Glasgow And Ships Of The Clyde

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.