KILPATRICK v. HUDDART, PARKER & CO., LTD
Third Day, February 13, 1895.
Evidence for the Plaintiff.—(Continued.)
William Matthews, examined by Mr. Smyth, stated: I am a ship and boat builder. I have had about thirty-seven years’ experience. I knew theAlertand travelled in her to Geelong a few times, but not outside the Heads. I see the model on the table. I think theAlertwas finer aft than the model. Otherwise it fairly represents her. I think she had about two feet freeboard aft, and about eight or ten feet or more out of the water foreward. I know the weight of the engines which were in the aft part of the ship. I knew her hull very well. Having regard to her length, breadth, and depth, I do not think any sane man would send a ship like that outside the Heads. I have been in theAlertin the Bay, with a south-east wind, and she was nearly going down then. It was not a very heavy wind, but there was a nasty sea, and she nearly drowned the lot of us. The water came in aft over the lower part. There is no doubt that the gratings over the engine room and stoke-hole shouldbe secured. I would fasten them with tarpaulins, iron cleats, and wedges. I think a glass and wooden frame in the bulk-head of the saloon of a vessel like theAlertwould be easily smashed. The glass would be a mere bagatelle against the water. It should not have been where it was in the front of the poop on a sea-going vessel like this one at any rate. I know the bunker holes. The covers should be screwed down and fastened below by a bar. They would not be secure by simply being fastened down by their own weight in a boat like that, rolling about as she did. I think if the vessel had had more cargo than the forty-four tons placed in her main hold, she would have been even worse than she was. That cargo was not right to go outside the Heads with, as the vessel, considering her length, was not fit to carry it. If the cargo had been stowed in the forehatch it would have put her more on even keel. It was a great mistake to place that wooden awning on the boat. If a gale of wind were blowing, the wind would get under the awning, and if the vessel were lying over, it would help her to go over further without doubt. It would keep her down when she was down. If theAlerthad had another mast and sail on it, her head could have been brought up to the wind and sea. At all events it would help in doing that.
Cross-examined by Mr. Purves: I carry on business at Williamstown. I have built small vessels larger than theAlert, but never built a full rigged ship. It was some years ago that I was nearly drowned in theAlert. It was on the way to Geelong, when we were just the other side of Point Cook. The sea came in one sideand out the other. I cannot say the decks were full, but the after part of the boat was flooded particularly. I was not frightened, as I am used to that sort of thing. Of course if I had been washed overboard, I might have lost my life, but I did not think there was any great danger so long as I had something to hold on by. The water came over both aft and amidships. It came over the port side from the mast to the poop, heavy seas, quite enough to wash you overboard. The fires were not put out, but some water went down the bunker holes. One of the bunker lids I saw off myself. I don’t know how it came off. The sea did not go on the poop. At the time I speak of, theAlerthad about eighteen inches freeboard. By freeboard I mean the distance from the water up to the level of the deck. It has nothing to do with the bulwarks. I still think that forty-four tons of cargo was too much for that vessel to go to sea with. Of course if it had been placed further foreward, it would have been better.
Q.—You appear to think that Captain Mathieson and his crew were a pack of lunatics to go outside with theAlert?A.—I don’t think I ever said so. I said no sane man would send such a ship outside the Heads.
Q.—That is pretty well the same thing. What would be the greatest risk you would have taken in theAlert. Albert Park Lagoon, or the upper Yarra?A.—She was more fit for the Lagoon if the water were deep enough. Even in the Upper Yarra she would not have been safe if she encountered the wash of a big steamer. (Laughter).
Q.—Where would you have put another mast?A.—Iwould have put it just aft of the house on deck, and fitted it with a trysail and gaff. I am not prepared to say what size the sail should be.
William White, examined by Mr. Williams, said: I am a shipbuilder, and have been engaged as such for fifty years. I carried on business at Williamstown for forty years, during which time I built many ships. I knew theAlert. The whole weight of the engines being aft, she sat very low in the water. Her bow was up. Stability at sea is gained in two ways, first by breadth and shallowness, requiring very little ballast, or by being deep and narrow. I should say that theAlertrequired a good deal of ballast to make her stable. Forty-four tons of cargo in the main hatch would not give her sufficient stability. She would not be sea-worthy in my opinion with it. Forty-four tons in the forehold would help to lift her stern out of the water and put the bow down.
TheAlerthad only one mast. In trying to bring the ship to the wind, it would be almost impossible to do so on account of the height of the bow out of the water, and any sail that could be set would be so much foreward that it would be next to impossible to keep her end on to the sea. A sail aft would keep her bow to the wind. The best thing a ship can do in a gale of wind is to lie to. She had a wooden awning, and that would be a very great hindrance to the sea-worthiness of the ship. It was a very bad thing, because it would hold a great deal of wind, and could not be taken away. In the Bay wooden awnings are used, and it appears this vessel was allowed to go outside with one. Itwould help to blow her over and keep her in that position. As to the pantry window, I did not see it, but I say it would be extremely dangerous placed where it is said to have been. Every sea that came on board would rush aft, and tend to break everything that was not sufficiently strong to resist its force. The set of the ship in the water, being so high foreward, would naturally throw the water aft, and it would rush aft of its own accord. The grating over the engine room and stoke-hole should have been covered with tarpaulins held in cleats and battened down.
Cross-examined by Mr. Mitchell: I last went to sea as a seaman about forty years ago. I was second officer and carpenter. I have not built any large ships, because there is nothing of that sort done here, but I have built vessels larger than theAlert, and better sea-boats. TheAlertwas very long and lean; if she had carried a main mast with sail, she might have been more safe.
Q.—Did you ever measure theAlert?A.—No.
Q.—Then how do you know she was long and lean when you never measured her?A.—In the same way that I know you are long and lean, though I never measured you. (Laughter.)
Q.—What in your opinion was the cause of the ship foundering?A.—I always understood that—(here Mr. Mitchell complained that the witness was going away from the subject.) Witness in a firm, determined tone said, You asked for my opinion, and I am going to give it to you, or I am going to give you nothing. (Laughter.) I always understood that the ship was blown roundbroadside on, and was wallowing in the sea. She became unmanageable in the trough, and, being top-heavy, rolled over till she filled with water and sank.
John Murray Robertson, examined by Mr. Smyth, stated: I am an engineer, employed as second engineer on the P. S.Ozone. I have been about twenty-six years at sea, and I hold a chief engineer’s certificate. I know what the dimensions of theAlertwere, and I know where her machinery was. It was placed aft. She had only one mast. The grating over the stoke-hole should have had a covering on it of iron, wood, or tarpaulin. In my opinion it is not right to have a window in the front of the poop in a sea-going vessel going outside the Heads. It should be blocked up with a door, or shutter opening outwards. If below the level of the bulwarks, it was not safe to have such an aperture in a vessel like theAlert. I knew the covers for the coal bunkers. They should have been fastened down. I think a second mast would have been an advantage to theAlert.
Cross-examined by Mr. Purves: TheOzoneis a very fast boat, and we often have heavy weather going down the Bay. Sometimes we have a lot of water on the deck. Our bunker lids have something that fastens them down when they are turned round a bit. TheOzonecould not jump them off, because they fit in a socket. I should think theAlertwas a sea-worthy ship if she had been further at sea. It is often the case that a captain has to bring the head of his steamer to the wind and lay to; when that is done, we steam easy ahead just to keep steerage way on her. I presume theAlertwas sea-worthy when the Board of Trade gave her her certificate.
Re-examined by Mr. Smyth: I would not say theAlertwas an ocean going vessel. I would call her a coasting steamer.
Occasionally there is worse weather near the land than out on the ocean. I did say there are means by which a man could batten down the window in the poop.
Q.—How would a man batten down on the iron frame-work?A.—In the iron I should put some small holes and put a plate over it. I would make the holes with a hammer and chisel. It would take half an hour.
Q.—Where would you get the iron plate?A.—It is a queer ship if there is not a bit of iron on board. Of course it would be better to have an iron door outside fastened on hinges.
Andrew Brown McKenzie, examined by Mr. Box, said: I am a shipwright, and have been about thirty-six years, more or less, in that business. I have been on board theAlertseveral times, and have known the vessel for a long time. She had very fine lines, and was very sharp foreward and aft. She had no bearings under her counter. Any time I saw her, she never had more than about eighteen inches of freeboard. To look at the vessel, she was like a snake in the grass. If the engines had been more amidships, she would have been a better vessel. The pantry window should not have been where it was; but being there, it should have been protected. I knew the engine room and stoke-hole. There ought to have been a tarpaulin on top of thegrating. TheAlertwas very long and narrow, and should have had another mast placed aft with sail on it to help if the engines got disabled. A wooden awning covered the ship’s poop, and, in my opinion, it should have been made of canvas, so that it could be taken in when blowing. The bunker lids should have been fastened in with a turn screw, the same as the lid of an iron tank.
Cross-examined by Mr. Mitchell: I have been eight years at sea. I am the plaintiff’s father, and was on board theAlertseeing my son-in-law just before the fatal voyage. I have built all sorts of ships in the old country, and have built vessels here for the Melbourne Shipping and Coal Company.
Q.—Do you seriously say that this ship, theAlert, was like a snake in the grass?.A.—Yes. That was my opinion of her. She was so long and low. I did not take particular notice of the pantry window, but if the brass bolts dropped out, the aperture could not be properly secured. I saw the grating on the stoke-hole. I say that a seaman could not with his hands have secured anything on that grating to prevent the water from coming in. In times of storm it is too late to think of these things. They ought to be provided for before a vessel leaves a port. As a rule it is the ship’s carpenter, who, under the instruction of the captain, sees to these matters, but theAlerthad no carpenter.
William Malone, examined by Mr. Box, stated: I am a seaman, and belong to the steamerDawnat present. I was engaged on theAlertlast November twelve months. That was four weeks before she foundered. I have been off and on at sea during thepast twenty years, and was on theAlertwhen she went outside the Heads to Bairnsdale. I never thought her a trustworthy boat for going outside. I did not see any very bad weather in her. On one trip there was a stiff breeze, and she did not act very well. With a beam sea she shipped a lot of water. She took the most of the water on board amidships, and about the alleyways. This was between Cape Schanck and Port Phillip Heads, with a fresh, but not a heavy, breeze blowing. TheAlerthad no mast aft. A boat going outside should have an after mast in case they want to keep her head to wind in a heavy sea. There is no means of getting her head to wind without that. Her coal and engines were in the after part of the ship, and during my time she carried no carpenter. I was not discharged from theAlert. I had a word or two with the Captain, and luckily left her the voyage before she was lost.
Cross-examined by Mr. Mitchell;Q.—Did the Captain accuse you of being drunk while in the performance of your duty?A.—No, nothing of that kind. He could not do that, because I did not have any drink. Some ships will ship more water than others, but in an ordinary strong breeze a vessel should not take water on board. The water taken in by theAlerton the occasion I speak of ran out aft.
John Leith, examined by Mr. Smyth, stated: I am a master mariner. At the present time I am captain of the S. S.Maitland. She is engaged in the regular trade between Melbourne, Port Albert, and the Gippsland Lakes. I went to sea in 1857. I was master in 1871, and have been sailing out that way since 1880. Southerlybursters come in that trade pretty nigh any time. Mr. Justice Williams: I wish to goodness you would bring one along now. (Laughter.) (Here it may be stated that during the time this trial was going on, a very hot northerly wind was blowing, making the court as warm as an oven.) The witness continuing, said: I know theAlert, and have been down the Bay a number of times in her as a passenger. She was always well down by the stern. She was long and narrow, with no great depth. She had one mast only, and the engines were well aft. She was not fit to be in a gale of wind, and gales do come along in Bass Straits.
Q.—Assuming that she had an iron grating open about twelve feet athwart and four feet fore and aft, was that a proper thing to leave unprotected in a sea-going vessel of that kind?A.—It was not in a vessel down by the heels as she was. In a gale of wind, or any heavy sea, everything would sweep over her, and fill the stoke-hole and engine room. In my opinion, provision ought to have been made for covering that grating before going outside. There ought to have been something over it, and a very good strong arrangement, such a thing as a skylight with flaps, that could have been opened and shut. A tarpaulin might stand a little time, but it would not stand many seas. I knew the alleyways between the bulwarks and the casing of the machinery. I also remember seeing the pantry window. It was open when I saw it in Hobson’s Bay, and they were passing food through it into the cabin. It was right enough for the Bay traffic, but for a sea-going vessel it should have been secured so that it wouldstand the same weight of water as the bulk-head. The glass should have been protected the same as port holes are protected, with a cast iron port either inside or outside. I cannot bring myself to think that a piece of glass is sufficient protection against a heavy sea. The hole that was there was big enough to fill the saloon with water, and cripple the ship. I could not say how many tons would go through, but when water runs through a hole in a ship, it goes with a great rush. With only a piece of glass between her and filling the saloon, it is a dead certainty she would founder. I never saw a bunker-hole with a lid resting by its own weight. It should be dropped into notches. Forty-four tons of cargo was not sufficient ballast for theAlert. At the same time I should say that one ship acts differently to another. One could go empty, while another would require a lot of cargo. The vessel that would go empty would have more beam and a flatter floor, or bottom, than theAlert. Amidships was the best place for the cargo, but I don’t think theAlerthad stability enough for a gale of wind even if she were fully loaded. I knew the late Captain Mathieson, and thoroughly agree with the statement that he was a skilful seaman and a good master of a vessel. If she had a second mast and canvas aft, theAlertwould have kept to the wind, head on to the sea, with less pressure on the screw propeller. The wooden awning, when the vessel was laid down on the starboard side, would assist in keeping her over to leeward.
Cross-examined by Mr. Purves: The steamer I am in, theMaitland, is not flat. She is round, and is asea-worthy vessel. She can go to sea in any ordinary weather. We trade to the Lakes, the same trade in which theAlertwas when she was lost.
Q.—TheMaitlandknows how to roll, does she not?A.—She does not.
Q.—Does she not belong to some bill-sticker?A.—No, unless you call the Commercial Bank by that name. There may be some bills sticking in there (Great laughter). I remember taking theMaitlanddown to the Heads on the afternoon theAlertwas lost. I did not go outside because a strong ebb-tide was running. A gale rose with the ebb-tide, and made the “Rip”[1]dangerous. The wind was from the south-west, but it was not that I feared, it was the “Rip.” Had I been able to get the ship down to the Heads earlier, I would have gone on outside to sea. A south-west wind would not give smooth water under Point Lonsdale. The bunker lids of theMaitlandhave catches. They fit in notches like the top of an iron tank.
Q.—Supposing your gratings were open, and the ship taking water on board, what would you do?A.—We have none on theMaitland.
Q.—But if you had a grating, how long would it take you to put a spare jib over it?A.—The spare jib might be stowed away in the fore peak and not easily got at. It might take a lot of time to get a spare sail, and then it would not be fit for the purpose.
Q.—Would it not be prudent to make everything snug in a gale?A.—We always make everything snug before we leave port. We don’t wait for a gale to do that. TheAlertwas not a fit vessel for the trade she was engaged in. She was a ship never meant to go outside the Heads. She was not sea-worthy.
Q.—Did you have any night-caps last night, Captain?A.—No, I don’t like them.
Q.—How is that?A.—Ever since I was with you, I gave them up (Laughter).
Re-examined by Mr. Smyth: In my opinion there was nothing to prevent Captain Mathieson, as a skilful seaman, from making his course for the Heads. I reckon that he was as good a ship-master as any on the coast.
Mr. Justice Williams:Q.—Were you lying inside the Heads on the night of theAlert’swreck?A.—I came to an anchor about nine o’clock that evening. I knew there would be a bad “Rip” on, and therefore did not go out.
His Honour:Q.—What was the weather like?A.—It was a fresh gale with fierce squalls and blinding rain. From three to four o’clock in the afternoon it blew hard at times, and then would lull off for a bit.
Thomas Bicknell, examined by Mr. Box: I am a master mariner. I have been coasting pilot in Australian and New Zealand waters for the last ten years, and have been in all sorts of vessels. I knew theAlertwell for a great number of years. I have been often on board of her, and frequently a passenger in her to Geelong and back. I considered her a veryunsuitable boat even for the Geelong trade, or anywhere else in the Bay; for outside the Heads she was a perfect water trap. Her extreme length did not compare with her depth, and she had a very narrow beam. She was very fine, with no bearings, and not sufficient stability. Her engines and boilers were well aft, and gave her a lift in the bow, at the same time depressing her stern. I have seen the pantry window, but did not pay much attention to it. Placed close to long, narrow alleyways that window would be dangerous unless properly constructed and secured. It should have been secured from the outside so that the pressure of water on the outside cover would have tightened it instead of forcing its way through. Water in the saloon of a vessel labouring in the sea would make her unmanageable. I saw the grating. There should have been an iron door on hinges over it, and over that a tarpaulin, because a tarpaulin in itself is not sufficient. Forty-four tons of cargo, composed of wattle bark and furniture, would have very little effect on theAlert. She was very tender and crank. Had that cargo been iron or ballast, it would have kept the ship out of difficulties, provided she had after canvas to keep her to the wind. In a case like hers you lose seaway, and you want after canvas to give the ship steering way. I saw the wooden awning. It would help to put the vessel down, and the wind would catch it and keep her down. It should have been made capable of being taken in in rough weather. A vessel lying over like theAlertdid would no doubt take water in every opening. Her freeboard was about one foot eight inches, and that is verylow. I have seen her with her gunwale almost level with the water. If the bunker lids were not properly secured, then they were dangerous. A vessel leaning over very much is likely to throw them off. Knocking about as she was, the water would hit against the lee cover and throw it off, and if there was any water on the deck, it would pour down below.
FOOTNOTES:[1]The “Rip” is the name applied by seamen to a very strong, nasty current which runs immediately at the Heads entrance. With the wind in and the tide out, orvice versa, a dangerous joggle of waves arise.
[1]The “Rip” is the name applied by seamen to a very strong, nasty current which runs immediately at the Heads entrance. With the wind in and the tide out, orvice versa, a dangerous joggle of waves arise.
[1]The “Rip” is the name applied by seamen to a very strong, nasty current which runs immediately at the Heads entrance. With the wind in and the tide out, orvice versa, a dangerous joggle of waves arise.