Pladda she would do nothing with us.    The squalls were striking her broadside on, and she was at times entirely beyond our control.

   The morning was, besides, pitch dark, the storm had waxed into a tempest, the vessel was drifting fast to leeward, she was only steaming eight or nine knots an hour, and to add to our misfortune, we had almost no idea where we were. This state of matters lasted for about two hours, and the only thing I could find to tell me where we were was the reflection in the sky from the iron-works at Ardrossan.

   The wind, I know, was blowing us bodily to leewad, but it would have been madness to try and force the vessel into the storm.    She was not fit for that, and had we tried it something terrible would have happened.

   About dawn when the weather cleared up a little, I made out Ardrossan lights on the lee bow. I knew then it was hopeless to try and weather Ardrossan, for even though we had been able to "wear" the CHUSAN she would afterwards have run right into land. We were being rapidly driven on the lee shore, and I warned the Captain to prepare for the worst.

   I was intimately acquainted with the entrance to Ardrossan harbour - knew thoroughly the position of both the Horse Island and the Crinan Rock, and as I made out the light on the pier head, I told the captain that our last chance would be to try and enter the harbour.    He said not to mind much what might happen to the ship, but to do the utmost to save the lives on board.

   The engineers and stokers were below getting up the steam as much as possible, but I was told it was never higher than 30lb. We were making for Ardrossan from the south-westward, broadside on, but we used the most strenuous efforts to get the vessel's head right into the harbour. The entrance is a very dangerous one at any time, even with a vessel that steers well, but with the CHUSAN the risk was dreadful.

   The squalls were coming down on her from all directions catching her big paddle boxes, and the great covering of her boilers like big sails, and I saw that the only possibility of getting in was by working her engines ahead and astern, and to allow her to drift broadside in. I verily believe we would have managed that but by some unfortunate defect or overlook, the engines would not work reversely by steam, and the working of the valves had to be done by manual labour.

   When the vessel was manoeuvring in this way she was struck by a sea and borne onwards ; but, instead of the stem remaining fast on the rock, and the stern slewing in, as we had calculated, the vessel parted, the after portion sunk, and the fore compartment floated into harbour.   

   Even then, had the people on shore been able to work the rocket apparatus, not a person on board need have been lost, as we were quite close to the pier. I had kept to my post all the time, and was left in the after portion of the vessel, along with the captain's son, Miss Elliot, the second engineer, the mate and the purser. I was the last man that was got off the wreck alive.

   I was in a very exhausted condition, for I had been clinging to the mast head for nearly two hours, and by that time had scarcely any clothes on.

   I had, besides, been two or three times nearly swept away.    I cannot too warmly express my thanks for the kind way that the people at Ardrossan treated me..

   I was taken to the house of Mr. Robertson, assistant harbour master, and, after recovering somewhat, I was supplied by him with clothes, which enabled me to set out for Greenock.

   My conscience is clear, that I did the very utmost that lay in my power to save the vessel and those on board.

   From six o'clock on Monday morning till the wreck on Wednesday morning, I had never had any rest, except two hours that I lay down below before the storm had come on, and all the time the storm lasted, I was never off the bridge except occasionally when I assisted the men at the wheel. 

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The crew consisted of George C Johnson, master, belonging to Salem, United States of America,

John Murdoch Johnstone, first mate, belonging to Glasgow,

William. Miller, second mate, belonging to Fort William,

William. Gardner, chief engineer, belonging to Leith, a married man with a family,

William. Ortwin, second engineer, belonging to Liverpool, where he was married only four weeks ago,

William G Wreach, third engineer, belonging to Abernethy,

George Marr, fourth engineer, a native of Aberdeen, but residing in Glasgow,

Edwin Humphreys, purser, belonging to Salem.

These were whites, and there was also the following coloured men :-

3 stewards, 2 cooks, 15 firemen and 18 sailors.

Besides these there were on board - Mrs. Johnson, the captain's wife, His son George, about four years of age,

His wife's sister, Miss E Elliot,

Capt. King, a passenger,

and Mr. Moir, the pilot in charge of the vessel.

All those drowned - with the exception only of two - the captain and the second mate - were coloured men.

The latter part of the ship still lies aground close to the rock. The boilers and machinery are lying about eight or ten feet under water, and are apparently quite sound.    The paddle boxes rise above water ; and about 8 or 9 feet of the funnel is also observable.

   On Wednesday night several of the crew slept in their usual berths in the forecastle as comfortably as nothing had happened to the vessel.    The CHUSAN was fully insured.

Grappling operations were carried out on Thursday, and several articles were recovered from the wreck.

Seventeen Drowned In "chusan" Shipwreck At Entrance To Ardrossan Harbour

From The New York Times dated 5th November, 1874

SHIPWRECK AND LOSS OF LIFE

A dispatch from Glasgow to the London Standard, dated 21st October, 1874, says: "The steamship Chusan, 953 tons, Captain Johnson, which cleared from Glasgow for Shanghai on the 6th inst, had her machinery disabled while passing out of the Channel, and was obliged to put into a port on the coast of Ireland.

Yesterday she was on her way back to the Clyde for repairs, but was overtaken by the storm early this morning, and being unable to contend with the gale was run for Ardrossan Harbour.

While endeavouring to take the harbour she was dashed upon the Crinan Rock, about fifty yards from the pier head, and almost immediately parted in two.
The crew, numbering fifty-one souls all told, were thus left to battle with the waves, and sad to tell, although they were so near the shore, there was no effectual means for their rescue.

When she struck, the fore-part of the vessel, with a number of the crew on board, floated in the old harbour, and the stern half sank, a part of the bridge being left above water.
A tug went to the assistance of the crew, who were clinging to the rigging, and rescued nine.

There was a very distressing scene witnessed in connection with the attempt to save Captain Johnson and his wife and wife's sister.
The three were lashed to a line thrown from the tug, but it was found impossible to haul them on board, and Captain Johnson cut himself free ; the two ladies were then hauled on board, but no effort that could be put forth could enable those on the tug to reach the Captain, who was swept out of reach and drowned.
The captain's children were also rescued.

The tug, after bringing to the shore the nine thus taken off the wreck, towed out the life-boat, the crew of which could with the greatest difficulty make headway against the storm, and, pulling around to the weather side of the wreck, a number more were taken off.
Others were also saved from the pier head.

The rock on which the ship struck is about 200 yards from the lighthouse pier, and three of the crew floated that distance on pieces of the wreck, and were hauled on to the pier by the Captain of the Newry.
Three others also floated close to the pier, but were swept away again and drowned.
The steward stripped himself and swam ashore and was saved.

The most melancholy scene of all was the spectacle presented by a poor fellow who got jammed at the stern of the vessel.
Four carpenters in a small boat, not withstanding the violence of the storm, went out and threw a line to him, but he was so fixed that they could not pull him off.
The sea rose and fell over him, hiding him for half-a-minute, then exposing him to the gaze of the crowds on the shore.
At last he was seen to fall on his side and was lost sight of altogether.

The total number of lives lost in connection with the melancholy disaster - one of the heaviest that has occurred on the Firth of Clyde for a long time - is seventeen.

The scene presented at Ardrossan Harbour was of the most painful nature, owing to the close proximity of the vessel to the land.

The Chusan was an iron ship, and is owned by the Chinese Navigation Company, of which Messrs Bowring Brothers & Co., London, are the agents.
She was built on the Clyde by Messrs Elder & Co., and was valued at ?80,000."

WEBMASTER'S NOTE :

A Chinese friend advises that the name should be pronounced "Chooo - san"

Miramar Ship Index information shows that the ship was British, owned by the Shanghai Steam Navigation Company, and built with an iron hull and propelled by paddles.
She was designed to carry passengers and cargo.
The ship was launched on 17th September 1874 by Elders Shipyard, Govan, Glasgow (yard number 178) and was on her maiden voyage to China, when, four weeks after being launched, she was wrecked at Ardrossan

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MONUMENT IN ARDROSSAN CEMETERY

A large, tall monument to commemorate the event and the dead was erected, and still stands, in Ardrossan Cemetery, Sorbie Road, Ardrossan.
The top of the monument is in the form of a broken ships mast, with a rope entwined, and shows the inscriptions "Faith" "Hope" "Charity"
Below the mast is a carving of the appearance of the ship.
And the inscription reads ;
IN MEMORY OF
GEORGE G. JOHNSON MASTER
WILLIAM MILLER, SECOND MATE
AND THE CREW IN THE
STEAM SHIP CHUSAN
WHO WERE DROWNED OFF THE HARBOUR
OF ARDROSSAN ON (the remainder of the line is worn away and unreadable)
2ND OCTOBER 1847

ERECTED BY SUBSCRIPTION

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Captain Johnson's burial place in Danvers, Massachussets, U.S.A.

Readers will be aware, from the foregoing articles on "Chusan" that the body of Captain George C. Johnson was taken back to his home-town of Danvers, Massachussets, for burial.

Mr. Richard E. Trask, Town Archivist of Danvers, has very generously contributed the following information and images, relating to Captain Johnson, and we are greatly indebted to him for his time and effort in procuring these details and images for our website.

January 18, 2010.

Dear Mr. Boyd:

Attached please find images of the gravestone of Captain George C. Johnson at the Walnut Grove Cemetery on Sylvan Street in Danvers, Massachusetts.

The story of 37-year-old Captain George Johnson's death is told in this memorial stone which reads:
"In memory of Captain George C. Johnson for 13 years in the service of the Shanghai Steam Navigation
Company, who was drowned on the 21st of October 1874, in the harbor of Ardrossan, Scotland, while attempting to save others from the wreck of the company's steamer "Chusan," of which he was commander.
This stone is erected as a tribute to the worth of an esteemed and zealous officer."

According to the death record in the Danvers Vital Records v. 14, p. 240, Johnson died October 21, 1874 in Scotland at 37 years. He was listed as a "Mariner captain" born in Salem, Massachusetts to Thomas M. & Harriet J. (Osborne) Johnson.
Cause of death was listed as "shipwreck."

An additional image attached is that of a 19th century wall clock manufactured by Ingraham & Co. in Bristol, Connecticut and sold by Daniel T. Smith of Salem.
Its painted face memorializes Captain George C. Johnson of Danvers.
We are not sure of the history of this clock, except that it was for many years located in a local fire station and was donated to the Danvers Archival Center in 2002.

Thank you for the website with interesting information about Capt. Johnson and the shipwreck.
We are pleased to include this in our files.

Sincerely,
Richard B. Trask
Town Archivist

The wrecking of the "Chusan" at Ardrossan Harbour

The following information, giving fascinating accounts of the wreck of the "Chusan," were collected and compiled by Mr. Jim Hunter and the late Mr. Hugh Anderson, both of Ardrossan.
We are extremely grateful to Jim Hunter for his kindness in contributing the material to this website.

From "The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald" dated 20th October, 1899, page 4

Extracts, and drawing by the late E W Findlay.

On the morning of Wednesday, 21st October, 1874, the paddle steamer "Chusan," built for the Shanghai Steam Navigation Company, and intended for their local trade between Shanghai and Hankow, was wrecked on the Crinan Rock, at the entrance to Ardrossan Harbour, with appalling loss of life.

Built by John Elder and Company, Glasgow, and was launched American fashion with her machinery on board on 17th September.
Ran the measured mile at Wemyss Bay on 10th October, attaining a speed of eight knots.
After the trial she steamed for Waterford to land the pilot and then proceed to Shanghai via the Suez Canal.

In the Channel one of her paddlewings was damaged, and on the Irish Coast she put in for repair.
It was necessary to return to the Clyde for more thorough repairs before attempting the over-sea voyage.
On the way back she was caught in a terrible gale. The velocity of the wind was 63 mph and the pressure between 30 and 40lb to the square foot.
The pilot steered for Ardrossan, but just failed to reach it.
The "Chusan" struck on the Crinan Rock, at the south end of the present breakwater, and became a total wreck.

Crew 48 and five passengers.
The crew was largely composed of coloured people, thirteen of whom were drowned.
Of thirteen white people on board, the Master and second mate were drowned.
The captain's wife and child, her sister, and a passenger named Captain King, the first mate, the chief, second, third, and fourth engineers, and the pilot, were saved.

The catastrophe happened at six o'clock, in the twilight of the morning, when the difficulty of navigating in the blinding rain and heavy sea was aggravated by the imperfect light.
The vessel struck the rock bow on, knocking off the beacon, and immediately parted in the middle, as if cut with a knife.
The forward portion of the ship, with a number of the crew on board, was carried right into the harbour, and the occupants were, with one exception, saved.

The after portion sank, leaving only her funnel, bridges and paddle-boxes showing above water.
With the sea breaking over the wreck, the position of those on board was perilous. The steward stripped himself entirely of his clothing and swam ashore in safety.
One unfortunate fellow who got jammed at the stern of the vessel presented a heart-rending spectacle to those on shore.
Notwithstanding the violence of the storm, four carpenters put out in a small boat to his assistance.
They threw him a line, but he was so fixed that he could not get clear.
At last he turned on his side and was lost sight of altogether.
The captain's wife and child were placed on the lower yard of the mainsail, in charge of two sailors, but in the violent tossing of the beam by the wind, the child was shaken out of the mother's arms and washed overboard.
One of the sailors gallantly leaped after it and effected a difficult rescue.
Till seven o'clock when the harbour tugboat, under command of Captain Bannatyne, proceeded to the wreck.

The scene was of a most harrowing description.
The Captain, with his wife and child, and a number of the crew, were clinging to a spar, the Captain supporting his dear ones, and striving desperately to prevent them being washed away.
A line was passed from the tug-boat, to which the Captain succeeded in attaching his wife and child, but he himself was drowned.
One account says that he was so exhausted he was obliged to let go his hold, and another says that one of the crew, a black man, who had been swimming, caught hold of him and dragged him down.
One man lay disabled between a float of one of the paddles and some floating spars.
The life-boat, imperfectly manned, in the absence of the coxswain, Mr Mayes, chief Coastguardsman, who was on drill in Greenock, was taken out by the tug, and an attempt to save the man under the paddle-wheel proved vain. A rope was fastened round him but only succeeded in tearing off some of his clothes.

Captain King, the passenger, was holding on to the boom when a wave struck him, throwing him to the deck. He managed to lay hold on a piece of wood and struck out for the shore.
After getting a short distance he was observed from the tug, and picked up.
Despite the severity of the storm large crowds assembled on the quay to view out of the total of 52.
The white persons rescued were accommodated in hotels and private houses in the town, and in the printed accounts of the occurrence, frequent mention is made of the kindness they experienced from the people of Ardrossan.
The blacks found shelter in the fore part of the ship which floated safe in the harbour.

In the Board of Trade Inquiry and newspapers, much was said of the unseaworthiness of the "Chusan."
She was one of the type of vessels once popular on the American rivers, and also in favour in China. She was to have steamed out with bare decks, and been fitted with her saloons in China.

306 feet overall, 50 ft beam, and 83 ft over the paddle boxes, 1381 gross tonnage, with a main draft of 8 feet 6 inches.
She was fitted with a 68 inch cylinder walking-beam engine, with 12 ft stroke and 31 ft paddle wheels.

The hull, boilers, engine and materials were sold by public auction in the coffeeroom of the Eglinton Arms Hotel, Ardrossan, on Monday 16th August, 1875, and were purchased by Mr James Craig, East Blackhall Street, Greenock, for ?1045 - 10s.

Captain Johnson, who died, was well known throughout commercial circles in China. He was, for ten or twelve years, one of the most popular captains on the River Yangtze.
His nickname was "Whispering" Johnson, because of the thunder of his voice, in giving an order, could be heard above the wildest din of the elements.

*************************************************************

On her maiden voyage on 21st October, 1874, the "Chusan" an iron paddle-steamer en-route to Shanghai, encountered a violent storm near Arran, and ran for shelter in Ardrossan Harbour.
Within 200 yards of the harbour, she was swept out of control on to the Crinan Rock and immediately broke up in the stormy seas.
The smaller forepart of the wreck was washed into the harbour and those in this section were saved, but despite frantic efforts made by the lifeboat and a small tug to save the rest of the crew and passengers, fifteen of them including the Captain were drowned.
They were buried in Ardrossan Cemetery where a memorial stone commemorates one of the most serious shipping disasters in the history of Ardrossan Harbour.
A twenty-two verse poem "The Wreck of the Chusan" is dedicated to Mrs H. A. Johnson, the Captain's widow, who was saved from the wreck.

*************************************************************

LOSS OF STEAMSHIP "CHUSAN"

Built by John Elder and Company at Fairfield yard, Govan, for the China Steam Navigation of Shanghai, and intended for the Yangtze River trade.
Launched on the afternoon of 17th. September 1874 by a Miss Lorimer.
The vessel was registered in London in the name of Charles Lloyd Norman, of Baring Brothers, who was British agent for the China Steam Navigation Company.
She was an iron paddle-steamer of 1381.13 gross and 953.43 net registered tonnage.
Her dimensions were: -
Length 300.9 feet: breadth - 50.2 ft: depth moulded - 13.6 feet: depth for tonnage - 10 feet.
The engines fitted were second hand, having been sent from America after being used in the previous Chusan.
She was a steamer known as type Hush model.
The vessel was schooner rigged with pole masts and supplied with temporary fittings. The tiers of deck houses called for in the specifications were to be fitted in China, resulting in considerable increase in strength.

There were thirteen whites on board as well as Negros from the southern states of America - one or two West Indians, West Africans and several Lascars.
The whites were:
Captain Johnson - master:
John Johnson - mate:
William Miller - second mate:
William Gardiner - Chief Engineer;
William Ortwin - Second Engineer:
William Wrench - Third Engineer;
Ed Humphreys - purser:
Miss Elliott - stewardess:
Captain King - passenger:
Mr Moir - pilot:
Mrs Johnson - passenger:
George Johnson - passenger.

Coloureds.
Firemen - 16 : Cooks - 2 : Stewards - 3 : Seamen - 18 :

The Chusan left the Clyde under the command of Captain G. C. Johnson, an American, with a crew of 48.
In addition were three members of the captain's family; his wife, his four-year-old son and his wife's sister Miss Elliott, sailing as a stewardess.
Also on board were an Engineer, Mr May, who superintended the building; Captain King, who was to command a sister ship the "Kiang Loongs" being built at Govan; and Mr Moir, a river and Channel pilot.

Some defects were detected, while sailing, in the rivetting and plating, and on arrival at Waterford, in order to land Captain King, Mr May and Mr Moir, the Captain decided to contact the owners regarding the state of the vessel.
A master mariner and ship surveyor, Captain Lodge, was sent to Waterford, and as he reported the vessel was unfit to proceed to China, it was agreed to return to Glasgow.
The vessel left Waterford for Glasgow on the evening of 19th October, in favourable weather.
Off Wicklow, the head-wind began to increase, and course was set for Maidens, after Belfast Lough.
Off Maidens the wind changed from westerly to south-west, with rapid fall on barometric pressure, and resulted in the course being set for Pladda, when the wind changed again to west, accompanied by an unusual violent storm.

At 2am she passed Ailsa Craig, doing about 9 knots.
When passing Pladda, course being steered was North-East by North.
The vessel was steering so badly off Holy Island that engines were put to slow and the fore staysail was bent.
The wind suddenly shifted to north-west, and blew violently and the vessel was not answering to helm.
At 5 am the position became desperate, and the glare from the Ardeer Ironworks became visible, as well as the perch on the Crinan Rock, and it was decided to attempt an entry to Ardrossan Harbour.
Mr Moir was familiar with the entrance, and on instructions of the Captain, the ship was considered to be of less importance than the crew.
Efforts were made to get the vessel's head into the harbour, but proved impossible due to the wind catching the big paddle-boxes and boiler coverings, making them like sails.
They tried to get her in broadside by use of the engines, but they wouldn't work in reverse mode, due to lack of steam to operate the valves.

As the width of the channel between the Crinan Rock and Lighthouse Pier were little more than the length of the vessel, in attempting the passage she drifted on to Crinan Rock, striking about 100 ft from her stern, knocking down the perch on the rock, and breaking in two.
The forepart remained watertight and drifted into the old harbour, with the majority of the crew in it. Pfeiffer
The afterpart of the hull swung round, slid off the rocks and, after drifting a bit, took ground and remained buoyant by means of the watertight compartments, and with the remainder still aboard.
The compartments gradually filled with water and settled in fifteen feet of water, where it lay 104 yards north-west of the head of the Steamboat Pier.

The lookout in the pilot-house called out Mr Steele, harbour master, and the berthing crew to attend to what he thought was the Belfast steamer.
By the time the mistake was realised, the Chusan struck on Crinan Rock.
The alarm was raised and a lifeboat launched.
The forward section of the Chusan struck the pier-head, and three men jumped ashore, two were successful but the other drowned.
Those remaining in the fore-section landed safely when it grounded further up the harbour.

The Coastguard service in Ardrossan had normally five members, headed by George Mays.
As four of them were not available, being absent on exercises in other ports on the Clyde and the keys of the Lifeboat house not immediately available, some time was lost and eventually one hour after the Chusan foundered, a boat was launched, manned by Mr. Lipscomb, 2nd. coxwain, and a crew of fourteen, consisting mainly of carpenters, sailors and others, including William Breckenbridge, one of the pilots.
It set off about 7.10am.
While the lifeboat got ready, a tug, commanded by Captain Bannatyne, proceeded to the wreck and rescued nine people, including the Chief and 2nd engineers.
As the lifeboat couldn't make its way out of the harbour, it had to give up and be taken in tow by the tug to the wreck.
The lifeboat then took off the remaining six, including Miss Elliott, the Captain's son, mate Johnson, and three others.
Three crew members floating on wreckage were handed on to the pier, but other three floated past the pier and were drowned.
Captain Johnson and his wife were lashed to a line thrown from the tug, but it was found impossible to haul them aboard. The captain was said to have cut himself free and was drowned, thus saving his wife.

Four men in a small boat set out to rescue a crew member who was jammed at the stern of the vessel, but even with a line thrown to him, he couldn't be released.
Finally he was seen to fall on his side, and was lost to sight.

Rescue attempts were abandoned at 9:am

Nine members were lost: -

Captain George C. Johnson, from Massachusetts - his body was found on the North Crescent, in a nearly naked condition.
A service was conducted at the Harbour Hospital over the remains of Captain Johnson, who was buried in Salem, U.S.A.
The service was conducted by Rev. George Lakeman of Ardrossan Episcopal Church, and was attended by Captain King, Mr Johnson, Chief Officer, and Mr Humphreys, Ships Purser.
The remains of Captain Johnson were put in a lead coffin encased in two shells of pine, made by Mr Angus Hamilton, joiner, of Barr Lane, Ardrossan.

William Miller, Second Officer -- aged 34, single and a native of Fort William. He was lost overboard before the ship struck and his body never found. His sea-chest was thrown up and contained a bank book with a credit of ?34 but no money.

Juan Pedro -- Quartermaster, from Jamaica.

Sam Munro -- Ordinary Seaman from Jamaica. His body, badly composed, was found at Burnfoot.

David Cunningham -- Ordinary Seaman from Jamaica. His body was found on the beach near Burnfoot.

John Gunton -- Fireman, from Sierra Leone

Joseph Little -- Fireman, from Jamaica.

George Cline -- Fireman from Bathurst.

J. B. Roziero -- Servant, from British East Indies.

Some of the bodies recovered could not be identified, but all the coloured seamen were buried in plots 56 - 63 in Ardrossan Cemetery.

Details are known for only the white survivors: -

Murdoch Johnson -- 1st Mate - unmarried from Glasgow - displayed great bravery in handling the situation and saved many lives who might have been lost.

William Gardiner -- Chief Engineer, married, from Leith.

William Ortwin -- Second Engineer, married, Liverpool.

George Marr -- 4th Engineer - Aberdeen

Ed Humphreys -- Purser, Salem

Captain King -- Passenger

Mr Moir -- Pilot, Greenock

Helen Elliott -- Captain Johnson's sister-in-law, Stewardess.

Mrs. Johnson & George -- wife and four-and-a-half year old son of Captain. Neither came to any harm, although Mrs Johnson, being in advanced state of pregnancy - Mrs Johnson, her son and sister, stayed at the Pavilion, the residence of Mr Cunninghame of Messrs Merry and Cunninghame.

The Court of Enquiry was held early in November in the Town Hall, and apart from the witnesses concerned, it was visited by the Earl of Eglinton.
The court recommended to the Board of Trade, the following for their conspicuous gallantry and efforts to save life : -
John Templeton, ships carpenter, Ardrossan;
Gavin Kear, ships carpenter, Ardrossan;
Archibald Boyd, Carpenter, Ardrossan;
Patrick Mackay, Pig Iron Labourer, Ardrossan.

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From issues of "The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald"

October 24th 1924. page 4
From 50 years ago ... 24th October 1874
On Wednesday morning the steamer "Chusan" was wrecked at Ardrossan.

October 24th 1924, page 5 ... a sketch is included
AN ARDROSSAN CALAMITY OF FIFTY YEARS AGO
The above is a reproduction of a drawing by the late Mr. E.W. Findlay, of Nobels Explosives Company, of the wreck of the steamer "Chusan" at Ardrossan fifty years ago.
The drawing was made the morning following the wreck.
The news columns of "The Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald" of 24th October 1874, record that on Wednesday morning, 21st October 1874, the new iron paddle-steamer "Chusan," Glasgow for Shanghai, was wrecked in the course of a terrible gale, on the Crinan Rock, Ardrossan.
She was thrown on the rock three times, and on the third occasion she parted amidships as clean as though she had been sawn right through.
The "fires of the engines," says the report, "glared out on the raging sea as the stern half sank, and a scene of indescribable terror and confusion ensued."
The fore-part of the ship, with a number of the crew on board, floated into the old harbour, but the after part remained on the rock.
The tug and lifeboat were put out and everything possible was done to save the remainder of those on board.
There were 51 on board, all told, 38 of whom were coloured members of the crew.
Nine lives were lost, the Captain, the second mate and seven coloured men.
Among the rescued was the Captain's wife and child, and his wife's sister.
Many daring deeds were done in effecting rescues, and the scene was witnessed by a large crowd on shore.
The "Chusan" was 300ft in length and 1000 tons registered tonnage.

The following is an extract from School log-book of Eglinton School, Ardrossan, 21st October 1874;
A very stormy morning, a very large number of the scholars absent. steamer "Chusan" wrecked at the harbour has no doubt been an attraction to some.

The work of lifting the wreck and taking it to the Horse Island was carried out by Messrs. Barr & Shearer, and it is interesting to note that one of those engaged in the work was Mr William Craig, who retired a few years ago from his grocery business in Glasgow Street, Ardrossan, and who still resides amongst us.

31st October 1874, page 4.
50 Years Ago
The body of Captain Johnson of the wrecked steamer "Chusan" was found on Sunday forenoon at North Crescent Beach, Ardrossan.
It was deposited in a lead coffin encased in two shells made of pine by Mr. Angus Hamilton, Barr Lane, for trans-shipment to Salem, Mass, USA, to which place he belongs.

7th November 1874
50 Years Ago
At a meeting of the members of the Lodge Neptune, Kilwinning, Ardrossan number 442, a purse containing 54 sovereigns was presented to the officers of the wrecked steamer "Chusan," to aid them in obtaining another outfit.
Mr. David Casey, mate of the "Ada Baston," who gave valuable assistance on board the tug steamer while picking up survivors of the wreck, was presented with a valuable gold ring, suitably inscribed, from the Lodge.

16th December 1876.
THE WRECK OF THE "CHUSAN"
In the Exchequer Division of the High Court of Justice, at the Guild Hall, London, Baron Cleasby and a special jury had before them on Wednesday the case of the Earl of Eglinton versus Norman, an action brought about to recover from the owners or underwriters of the steamship "Chusan" the sum of ?12,000 is the respect of the removal of the wreck of that vessel from the Harbour at Ardrossan, where she was lost in the Autumn of 1874 under somewhat peculiar circumstances.
Mr. Cohen, in opening the case for the plaintiff, explained that his client, the Earl of Eglinton, was what in Scotland was called heir of intail in possession of the harbour at Ardrossan, and that under the Ardrossan Harbour Act he was really Trustee of that harbour and the works, rights and interests connected therewith whilst the defendent Mr. Norman was a partner in the firm of Messrs Baring representing the owners and the Marine Insurance Company.
The action was brought to recover the sum mentioned on account of expenses incurred in clearing the harbour of the obstruction occassioned by the wreck in question.
The defendent denied liability.
The "Chusan" sailed from Glasgow in October, 1874, under ballast, bound for Shanghai.
She put into Waterford on the 12th October, when Captain Johnson telegraphed to the owners that she was so weak he did not consider it was safe to proceed with her to China, that she was making water and suggesting that he would be obliged to return with her to Glasgow to have her strengthened and repaired, and it was in the course of the short voyage between Waterford and Glasgow that the disaster occurred.
Ultimately Captain Large, representing the Marine Insurance Company, took possession of the wreck, with the stores and appliance saved from it, and refused to give up any portion of it for the work of removal.
The total expenses incurred in the removing the obstruction was ?12,000.
Mr. Moffat, civil engineer, who had been harbour master at Ardrossan for 25 years was examined and cross-examined at some length, and the further hearing of the case was adjourned.
The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for ?11,532 against Norman, as representing the owners of the steamer, the case against the Insurance Company being dismissed.

24th September 1897, page 4
Private records, kept by the late John Norris, throw a light of one man's view, and that a singularly reliable one, on past events.
Following the wreck of the "Chusan," on October 21st 1874, come the recovery of the bodies of the drowned - nine men, including the Captain and the second mate.
The body of the Captain was the first to be given up by the waves. It was found on the forenoon of Sunday 25th October, on the shore at North Crescent, and the others - all save the second mate, having been coloured men - at various dates extending to Monday 16th November.

26th December 1924, page 5.
"CHUSAN'S" SISTER SHIP
Captain C. Taylor of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, Shanghai, a son-in-law of Mr. Crawford, stationer, Ardrossan, has sent home an interesting letter and photograph regarding the S.S. "Kiang Teen," the sister ship of the S.S. "Chusan," which as we mentioned in a recent issue, was wrecked off Ardrossan Harbour fifty years ago, on her way out to China.
We reproduce one of the photographs of this steamer.
In the course of his letter, Captain Taylor says :-
The "Kiang Teen" is the last steamer running out of Shanghai with the beam engine.
In the photograph you will notice the beam on the top deck abaft the funnel, and if you examine the monument in the cemetery, you will see the beam carved out on the gravestone.
I was in command of the "Kiang Teen" during 1914, and, again, before I came home on leave, so I know a little about her.
She arrived in Shanghai in 1870.
She has therefore been running for fifty-four years, and she is likely to run for a long time yet, as she is in very good order. The "Kiang Teen" is a different type from the "Glen Sannox," her draft, when loaded, is 12 feet, as compared with the "Glen's" 6 or 7 feet.
Her length is 280 feet, and her beam, across the paddle-boxes, is 78 feet, so you will have an idea what she is like.
She was built by A. and J Inglis, the noted builders, and she is a credit to them - 54 years in constant service.
Captain Taylor's letter and photograph are peculiarly interesting at the present time. It is the irony of fate that one of the two sister ships should meet with disaster at the very outset of her first voyage and the other should put in fifty-four years' hard service and still be going strong.

February 27th 1925
The wrecked "Chusan" has now been moved from its position out of the way of shipping.

9th October 1925.
Fifty Years Ago .... Sept 25th, 1875
Mr. Gilroy, who lately purchased the wreck of the "Chusan" at Ardrossan is making great progress with its removal.

Ardrossan Lifeboat launched to assist in the rescue from the Steamship "Chusan," wrecked at the entrance to Ardrossan Harbour.
(The full story is in todays articles timed 0600 and 0605)

THE LOSS OF THE CHUSAN - Board Of Trade Report

From: Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald dated Friday 12th November 1874

THE LOSS OF THE ?CHUSAN?

Board Of Trade Report

Report of the court of inquiry held at Ardrossan, under the order of the Board of Trade, before Messrs William Mutter and Anthony Mack, Justice of the Peace for the county of Ayr, and Captains Charles E Pryce and C.P. Wilson, nautical assessors into the circumstances attending the loss of the paddle steamer ?CHUSAN?, at the entrance of Ardrossan Harbour, on Oct. 21, 1874, has been issued. After describing the construction of the vessel, and narrating the story of its voyage and shipwreck, the report proceeds to say - After careful consideration of the evidence, as well as of the written opinions of the professional experts sent down by the Board of Trade, it appears to the Court that the following questions arise - 1st, As far as the vessel is concerned, independently of the model, was she faithfully built and the materials good? -- The Court has no hesitation in replying in the affirmative. 2d, Was a vessel of her peculiar model and dimensions safe and seaworthy for a passage to China at this season of the year? -- The Court after directing special attention to this point, reply emphatically, no. 3d, Was the master or pilot responsible for the safe navigation of the vessel from Waterford to the place where she was proceeding? -- The master. The pilot was on board merely for the master?s convenience, but had no responsibility. 4th, Was every precaution adopted for the safe navigation of the vessel on her return passage from Waterford? -- No. No sails were bent or gear rove. They had been unbent and stowed away on the forepeak at Waterford. The Court considers that under the circumstances immediately preceding the loss of the vessel her sails would in all probability have been of material assistance, especially of Holy Island, where she had to be slowed, on a dark night in a gale of wind, to bend them, under circumstances in which it was only found practicable to bend the forestay sails. 5th, After arriving at the foregoing conclusion, to what is the loss of the vessel to be attributed? -- It is quite clear to the Court that the ?CHUSAN? was properly navigated up to the Pladda. They are, however, inclined to doubt the correctness of the estimated distance of those lights, which seem to have been lost sight of with unreasonable quickness. They are also disposed to question the estimated distance of Holy Island, taking into consideration the description of the area, with the wind from the NW. Between Pladda and Holy island, the vessel is described as having griped badly. The weather being thick and the pilot afraid of the weather shore, the engines were allowed to bend the forestay sail to keep her out of the wind. The Court are of the opinion that instead of slowing the engines to bend sails off Holy Island the distance of which must, they think, have been much greater than estimated, under circumstances during which she must have drifted rapidly to leeward, that had the vessel been steered directly for that had the vessel been steered directly for the Arran coast, which is bold to approach, she would very soon have got into smooth water, when the helm would have resumed its proper control over her. The Court is of the opinion that it was a mistake to adopt this course for a vessel with such a slight hold of the water; and with such immense paddle boxes and exposed hull surfaces as she had must of necessity have held an enormous amount of wind and drifted to leeward with great rapidity, the drift being also increased by her want of way through the water, which was greatly neutralised by the helm being carried hard over and smothering of the lee wheel, owing to the list of the vessel to the violence of the gale. This, in the opinion of the Court, is an assemblage of facts quite enough to account for her subsequent loss, and which was unfortunately, attended by that of the lives of nine of her crew. The Court, however, do not wish to imply any neglect on the part of Capt. Johnson. It is proved that he personally attended to his vessel all night, and her loss to be attributed to

An error in judgement, to which any one might have been liable under similar circumstances. A loss of nine lives occurred at the wreck of this vessel. Several of them however arose from circumstances beyond the control of any one. The second mate was washed overboard before the vessel struck at all. Another man lost his life in attempting to jump on the pier head as the fore end of the vessel passed it. There remain seven to account for; of these the court is confident that at least two might have been saved had proper means been adopted on shore. The remaining five are believed to have lost their lives in attempting to swim to the shore. There is no evidence however, to
show whither they made this attempt deliberately or were washed overboard soon after the vessel struck. On this point the Court does not feel itself in a position to decide. They believe however, that had the lifeboat and rocked apparatus been promptly and properly made use of, at least the two lives above referred to might have been saved. It appears from the evidence that both the means of saving life were under the supervision
and management of the coastguard, of whom there are five stationed at Ardrossan. Of these three were absent on duty on board H.M. Ship ?AURORA? going through annual drill; one was absent at Lamlash, and one, alone remained at Ardrossan, viz, Henry Lipscombe, commissioned boatman, who was the second coxswain of the lifeboat. He stated in evidence that on being informed of the wreck, ?I did not look at the wreck at all, but at once ran for the keys of the lifeboat house?. There is no doubt whatever in the mind of the Court that had the rocket apparatus been called into action instead of the lifeboat, in all human probability the two lives referred to, in addition to the sixth subsequently saved by the lifeboat as well as some of those saved by the tug, might with comparative ease have been safely landed at half past seven in the morning. That this was not done is clearly due to Lipscombe, who states in evidence ?My attention was fully directed to the lifeboat, and it did not occur to me to send for the rocket apparatus or to call the volunteers?. In consequence of the darkness and the early hour of morning only one of the volunteers company belonging to the rocket apparatus heard of the wreck and at an hour when it was too late to use it.

It was subsequently ordered out by the Receiver of Wreck, but only arrived at the pier head when the lifeboat was taking off the last of the survivors. The absence of the rocket apparatus is fully accounted for. The delay in launching the lifeboat is also to a certain extent due to Lipscombe, who, instead of taking effectual means to arouse the family of the first coxswain, who is also a coastguard?s man, simply knocked at the window two or three times, and getting no response ran to get the duplicate key which was kept some distance off. The delay that arose before the lifeboat got to the wreck was partially caused by the inability to pull the boat out of harbour against so violent a

gale, and partially by the tug having to pump out the water she had shipped when off at the wreck on her first trip, and to stoke her fires to get a good head of steam. The Court are of opinion that the miscarriage of the means of saving life on this painful occasion arose from their both being in charge of the coastguard, whoa re subject to calls of duties in various placed. The Court therefore desires to suggest to the Board of Trade the extreme desirability of the rocket apparatus and the lifeboat - both truly important and useful appliances - being placed under entirely distinct and separate control, so as to ensure efficient management under all circumstances, and also a healthy and friendly competition. In conclusion, the Court desires to bring to the notice of the Board of Trade an episode that occurred on the morning of the wreck, which reflects infinite credit on those concerned. Some ship carpenters seeing the difficulty the lifeboat crew were labouring under in pulling against the wind endeavoured to assist them by running a line, by means of a small boat, from the Montgomerie Pier head, towards the lifeboat. This they failed in doing, in consequence of the line not being long enough. Not deterred by this failure, they determined to pull outside the harbour to the assistance of some of the crew, who had been struggling in the waves, but not finding any one they pulled out to the wreck and made several gallant but ineffectual efforts to rescue a man who was in a dangerous position at the taffrail. They twice got hold of him, and each time had to let him go owing to the heavy sea, and not until their boat was half full of water and nearly swamped, did they desist from their praiseworthy efforts, which was all the more remarkable from the diminutive size of their boat, viz, a four oared skiff of only 18 feet in length. The Court desire to submit the names of those four men to the Board of Trade - John Templeton, ship carpenter, Ardrossan; Gavin Kean, ship carpenter, Ardrossan; Archibald Boyd, carpenter, Ardrossan; Patrick Mackay, pig iron labourer, Ardrossan; and to recommend them for reward as an acknowledgment of their conspicuous and gallant efforts to save life.

Wm. Mutter, J.P.
Anthony Mack, J.P.

We concur in the foregoing report.

Chas. P. Wilson} Nautical
Chas. E Pryce } Assessors

The report of the Board of Trade surveyors upon the structure of the ?CHUSAN?, made by direction of the Court. It states that the steamer appears to have been of the following dimensions - Length between perpendiculars, 300 ft; breadth, moulded 50ft; depth, moulded, 13ft; depth of hold to top of floors amidships, 11ft 3in; depth of hold to top of floors at bilge keelson, 12ft; gross tonnage, Customs measurement, 1381.13.! The bottom of the vessel is of the Hersch patented form, according to which the bilges at each side descend to lie in the same horizontal line with the lower edge of the bar keel. To enable the Court to realise what seemed to be abnormal in construction of this vessel we explained that according to accepted rules of construction of sea going steamers an iron hull is said to be extra length and to require extra strengthening if that length exceeds about eleven times her depth. Now the depth of the ?CHUSAN? is 13ft, moulded, and eleven times 13 gives 143 as the extreme length allowable without extra strengthening, whereas her length was actually 300 feet or 25 times her depth. There is, we believe no instance of a similar vessel having ever made an Atlantic voyage in the fall of the year

We think that as the vessel was made there ought to have been added for the voyage out two deck ties in the form of ?I? girders - that is, a plate on edge, with a pair of angle iron tops and bottom, extending from poop to forecastle, of uniform section, for 150ft of length amidships, and tapering off towards each end. These should have been of considerable depth and section, and as they would have been built on the top of the iron deck only for the voyage, they could have been easily removed when houses were to be added. The effect of these deck girders would have been to prevent the vessel from breaking in two for some time - say until the tide had fallen and left the ends almost unsupported. We think it proper to state that the material and the workmanship of the hull of the ?CHUSAN? are both first class. In our opinion the vessel was wrecked because she was unmanageable in a severe gale, she was unmanageable because she had no efficient keel, and because of the great surface she exposed to a beam wind when on the rock. She broke up because she was deficient in deck-tie strength.

W.H. Turner,
Principal Shipwright Surveyor to
the Board of Trade

W McFarlane Gray
Chief Examiner
Engineers Marine Department,
Board of Trade

Signed with reference to my examination as a witness, W.H. Turner
J. McFarlane Gray

Ardrossan, Nov 9 1874

Scribe Tango