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General Grant
General Grant wrecking at Auckland Island
History
United States
NameGeneral Grant
NamesakeGeneral Ulysses S. Grant
OwnerPage, Richardson & Company
OperatorBrooks' Australian Line
Port of registryBoston, Massachusetts
BuilderR. Morse & Sons, of Bath, Maine
LaunchedJanuary 23, 1864 (1864-01-23)
Maiden voyageMarch 10, 1864
Wrecked May 14, 1866 (1866-05-14)
General characteristics
Class and typeFull-rigged clipper
Tonnage1,103 metric tons (1,086 long tons)
Length179+1⁄2 feet (54.7 meters)
Beam34+1⁄2 feet (10.5 meters)
Draft21+1⁄2 feet (6.6 meters)

General Grant was an American passenger and cargo ship known for its wreck off Auckland Island's western coast on May 14, 1866. The 1,103-ton ship was navigating from Melbourne to London when it struck a cliff, resulting in the loss of 68 of its 83 passengers and crew.

Survivors found themselves on the desolate New Zealand Subantarctic Island, 300 miles (500 km) south of New Zealand's South Island and 1,500 miles (2,400 km) southeast of Melbourne, with limited supplies. They learned to adapt to the severe conditions, using resources left by previous visitors and crafting clothing from seal skins for protection. Among the survivors, four vanished after building a skiff to attempt a voyage towards New Zealand, and one succumbed to an unidentified disease. After 18 months on the island, the remaining ten survivors were rescued by the brig Amherst on November 21, 1867.

The General Grant was carrying gold miners and a documented cargo of 2,576 ounces (70 kg) of gold. There have been consistent speculations about additional undeclared gold, estimated between £150,000 and £5 million. These rumors have led to multiple expeditions since 1868 to locate the vessel, but the ship's exact location and any treasure remain undiscovered.

Characteristics

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General Ulysses S. Grant

General Grant was designed by Jacob Morse, who operated a shipyard at the port of Bath, Maine.[1] It was launched in the Kennebec River on January 23, 1864, at a relative cheap cost of US$81,166.88 (equivalent to about $1,581,200 in 2023) after its final fitting.[2] It had a 179-foot-6-inch-long (54.7 m) timber hull, a 34-foot-6-inch-wide (10.5 m) beam, a draft of 21 feet 6 inches (6.6 m), and weighed in at 1,103 metric tons (1,086 long tons).[3] Lloyd's American Register rated it "a Class A1 ship, built of oak, copper and iron fastened ... a full model well-built, 7-year Class".[2][4]

Morse, a patriot, named the ship after Ulysses S. Grant, a Civil War hero and a Union Army general at that point in time.[5] Grant entered politics after the war and became the 18th president of the United States in 1869. Prior to General Grant's launch, Morse had already launched and named two of its sister ships after fellow Union Army generals: General Butler, named for Benjamin F. Butler, and General Shepley, named for George F. Shepley.[1]

For its maiden voyage to Calcutta by way of Cape Horn, San Francisco, and Singapore,[6] its first operator—Nathaniel Winsor & Co., out of Boston—advertised it as a "new and first class clipper ship."[3] For its—ultimately penultimate—voyage to Melbourne, its new operator, Brooks' Australian Line, described it as a "magnificent first class packet ship."[7] General Grant is perhaps best described as a full-rigged ship and a downeaster, a 19th-century clipper variant with improved cargo handling typically built in Maine.[6] Judging by the speed of its journeys, it was not a particularly speedy ship. General Grant developed a reputation as a "rough sailor" and a "dog" in certain weather conditions.[8]

Last voyage

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Outbound journey

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General Grant, under the command of Captain William H. Loughlin, embarked from Boston on November 28, 1865, en route to Melbourne via the Cape of Good Hope.[9] Tragedy befell the vessel on the second night at sea when it encountered a severe gale. During the process of shortening sail, the third mate was swept overboard and lost. This incident, occurring early in the voyage, was perceived as an ill omen by the crew.

Following a period of favorable weather lasting 68 days at sea, conditions deteriorated after rounding the Cape, persisting for the remainder of the journey to Melbourne. General Grant reached Melbourne on March 13, 1866, where it remained moored for nearly eight weeks.[9]

Cargo and passengers

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Upon arrival in Melbourne, Captain Loughlin had a brief two-week window to undertake repairs and preparations for General Grant's journey to London.[10] In addition to the typical cargo of wools, skins, hides, and rags, along with nine tons of zinc spelter ballast, the ship carried two boxes containing 2,576 ounces (70 kg) of gold.[10] However, speculation has persisted regarding the actual amount of gold aboard, with many believing it to exceed the manifest's listing.[11] Nonetheless, the gold cargo prompted insurers to cover the shipment for £165,000 (equivalent to about £19,308,000 in 2023).[12]

General Grant accommodated 58 passengers and a crew of 25. Among the passengers were several successful miners from the Australian goldfields, including James Teer, an Irish immigrant who had amassed wealth from mining activities over the preceding years.[13] Teer was accompanied by his childhood friend, Patrick Caughey, also a miner. Unbeknownst to each other, both had independently immigrated to Australia before reuniting at neighboring mining claims. After years of friendship, they decided to return home together, securing passage on General Grant.[13]

Homeward journey

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Under Captain Loughlin's continued command, General Grant departed Hobsons Bay port in Melbourne on May 4, 1866, bound for London. Initially intending to follow the clipper route, which offered the quickest passage by traversing the Southern Ocean south of the three great capes, the ship was compelled to veer northward of the uninhabited Auckland Islands—part of New Zealand's subantarctic islands about 300 miles (480 km) south of New Zealand's South Island—due to prevailing south easterly winds. The journey was further complicated by heavy fog, necessitating constant vigilance to navigate safely.[14]

Shipwreck

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"The ship drove, inch by inch, into the cave."[15]

On the ninth day of their sea voyage, approximately at 10:30 p.m. on May 13, land was spotted directly ahead. This land was initially believed to be Disappointment Island, a smaller, mostly barren island situated five miles (8 km) off the northwest end of Auckland Island, which is the primary island in the archipelago. Unfamiliar with the area, Captain Loughlin adjusted the ship's course, unaware that they were actually headed directly toward Auckland Island. Another sighting of land occurred an hour later, but upon close inspection, an officer deemed it to be a fog bank.[16]

James Teer initially reached the same conclusion, stating that "the land had the appearance of a fog bank and it was on our lee beam, about three or four miles [5 or 6 km] distant."[17] However, it became evident to all on board shortly thereafter that this judgment was erroneous as General Grant drew nearer to what was indeed the main island's 400-foot-high (120 m) precipitous cliff wall along much of its western coast.[9]

Simultaneously, the wind rapidly diminished, and within minutes, it became completely calm. Coupled with a still-strong current, this rendered the ship nearly uncontrollable and unable to alter its course, despite all sails being set. Captain Loughlin exerted every effort, but he too became effectively a passenger aboard his own vessel. To the dismay of the crew and passengers, the heavy swell steadily carried them closer to the menacing cliffs.

"In a few moments the waves were breaking over the deck."[18]

Around 11:30 p.m., the ship's jib-boom struck the wall and was torn away, then dropped parallel to the wall until it violently collided with a protruding point, also causing damage to its spanker-boom and rudder, and injuring helmsman William Ferguson.[17] Subsequently, the ship was driven into a large eroded cave, just large enough to accommodate it.[19] Its fore-topmast struck the cave's roof, dislodging large chunks of rock that damaged the forecastle. The rising tide caused the main mast to repeatedly strike the roof, eventually puncturing the hull, risking the ship's sinking. Despite calm weather, the ship's two 22-foot (7 m) quarter-boats and single 30-foot (9 m) longboat were not launched immediately due to darkness and the absence of a suitable landing area. Spars and dislodged rocks continued to fall incessantly.[20]

With the arrival of daylight, preparations were made to launch the three boats. The first to be launched was one of the quarter-boats, manned by just three crew members, tasked with scouting for nearby land suitable for a safe landing.[16] However, this boat remained outside the cave, unable to find a suitable landing spot.

As the swell increased, the second quarter-boat was launched, ferrying passengers and crew to the first boat. The longboat, carrying terrified passengers, momentarily remained on the quarter deck as General Grant rapidly sank. Eventually, it floated off, seemingly clearing the sinking vessel before being overwhelmed by waves and capsizing.

Three occupants managed to swim to safety to the second quarter-boat, which had stayed out of the danger zone. Only 15 individuals survived: nine crew members and six passengers. Captain Loughlin perished with the ship.[20]

Survivors

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"There a splutter of flame, and then a thin blue streak of smoke."[21]

After the sinking of the ship and the capsizing of the longboat, the remaining two quarter-boats pulled up outside the cave and a after a short council decided to row for Disappointment Island, which lay about six miles (10 km) off.[22] The survivors were left without water to quench their thirst and just a few tins of preserved meats. With a heavy sea and the wind ahead, the boats frequently lost sight of one another.[22] It took them 12 hours to reach the Sugarloaf Rocks, a barren rocky outcrop one and a half miles (2.4 km) off Disappointment Island that offers no protection against the elements.[23] Because of intermittent snowfalls and already soaked, they spent the night huddled together.[18]

The following morning they made for Port Ross on neighboring Auckland Island, where they arrived three days later. The survivors found two huts there, and on July 11, they found Captain Thomas Musgrave's hut.[24] Two and a half years earlier, Musgrave and four others had been forced to spend 18 months as castaways after their ship, the Grafton, a 56-ton schooner out of Sydney, was caught in a heavy gale and foundered on a rocky beach in the north arm of Carnley Harbour—opposite Adams Island—on January 2, 1864.[25]

Hopes were raised when, on October 6, a sail appeared on the horizon. Fires were lit and a boat was launched to intercept the ship.[26] However, clear as their signal fires were and without doubt that those aboard the ship had taken notice, the ship stayed on course. Part of the group moved onto Enderby Island to keep a lookout for any other ships.[26] On January 22, 1867, after nine months on the island, four survivors decided on an attempt to make the crossing to New Zealand in one of the quarter-boats. They set sail without a chart, compass, or nautical instrument of any kind, and were never seen again.[27]

Another survivor, 62-year-old David McLelland of Ayr, Scotland, once employed by Tod and Macgregor as a fireman and rigger, died in August as a result of an unspecified illness.[28] The illness proved fatal; McLelland passed away on September 3.[28] The 10 remaining survivors moved to Enderby Island to subsist on its seals and feral pigs. On November 19, a cutter was sighted on the horizon. This cutter, the Fanny, failed to see their signals and franctic waving, or chose not to take notice. Two days later, on November 21, the brig Amherst did take notice. Welcomed aboard by its commander, Captain Gilroy, their ordeal had come to an end.[29]

As a result of this shipwreck and two previous wrecks, Grafton and Invercauld—both wrecked in 1864—the New Zealand government established a network of castaway depots and scheduled inspections of all New Zealand Subantarctic Islands at regular intervals to relieve further shipwreck victims.

Sunken gold

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Location

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From as soon as 1868, General Grant's rumored gold cargo attracted numerous recovery attempts, several of which proved deadly. James Teer joined the first recovery attempt as a guide. The attempt had to be abandoned because of adverse weather.

Two years later, in 1870, David Ashworth joined the crew of the Daphne in another effort at locating the wreck.[30] Using one of Daphne's boats, on patchy waters, Ashworth and five others tried to locate the General Grant cave, but never returned. Ashworth is presumed to have drowned in the very same cave from which he had escaped death four years earlier.

The exact location of the shipwreck remains undiscovered.

Temp
  • Cornelius Drew – able seaman
  • William Ferguson – able seaman
  • Aaron Hayman – ordinary seaman
  • Joseph Harvey Jewell – able seaman
  • William Murdoch Sanguily – ordinary seaman
  • Bartholomew Brown – chief officer – lost at sea
  • Andrew Morrison – able seaman – lost at sea
  • Peter McNevin – able seaman – lost at sea
  • William Newton Scott – able seaman – lost at sea
  • David McLellan(d) – able seaman? – died on island
  • James Teer
  • Nicholas Allen
  • David Ashworth
  • Mary Ann Jewell
  • Frederick Patrick Caughey
  • "The jib-boom snapped with a noise like a thunderclap."[31]
    "The jib-boom snapped with a noise like a thunderclap."[31]
  • "A few seals were killed."[32]
    "A few seals were killed."[32]
  • "Gilroy ordered the distracted man back into his boat."[33]
    "Gilroy ordered the distracted man back into his boat."[33]
  • David Ashworth in seal-skin clothing
    David Ashworth in seal-skin clothing

References

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b Allen & Scadden 2009, p. 16.
  2. ^ a b Eunson 1974, p. 23.
  3. ^ a b Allen & Scadden 2009, p. 17.
  4. ^ Lloyd's 1866, p. 44.
  5. ^ Eunson 1974, p. 21.
  6. ^ a b Allen & Scadden 2009, p. 18.
  7. ^ Allen & Scadden 2009, pp. 17–18.
  8. ^ Eunson 1974, pp. 24–25.
  9. ^ a b c Sanguily 1869, p. 535.
  10. ^ a b Allen & Scadden 2009, p. 26.
  11. ^ Allen & Scadden 2009, pp. 26–33.
  12. ^ McLintock 1966, §1.
  13. ^ a b Osborne 1899, p. 510.
  14. ^ Osborne 1899, p. 511.
  15. ^ Osborne 1899, p. 512.
  16. ^ a b Sanguily 1869, p. 536.
  17. ^ a b Allen & Scadden 2009, p. 41.
  18. ^ a b Osborne 1899, p. 514.
  19. ^ Raynal 1874, p. 336.
  20. ^ a b Southland. Jan 20, 1868.
  21. ^ Osborne 1899, p. 516.
  22. ^ a b Sanguily 1869, p. 537.
  23. ^ Eden 1955, p. 134.
  24. ^ Eunson 1974, p. 72.
  25. ^ Raynal 1874, pp. 96–97.
  26. ^ a b Raynal 1874, p. 338.
  27. ^ Sanguily 1869, p. 538.
  28. ^ a b Raynal 1874, p. 339.
  29. ^ Eden 1955, p. 135.
  30. ^ Armstrong 1958, pp. 143–144.
  31. ^ Osborne 1899, p. 509.
  32. ^ Osborne 1899, p. 517.
  33. ^ Osborne 1899, p. 520.

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to General Grant (ship, 1864).


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