Dunmore East Coastguard Archives

24/01/202426/01/2024

Fate of the sailing barque Etta

On a wild windy winter night in December 1888, the Belfast Barque Etta, rounded Hook Head in search of shelter, the lifeboat was signaled, but the ship was driven onto the rocks of Creaden Bay before the lifeboat could reach the vessel. Miraculously all but one were rescued from the vessel, thanks, in no small part, to the knowledge and seamanship of the ship’s captain James Arthurs. This is the tale of the Etta, which grounded in a gale on Friday 21^st December 1888 sometime between 11 and 12 midnight.

According to Lloyd’s Register of Shipping 1890[i] the Etta was built in Quebec in 1863. She was registered under the company name of the Etta Ship Company, JS Wright, Belfast and was part owned by her master, Captain James Arthurs. She arrived in St John NB via Montevideo on November 5^th 1888[ii]and after loading timber, sailed for the port of Fleetwood on Nov 29^th.[iii] The ship encountered a succession of gales crossing the Atlantic and as they approached the Irish coast, a decision was made to run for shelter.

David Philip Jones, First mate of the barque Etta, later gave the following first person account of their situation.

“…We intended coming into Waterford Harbour and knew our position well. Coming in we could see the Saltees and Hook Lights. We put in here through stress of weather, preferring this harbour to Queenstown under the circumstances. We…[came]…in here about 8 p.m… on 21st…We were under two lower top sails, reefed foresail and fore top mast stay sail. The master was in charge all through. When we got within about three miles of Duncannon we let go the starboard anchor… We had a stopper at about 47 fathoms. The chain parted…We then let go the port anchor. We had a stopper of new rope on the cable at 45 fathoms, This cable parted after it had all run out all but one fathom. The cables were each 90 fathoms on deck. Neither anchor brought the vessel to a stop or checked her in the least… We had three bower anchors, a stream anchor and a kedge anchor. I cannot say the weight of any of them. After the cables parted we backed all the yards, thinking that she would go astern. We set the main and fore lower topsails, reefed foresail and fore top stay sail. Wind hauling a little to the westward, she did not lay off. We tried to slip the cables and failed, and soon after she struck. The lead was going all through, the last cast being a quarter less six about the time the anchor was let go. We showed signals of distress, blue lights, rockets, and flare-ups…”[iv]
Lloyd’s List – Wednesday 02 January 1889; page 3

As it transpired, fate played a hand. It was close to low water and rather than crash into a vertical cliff if the tide was in, the Etta grounded on the somewhat level, if jagged, rocks on the old red sandstone shore.

Creaden Head and the bay, I can’t with any certainty say where it grounded but I would think somewhere from the ripened field of corn inwards is most likely. Author

The Dunmore East lifeboat had spotted the distress signals and the crew of the Henry Dodd, rowed with all their might to the rescue. Although they could not get near the wreck in the conditions, they managed to rescue five of the sailors who had set off from the Etta in the ship’s boat, apparently before she struck. The timing of their leaving or what their crew mates thought is not described.

Meanwhile, locals ran along the cliffs, fields and roadways to lend what assistance they could. RIC Sargent Thomas Sutcliff was guided down to the wreck scene by a local labourer named James Redmond. They managed to get a line aboard the stranded vessel which was grinding and thumping into the jagged shoreline. Although news reports differ it seems that there were likely 12 remaining crew, Captain James Arthurs and his wife.

Sutcliff seems to have played a leading role in the proceedings, there is no mention of the Coastguard in the reports, even though they most certainly brought the rocket apparatus and equipment, that would eventually bring the crew and Mrs Arthurs ashore. Redmond again proved his worth, when he plunged into the surf to assist the captain’s wife who seems to have become overcome in the chair.[v]

Some accounts state that despite the pleas of those ashore, Captain Arthurs refused to leave his vessel, perhaps determining that his ship would survive the merciless pounding on the shore. Captain Arthurs from Islandmagee, on the east coast of County Antrim, was 2/3rds owner of the vessel and perhaps he gambled that if he stayed with the vessel he would not lose his profits on the trip to any salvage claim. The news report claimed that the cargo was not insured. It also stated that he was familiar with Waterford, so perhaps there was an element of calculated risk in where the ship came ashore? Alas, in full view of his rescuers, his crew and his wife, a breaking sea washed him off his feet and over the side never to be seen again.[vi]

An illustration of the Breeches Buoy in operation sourced from The County Record. [volume 1], October 21, 1897, University of South Carolina

The local police as well as many from the surrounding locality “…rendered valuable assistance in attending to the shipwrecked crew and Mrs Arthurs. They were all subsequently taken charge of by Mr Edward Jacob, local secretary of the Shipwrecked Mariners Society, and forwarded to their homes at the expense of that benevolent institution…”[vii]

The ship, however, survived. The wind seems to have moderated on the flood tide, and the next morning the Etta was seen hard aground but upright. Later the local tug Dauntless put a crew aboard which stripped down the masts and rigging and tried to hold the vessel together.[viii]

An effort to sell the wreck fell through, as most bidders felt the ship and cargo were doomed. Several attempts were made to refloat the vessel, in a desperate scramble to salvage the ship and the cargo before the weather turned again. Eventually, on Monday 31^st December 1888, it was reported locally that the tug Dauntless and the PS Rosa managed to haul the wreck off the shoreline. I’m presuming that the weather had stayed calm, and with spring tides and some patchwork and bailing, the vessel floated clear. [ix]

The Etta was brought to the relative safety above Creaden Head where she was anchored. Soon afterwards, the vessel, lying on her beam end, was towed up to Cheekpoint by the Liverpool based tug Pathfinder. [x] It would appear she was grounded at the village, perhaps along the Strand Road. Some of the cargo was removed and presumably, an assessment of the hull took place.

SS Pembroke February 1899 grounded at Cheekpoint following a similar incident where the vessel was inspected and made ready for towing to Liverpool. AH Poole photo

In early February two tugs were in position at Cheekpoint, but had tried unsuccessfully to get the Etta off the shore. The owners of the Etta, J S Wright & Co, Corporation St., Belfast had decided that the vessel could be towed back to her home port following some repairs to the hull.[xi] The floating nature of the cargo may have also played a role – earlier plans to remove the timber cargo and sell it in Waterford had been changed. Perhaps the cargo was employed as an aid to buoyancy? I am only speculating here of course.

Eventually, the ship was towed clear and was taken by the steam tug Rescuer out the harbour to bring her home.[xii] But that wasn’t the final drama because the tug ran into stormy weather in the Irish Sea and later it was reported that the waterlogged Etta was labouring badly in Belfast Lough and the tug was having a difficult time getting to her home port.[xiii] The Etta was made of strong timbers however, and in March the cargo that had taken so long to reach its destination was finally advertised for sale, although the advert did caution that the timber was a little darker, as the vessel that carried them had been ashore. An understatement for sure, given all that had transpired[xiv].

An image that might give some sense on the towing of the Etta to Liverpool, Steam Tug *Rescue*, Capt. Robert Lumley Cook, Towing the dismasted Brig. *Rapid* of Shoreham, into the South Entrance Sunderland Oct. 29th 1880 by artist John Hudson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The only victim of the Etta was her master, Captain James Arthurs. There were hopes that when the vessel came clear of the rocks at Creaden his corpse might float clear too. Indeed it was widely reported that his body was retrieved from near the wrecksite that same day. A follow-up report however confirmed that no body had been retrieved and an appeal was made for people to keep an eye out. Perhaps as an inducement, it was reported that the “hardy old sailor” had £200 in gold on his person when he was lost over the side.[xv] I could find no record of his body ever being retrieved, however.

Not the Etta, but the barque Gunvor wrecked on the Cornish coast in 1912 in a very similar circumstance, image sourced from google – Photo: E. A. Bragg, photographer of Illogan.

The only mention I could find of Captain Arthurs in the local papers of Antrim gave the following, scant detail. “…The members of Islandmagee Masonic Lodge, No. 162, heard with sincere regret of the sad loss at sea of their worthy brother, Captain James Arthurs, who for many years was a faithful and honoured member of their lodge, and at their first meeting since his death desire to express their sympathy with his bereaved widow and sorrowing friends, and pray that the Great Architect of the Universe may comfort and sustain them under their sad bereavement.”[i]

As is so often the case, the fate of the Etta and her crew gets lost in the mist of time. One aspect of the story however is the role that Captain Arthurs played. He decided to run for shelter, he, it seems, knew Waterford harbour well. Did he also know the lay of the land at Creaden Bay and that he was sailing to the ship’s doom, but that there was a fighting chance of survival? Had he weighed up the odds, and thought there’s a fighting chance given the wind, tide, and the geography of the shoreline in the specific part of the Bay he grounded. It seems to me that he did, but perhaps that is the romantic in me looking for a nice hook to the story. If any reader could add anything to the man’s career which might corroborate or dismiss such a conclusion I would be delighted to have it.

Below is a new initiative to try pinpoint each wreck using google maps which I will update as new blogs are completed and which I hope will cover the entire coast of Waterford in years to come

For a different account and in particular, the award for bravery given to Sargent Sutcliff see David Carroll’s book on the Dunmore East RNLI – Dauntless Courage.

[i] https://archive.org/details/HECROS1890/page/n87/mode/1up Accessed 22/12/2023

30/04/202129/01/2024

A heart-rending finale. The loss of 5 Dunmore East Coastguards.

On a blustery Thursday afternoon, January 27th 1869, five Coastguard men said goodbye to their wives and children before leaving their homes in Dunmore East and traveling to Waterford city. The purpose was to collect a new lifeboat to be used at their station on the dangerous approach to the ports of Waterford and New Ross. Two days later, on Saturday 29th those same families rushed down to the quay at Dunmore on the arrival of the pilot boat in a vain hope of news of their loved ones. A local paper described the scene as a heart-rending finale to a terrible tragedy[i]. For the would-be rescuers had succumbed to the dangers posed by the harbour themselves.

The Coastguard presence in Ireland dated from 1822 with the amalgamation of several services into a single body under the control of the Board of Customs. Their role was principally to combat smuggling, but it also provided a life-saving element to seafarers from shipwrecks and attempted to protect the ships and the cargo too. For some interesting accounts of such rescues see David Carroll’s new book on the Dunmore East RNLI; Dauntless Courage [ii].

The Dunmore East Coastguard cottages at Dock Road. Although in Dunmore from the foundation of the service, the Buildings of Ireland website states that these cottages were built circa 1870. If accurate the Coastguards and their families were most likly renting in sorrounding houses. Photo courtesy of the Kennedy Family Collection.

I’m afraid I have no background information on the origins of the new lifeboat to be used, but I am sure it was as a consequence of the many rescues performed on the station since the foundation of the service in the village. The new boat arrived in Waterford aboard the London steamer Vesta on the Saturday previous.[iii] (Elsewhere, Coastguards worked alongside rescue services such as the RNLI which was founded in 1824. Ironically enough a lifeboat station was founded later in 1869 at Duncannon, Co Wexford, very close to where the accident occured. The RNLI would eventually come to be based at Dunmore in 1884)

A description of the lifeboat was garnered from a number of newspaper accounts. A sharp fore and aft craft, 25-28 feet long, very beamy, painted white, four oared and elsewhere mention of a tiller for steering. The boat was built at Cowes, Isle of Wight.

The five crewmen who departed Dunmore East that day in 1869 were John Scott, Chief Boatman. William Rogers, Carpenter. John Baldwin, Commissioned boatman. Edward Nash and Henry Stewart, Boatmen

Although a later image, the Coastguard lifeboat was intended to be stored in the building to the left of the RNLI lifeboat house which was built in 1884 to house the Henry Dodd

After leaving Waterford Quay later that afternoon with their lifeboat in tow aboard the Duncannon paddle steamer Tintern, the crew decided to stay the night at Arthurstown, Co Wexford due to bad weather. The wind was blowing from the southeast and darkness was setting in. That night, heavy rain, wind, and spring tides caused flooding throughout the harbour. In Waterford City, it was considered the worst flooding in 30 years. The lifeboat was hauled out and the crew received a warm welcome from their colleagues at the local station.

Arthurstown, Co Wexford. Where the men stayed overnight, and where another Coastguard Station was located. Photo courtesy of Liam Ryan.

On the morning of Friday, January 29th, the weather was described as very unsettled with WSW winds. At 10am, the five men embarked in the open lifeboat for Dunmore on the ebb tide. The tides were strong, they were spring, and the rivers were swollen with fresh water. Matthew Shea, the officer in charge at Arthurstown, later testified that he had tried to stop the men from leaving, but John Scott overruled him.

A very short snippet showing the location at Arthurstown Quay and the estuary below. Its a calm morning in the video, far from the conditions the five Coastguard men set out in. At the end of the video Creaden Head, Co Waterford can be seen in the distance.

The next time the men were seen, it was when they were mistaken by the pilot launch Seagull as shipwrecked sailors. The lifeboat was about a half-mile off Templetown on the Wexford shore, in a very dangerous spot. (Another account states that they were closer to Creaden Head, but although that course would make sense, it is hard to tally with some accounts of the pilots of the attempted rescue). The Seagull set a course for the vessel, while the crew of pilots readied a tow rope.

As the waters were shallow, and the pilot cutter had only sails for propulsion extreme caution was required in getting alongside. The Seagull drew ten feet of water, and any misjudgment could cause her to strike the bottom. Getting as close as they dared, they hailed the coastguard men, well known to them as they were all based in Dunmore. The coastguard men, however, refused their offer of assistance and waved them away. Evidence was later given that they banged the side of their boat in a show of confidence in the lifeboat’s ability.

Given the weather and the shallow draft, the Seagull had to move off. However having only traveled a short distance, a wave struck the lifeboat and two of the crew were propelled into the sea. The Seagull came around in a vain effort to reach the scene. As she approached she was struck by several seas and half-filled. At around the same time, the lifeboat overturned and the three others aboard were lost to the sea. It was as much as the Seagull and her crew could do to get themselves back out of danger. Arriving at Passage East later, the Pilot Station communicated the news by telegraph. On Saturday 30th John Scott’s body was found washed up on Duncannon strand by a young man named Furlong and was later interred at Killea, Dunmore East.

An image of the pilot cutter Seagull, via Richard Woodley.

The inquest into the discovery of Scott’s body was held in Duncannon on Monday 1st February. The hearing was led by coroner Mr RB Ryan and a jury of which Captain Samuel D Bartlett was foreman. (Bartlett was captain of the PS Tintern, and owned a local hotel) Scott’s body was identified by Matthew Shea, the acting Chief Officer at Arthurstown. He described the morning of departure and how he had tried to prevent the crew from setting out but was overruled by Scott who pointed out that he was Chief boatman in charge with 18 years of experience and “knew his business”. Shea also clarified that the men “…appeared to him to be perfectly sober and steady at the time” Patrick Rodgers of the Seagull gave evidence of the pilot’s interaction which although more cautious in its description, is close to much of the reportage of the newspapers of the event. The jury found that Scott had used bad judgment in proceeding that morning to Dunmore East, and also for refusing the help of the pilots. They also found that the men should have been provided with cork life vests before boarding the vessel.[iv]

It would be March before two other crew were washed ashore. John Baldwin’s body would be found at Bunmahon, while the body of Henry Stewart was washed up at Ardmore. From what I could glean from the account it suggests that Baldwin was brought back to Dunmore for burial while Stewart was interred at Ardmore.[v]

Meanwhile the public was asked to make subscriptions to help the bereaved families and most of the leading business and civic leaders of the city and county lent their names to the campaign. All had left behind families. John Scott left a widow and daughter, William Rogers left a widow and three children, Edward Nash left a widow and two children, and Henry Stewart left a widow and one child. John Baldwin had left a widow and eight children. His unnamed wife was said to be pregnant and soon expecting a ninth child.[vi]

Post Publication Pete Goulding sent this snippet on. John Baldwin’s wife was named Mary Ann, and her unborn son was later named Fredrick William Baldwin.

Waterford Mail - Wednesday 10 February 1869; page 2 — An article appealing for public subscriptions to assist the widows and children on the Coastguard men. Waterford Mail – Wednesday 10 February 1869; page 2

The men of the Coastguard service were very often veterans of the Royal Navy. At this stage, the Coastguards (Which had come under the command of the Admiralty from 1856) were also acting as a naval reserve that sought to attract local fishermen and seafarers. This might account for some very familiar surnames amongst the dead. These men were surely used to the sea, to boats, and to dealing with weather extremes. But the sea can never be taken for granted. We can never know what was in their minds in choosing to set out that morning, but it was foolhardy indeed to reject the help of the pilot men of Seagull. Whatever their motives, they lived only a short while to regret them, another five victims to the graveyard of a thousand ships and countless innocent souls.

I want to thank David Carroll, Brendan Dunne, Michael Kennedy, Walter Foley, and Liam Ryan for some observations and assistance with this story. All errors and omissions are my own.

I had to blend a number of accounts into one paragraph to try to make the story coherent and as such, I struggled to reference all the various details. The story comes from the references identified and also. Wexford Constitution – Saturday 06 February 1869; page 2&3. Waterford Mail – Friday 29 January 1869; page 2 & Waterford News – Friday 29 January 1869; page 2

[i] Waterford Mail – Monday 01 February 1869; page 2

[ii] Carroll D. Dauntless Courage: Celebrating the history of the RNLI lifeboats, their crews and the maritime heritage of the Dunmore East Community. 2020. DVF Print & Graphics. Waterford. Pp21-24

[iii] Waterford Standard. Saturday 30 January 1869; page 2. I searched numerous newspapers for this detail, and most mention the London Steamer whilst others mention that she arrived earlier that week, or many that she arrived on Thursday 28^th. It’s just an interesting snippet that I was keen to capture, but offer with caution.

[iv] Wexford Independent – Saturday 06 February 1869; page 2

[v] The Standard and Waterford Conservative Gazette – Saturday Morning, 20 March 1869

[vi] Waterford News – Friday 19 February 1869; page 6