Steamship
Steamship
KILPATRICK v. HUDDART, PARKER & CO., LTD.
Second Day, Tuesday, February 12, 1895.
Evidence for the Plaintiff.—(Continued.)
James Grant, examined by Mr. C. A. Smyth, stated: I am a shipwright, with about forty years’ experience in the business, and amongst shipping. I have a certificate for navigation as chief officer. I got it in 1875. I also passed my examination before the Steam Navigation Board as marine engineer. I have seen the S. S.Alertrunning up and down the Bay several times as a Bay trader. Some repairs were effected to her machinery in the year 1893, some months before she was lost. Messrs. Robinson Bros. had the contract for the job, and I was engaged as their ship carpenter to carry out the shipwrighting work. I was working on her two months altogether. Speaking of her generally, she had very fine lines. The model now shown me appears to be like her. There is no bearing here (pointing to bottom of model). To give her stability, the flat part should be carried further along. There is no bearing until thebulging part touches the water, and it would have the effect of throwing her deep in the water aft. She was about 170 feet long, her breadth eighteen or nineteen feet, and her depth between nine and ten feet. In my opinion theAlertwas very long for her beam and for her depth. According to theAlert’scertificate of register, she came out from England as a three masted schooner, or barque, under sail only. When I was making the alterations she had only one mast, a foremast, as shown in that model. The captain’s bridge went right across the ship, and there was a gangway going fore and aft on the starboard side, from the bridge to the poop. There was nothing on the port side at all. The stoke-hole would be about twelve feet in width athwart ships, and about five feet fore and aft. It was covered over with a grating composed of ¾-inch iron running fore and aft, and these bars were about two inches apart. There was no provision made for covering this grating with a tarpaulin by means of cleats. Nor was there any provision made for covering any of the skylights. There was nothing to prevent the water getting through either grating or skylights. If water went through either of these places, it would go into the engine room and stoke-hole. The height of the ship’s bulwarks above the main deck was four feet six inches. The breadth of the alleyways between the bulwarks and the side of the machinery casing would be about three feet at the narrowest part, and five feet further on. There was a port hole in the bulwarks opposite; but if the vessel shipped water while lying on her side, that port could not discharge inside water, and there was no provision for discharging waterin the alleyways except that port hole. I remember the window made for passing food to the saloon. I did not make it. Originally it must have been cut out of the iron. It was a glass window about 16 x 14 inches, with a wooden frame. I did not notice how it opened; but if it opened inwards it would be a source of danger if the vessel shipped much water aft. I remember the bunker holes for shipping the coal. I fixed them in. Each had a cast-iron frame sunk in the deck. The covers were about sixteen inches in diameter. They were flush with the deck, and were only held in their places by their own weight. In the case of a vessel dashing about heavily with water rolling inside, those covers might get knocked off, and the stoke-hole would be filled direct from the sea. If a lug were placed on the lower part of the cover, and a half-turn given, then it would stay on and prevent water going down. TheAlert’scovers had no lugs. The weight of her boiler and engines would be about one hundred and fifty tons. The weight of the water in the boiler would be twenty-three to twenty-five tons. Taking into consideration the ship’s cargo, build and trim, I do not think she was fit for a sea voyage. If she had had an after mast with a sail on, it might have helped a bit when efforts were made to bring her to the wind; but as long as she was so light foreward she would be hard to bring up, if not impossible. The light cargo would affect her stability. She was not fit to stand a gale of wind. She was right enough for the Bay trade; but with my experience at sea, I say she was not safe, and I would not have gone to sea in her. She had very little freeboard aft and toomuch foreward. I know the awning that was over her. It was wooden and permanently fixed. When the vessel was lying over, the wind would get under it and prevent her from righting herself. The proper awning at sea is canvas. In bad weather a vessel is better without any awning.
Cross-examined by Mr. Purves:Q.—You have described yourself as a chief officer?A.—Yes; I will show you my discharges if you like.
Mr. Purves: Oh, I don’t want to see them. What vessels were you chief officer of?A.—The S. S.Omeo, and also two sailing ships.
Q.—Did you examine the lines of theAlert?A.—Yes; I saw her out of the water in the dry dock in the River Yarra. In most good trust worthy ships’ bottoms there is a floor running a long way foreward and aft; but when working in the after hold of theAlert, the floor was so fine that one could not stand on it.
Q.—What height was the casing around the engine room and stoke-hole?A.—It was about seven feet above the deck of the vessel, and when the doors on each side are closed the only way water can get in is through the top.
Q.—Did you ever see a sea go as high as that?A.—I have seen a sea go over a ship’s foretopsail yard.
Q.—What ship was that?A.—TheRoyal Bride.
Mr. Purves: TheRoyal Bride, I presume, stood on her head to accomplish that remarkable feat. (Laughter.)
Q.—Seas that would go over the topsail yard would also go down the funnel?A.—I should say so. I have seen steamers at Greymouth with bags tied over the funnel.
Q.—Then the water would be just as likely to go down theAlert’sfunnel as her grating?A.—No; it would not be just as likely that the sea would go down the funnel as the grating; but seas might come over the weather side, and a good deal go down the grating. I do not say sufficient would go down that way to sink the ship.
Q.—How many tons of water do you calculate theAlertwould ship through the pantry window in the course of a minute?A.—Nearly twenty tons. It would depend a good deal on the height of the water outside. If the vessel were on her beam ends, and the window covered with water, enough would rush in to knock everything down.
Q.—Would the wooden awning help to bring theAlert’shead round in a gale?A.—By putting up a sail aft to the wind, you can always bring a vessel up. The wooden awning might have that effect, but in my opinion it would do more harm than good.
Q.—Suppose during a six hours’ gale, keeping a certain course, theAlertnever shipped a sea, would you consider that a proof of her sea-worthiness?A.—Not altogether. The moment she altered her course she might ship a sea and go down. If I were on board, and found in a violent gale that by pursuing a certain course I was safe, I would not alter that course.
Q.—Supposing your alleyways were full of water, and the bunkers had the covers on, how could the water get the covers off?A.—It is very different with a vessel turning over and jumping. The sea would make you jump off your feet sometimes.
Q.—Have you seen theExcelsiorsteamer?A.—I have, but I have not travelled in her. She is fine in her lines, but she is only a river boat. No man with any experience would build a vessel like theAlertto go to sea.
Q.—How much cargo would it take to make theAlertsea-worthy?A.—It could not have been done anyhow. No amount of cargo would make her sea-worthy. She might be better in a gale if she were heavily laden. She should have had about 100 tons of cargo; it would put her more on an even keel. If the forty-four tons of cargo had been put in the forehold, a difference would have been made.
Q.—Which would make the more stable cargo, 100 tons of feather beds, or 100 tons of pig-iron?A.—They would both be the same weight, but the feather beds would be more lively than the pig-iron. (Loud laughter.) They would, however, be the very worst cargo a vessel could possibly take, for the one would be all too high, and the other all too low. There is a medium in everything.
Re-examined by Mr. Smyth: A vessel coming out here as a barque, or schooner, would have square, as well as fore and aft canvas, and would be in proper trim. She would not require water in her boiler, and when sailing the funnel would be unshipped and put down below. TheAlerthad two boilers, but when the alterations were made, one boiler as large as the previous two was put in. This boiler was in her when she was lost. It stood about four feet above the level of the main deck. The old boilers did not come above the deck. A light cargo would make the ship more lively,and would affect her stability. She did not have enough. If the vessel were on her course standing out to seaward, and there was no apprehension of danger, there would be nothing to prevent me, as a seaman, from altering her course. It was good seamanship to make for the Heads. I knew the late Captain Mathieson. He was a first-rate seaman, understood his business, was sober and attentive, and quite fit for the position. The greater the head of water outside the pantry window, the greater the pressure, and the more quickly the water would be forced through.
Q.—We are told by Mr. Ponting that the vessel was lying over, and that the water was over the whole of that aperture, coming up to the break of the poop; and there is that body of water constantly coming in from the sea. That is as far as we can give you the pressure of the water outside. Can you make a calculation of the quantity of water that would go through that aperture per minute, and the weight of it?A.—Assuming the water is two feet higher than the aperture, I make it 2,820 gallons, and 28,200 lbs. in a minute. There are 2,240 lbs. to the ton, that would give between twelve and thirteen tons.
Q.—Supposing the water is only one foot above the aperture, what difference would it make?A.—It would be a third less, and that would be eight or ten tons. If the water were flush with the top of the aperture, the discharge through would be a little less than I have stated, and if fifty or sixty tons of water were down that aperture, a small sea would smother the vessel, and she would go right down stern first.
To His Honour.—If the forty-four tons of cargo had been placed further foreward, it certainly would have helped the ship a bit by giving her a more even trim.
James Scott Sutherland, examined by Mr. Williams, deposed: I am a shipwright, and have had experience of about fifty years. I knew the S. S.Alertfor about seventeen years. I never worked on board of her until on the last occasion, when she got new engines, about two years ago. I was employed by Mr. Grant. My work was principally in the stoke-hole and engine room putting beams and flooring down there, and also in the cargo hold. I had an opportunity of judging her. In my opinion she was never intended for an ocean going vessel. I think she was altogether out of proportion by being too long for her depth and width, and too fine in her after section. She could scarcely have any freeboard according to her depth. If she were drawing nine feet six inches aft, and only had nine feet depth of hold, she could not have any freeboard. On the top of the boiler there was a skylight, and just at its after part were some gratings. These gratings led down to the stoke-hole. There was no protection for them that I saw. I lined the bunker holes on her deck. The rims where the lid fits in were let down flush with the deck; a grating went into the flange on the inside, and the lid went down on that again. From having passed over it, I say the whole was level with the deck. The vessel sat in the water with her bows up. If she shipped any water she could not help taking it into the alleyways. There were two little ports, one on each side of the bulwarks, to take the water away. There were none forewardin front of the engine room. I did not notice the window in the poop. I do not consider the wooden awning much of a disadvantage, except that it would give her extra top weight when she was off an even keel. It would do for the Bay trade, but for encountering a heavy gale there should have been a canvas awning. I do not consider forty-four tons of wattle bark and furniture a sufficient cargo to put her on an even keel. She would not be in proper trim to go to sea.
Cross-examined by Mr. Mitchell: The awning would be about equal to the weight of a mast, and would make the vessel top heavy, otherwise it would make no appreciable difference. I was working inside, and anything I saw of the outside of the ship was from casually looking at her.
Andrew Michael McCann, examined by Mr. Smyth, stated: I am a shipwright, shipbuilder, and general contractor, and have had over thirty years’ experience as such. I have had about thirteen years’ experience at sea in sailing vessels and steamers. I have been ship’s carpenter, second mate, and chief mate. I was partner in the firm of Campbell, Sloss & McCann, and shareholder in Robison Bros. & Co. I knew theAlertsince she arrived in the colony. She was engaged in the trade between Melbourne and Geelong, inside the Heads. During that time my firm did several jobs on various occasions to the vessel. I have made trips to Geelong in her as a passenger. She was a fast boat in the Bay. She was very low down aft, and carried her cargo foreward. I put that wooden awning on myself about ten years ago. It was intended as an awning. In a smallboat it would not be beneficial outside the Bay. I don’t think the tendency would be good in a boat of this kind. It would take the wind pressure and incline the vessel over and keep her there. Canvas is admitted to be the proper awning, so that it can be furled, and it should be furled when the wind increases. There is a difference in the dimensions of vessels. I know the length and depth and beam of theAlertapproximately. From the model I know where the engines were placed. They were abaft the midship section, and would have a tendency to bring her down aft. I can only give an estimate that the engines, boiler, water, and coal would weigh about one hundred and forty tons. In ordinary fine weather, theAlertwould be sea-worthy with forty-four tons of cargo. There is a likelihood of heavy weather at any time outside Port Phillip Heads. In consequence of the general construction, the small freeboard, and the want of aft canvas to assist in fetching her up in the wind, if necessary, I do not think theAlertwas suitable for heavy weather at any time, and in my opinion she was never constructed or intended for sea voyages. The great number of times her length exceeds her beam and her depth makes her unsuitable for sea going purposes. She would make bad weather even in the ordinary weather got in the Straits outside. That means she would be a very wet ship in bad weather. She was very finely built, and was fine all round. A second mast would enable the helmsman, or master, to have more command over the ship. For the safety of the vessel more canvas would have been of great assistance, and the helm would have had more effective power. If shehad after sail, and they had taken the head sail off her, it would have had a tendency to fetch her up to the wind.
Q.—Assuming there was a grating over the stoke-hole unprotected, would that be a cause of danger?A.—Unless properly protected, it would be a serious cause of injury. It is the ordinary custom for all hatches to be protected by tarpaulins, cleated and battened down. It would be a reasonable and proper thing to make a provision for tarpaulins over that grating, and it should be compulsory to have such fastenings. I have not seen the window in the fore part of the poop, but if there was, it should have had a shutter outside on hinges capable of being fastened inside and out. It is customary on all new ships to have the bunker hole covers secured, and so they ought to be.
Cross-examined by Mr. Mitchell: I have been on theAlertI daresay one hundred times doing repairs to the ship. It was an improper thing not to be able to attach a cover to the grating. It would be a very heavy sea that would go over it from the weather side, but if the vessel were thrown on her beam ends, there is nothing to prevent it going in on the lee side. An angle of 45 degrees would be sufficient to throw her over enough to take in a lee sea that would cover it. It is not the throw over of the vessel alone, it is simultaneously the rise of the sea to leeward. I have no knowledge how far the ship did go over on this occasion, but I think there would not be much of a sea from the weather side. If she did take water in on the weather side, it would be principally forward of the bridge, and it would get to the lee side before getting to the grating. By 45 degrees Imean the vessel has to go 45 degrees from the perpendicular. This is not an unusual angle for a ship to heel over; in my experience I have known them to heel over almost to a right angle.
His Honour,—I have known large steamers to roll over to a greater degree than an angle of 45.
Q.—By Mr. Mitchell: What is your idea as to how theAlertwas lost?A.—The opinion I have formed is that they had a change of wind and a mixed sea; that the vessel began to labor and take in much water, which eventually took her down. On measuring the model of theAlertnow shown in court, I find that the vessel’s length was eighteen times her depth and nine times her beam, approximately.
John McKenzie, examined by Mr. Smyth, said: I am a Marine Surveyor, and I have been a Master Mariner. I have had twenty-one years’ experience at sea, and have been thirteen years as captain to almost every part of the globe. Since the year 1870, I have been a Marine Surveyor. I have also had a good deal of experience in shipbuilding, and was for two years Shipwright Surveyor for the Underwriters’ Association. I knew theAlert, and first became acquainted with her thirteen years ago. I officially surveyed the vessel in one of the dry docks in Melbourne. I was then Surveyor to the Lloyd’s Associated. Captain Webb, now the managing Director of Huddart, Parker & Co., was in command of the ship at that time. I was seeing if she was in good condition and fit for risk for insurance. I did not see Captain Webb on that occasion. I found some rivets defective in the after keel of the vessel. Theywere not done on that occasion. Captain Webb called at our office the day after, and wished to know if I would allow the vessel to run another six mouths before completing the repairs I had asked for. He told me she was only intended for the Geelong trade. I have been on board theAlerta good many times since. I remember when the last repairs to the engines were made. On several occasions I was there while they were going on. I saw the work being done. The alterations that were made would, in my opinion, not alter the trim of the ship. They were very powerful engines for such a small vessel. I have been on her several trips to Geelong. In those days she sat very much by the stern, and did not show much freeboard.
The effect of the engines going full speed had a tendency to pull her down aft fully a foot. The model on the table there was made from my instructions. It has the dimensions of theAlert, and it is only made from recollections of the vessel. I had no plans to guide me. It is, I believe, a very fair representation of theAlert. She had very fine lines both fore and aft, and thus her stability was reduced very considerably. I have calculated the weight of machinery, including shaft and propeller, as about 150 tons. That also includes the coal bunkers. With that weight in such a small vessel, it had the effect of putting her so far down in the water that she showed very little freeboard. It was too heavy for the vessel. She was not able to carry such a weight in that particular part of the ship, and it brought her down too much aft. Putting whatever cargo you like in her foreward, in my opinion she would not be fit for oceangoing under any circumstances. By the time you got the vessel sufficiently loaded foreward, she would be so deeply immersed that she would show very little freeboard from the midship section aft. Assuming she had nine feet six inches of water-line aft, and four feet six inches foreward, then she had about one foot nine inches freeboard aft, and eight feet of freeboard foreward. I heard it stated in evidence that there were forty-four tons of cargo on board on her last trip. With that amount of cargo, and placed in the position it was, from the nature of the cargo—it being of so light a description—it would take so much space in the hold that it would add to her instability. It would be stowed up to the deck, and would not lie far enough foreward in the vessel. In my opinion with all that weight aft, she was not fit for sea going at that time of the year. Southerly gales are more frequent and more heavy about Bass Straits in summer than in winter. From the extraordinary dimensions of the ship in the first place, and from her being so deeply immersed in the water aft, she was not sea-worthy. For the length to be eighteen times that of her depth is, I think, out of all proportion. There is not any hard and fast rule as to what a vessel’s dimensions should be, but in my opinion, according to Lloyd’s rule, the length should never exceed sixteen times the depth. I remember the grating. It was not safe to go to sea without some protection for it. It would have been only a necessary precaution to have had cleats and tarpaulins ready. I think that the whole of the casing round the engine room was unsafe. It left only the alleyways on each side to hold water. The two sideswould hold somewhere about fifty tons, and that quantity would be sufficient to put the ship out of sight. The sides of the vessel ought to have been carried up as high as the top of the casing, and the whole thing covered over with a deck. The entrances to the engine room and stoke-hole were dangerous. When the alleyways are full of water, it is bound to get through the doors of those places. I remember the window in front of the poop. It was a most improper thing to have, and was simply dangerous. In smooth water it was not so important, but it is necessary to secure every aperture to any vessel when she has to go outside the Heads. With such a window as it was, theAlertwas not a sea going vessel, even if her bunker lids had been fastened, which they were not.
I heard the evidence of Mr. Ponting yesterday that the vessel encountered certain weather after passing Cape Schanck, and that she stood out to sea three or four miles. It was a right thing to do to give the land a good berth, and after getting a good offing there was nothing improper in Captain Mathieson making for the Heads. I knew Captain Mathieson by reputation. He was always considered to be a careful seaman. I heard of the efforts made to get the vessel’s head up to the wind, and that every time she was brought up she paid off. I should think that was on account of her being so light foreward. If she had had an after mast it would have had some effect, but under the circumstances I question if it would have had the desired effect. When the vessel was struck by the seas, she must have been struck on the port side and hurled over to such an extentthat the whole of the lee deck became flooded. The vessel was simply waterlogged, and could not steer. In all probability there was water in the engine room and stoke-hole which interfered with the fireman keeping up sufficient steam in order to get the proper amount of power. These things, combined with her light bow and the wind striking on it, would make the ship lie like a helpless log impossible to be steered. I saw the wooden awning on theAlert. It was very useful for passengers down the Bay, but for a small vessel like her going outside, it should not have been a fixture. The effect would be that when she came over on her beam ends, the wind would get underneath the awning and hold the ship down. If an awning were wanted, it ought to be of canvas, and not spread at all even in half a gale.
Cross-examined by Mr. Purves: I was not discharged from the Underwriters’ Association, but left their employment because I had finished my agreement with them. I am now in business for myself. I am a surveyor of shipping, and also teach navigation. I have the same authority to survey ships as any other surveyor. I have not got up this case. I made the model exhibited, and McKenzie the shipwright finished it. I have spoken to Captain Mathieson on several occasions. He did not carry a pilot on board. He was an exempt master and a skilful sailor. From Melbourne to Bairnsdale and back, would be about 530 miles, and theAlertwould need about fifty tons of coal to do the round. She would burn twenty tons in twenty-four hours, and at the time she foundered, she would have burnt a good deal of her supply of coal. Aton of water is about three feet by two feet in size. There would be a ton and three quarters in a 400 gallon tank. If both the alleyways were filled, they would hold about fifty tons of water, and the ship would go under. At the time theAlertwas built, the bunker tops on a good many vessels were fitted in the same way as hers; but they are not allowed to be fitted in such a way now. I surveyed theAlert. I did not pass her for insurance. She was refused by the Underwriters. I will swear the Secretary informed me that she was not to be insured until she was passed. She was not passed by me. Glass ports are just as efficient to keep out the sea as an iron casing, because they are properly secured inside. A window like theAlert’scould be made perfectly secure, but in her case it was not. When I surveyed the ship I did not complain of the window. I would not object to it because the ship was only trading to Geelong. I know the S. S.Excelsior. She is not fit to go to sea. I would not pass her.
Henry William Byrant, examined by Mr. Smyth: I am a duly qualified medical practitioner residing at Williamstown. I knew John Kennedy Kilpatrick for four years. He never ailed in any way. I examined him once or twice, and found him perfectly sound and a very strong man. I would not make any statement as to how long he might have lived, but he would live as long as any healthy man might live. His age was twenty-eight to thirty.