Northern Belle

Last updated

Painting depicting the rescue of the crew of the Northern Belle, 1857 The Mary White life boat rescuing the crew of the American Ship the Northern Belle RMG PY8529 (cropped).jpg
Painting depicting the rescue of the crew of the Northern Belle, 1857

The Northern Belle was an American transatlantic ship which ran aground near Thanet, England, on 5 January 1857. [1] No lives on her were lost, thanks to heroic rescue efforts, in blizzard conditions. However, another ship sank, en route to the scene, the Margate lugger Victory which was lost along with her crew. [2]

Contents

The Belle was constructed in 1853, under the ownership of J. P. Whitney and Co. of New Orleans. [3] [4] Her common routes were New Orleans to Liverpool and Le Havre, carrying wheat on the outbound run. A barque of 1,150 tons burden [4] [5] with a crew of 23, she was on a voyage from New York to London, [6] with a cargo of wheat, flour, and linseed cake, [7] when as a result of an unusually heavy gale had to put into Kingsgate, Kent. She anchored 3/4 of a mile from the shore, [8] however by 6 am she was riding heavily, the sea occasionally breaking completely over her. The storm was so ferocious that the main and mizzen masts were cut away by the crew at 6.30am. The Margate lugger Victory, along with the Ocean, and the Eclipse attempted a rescue and possible salvage. [9] The Victory was lost along with her crew at 11.30 am. The storm raged all day and local lifeboats were not able to launch. The Belle parted from her anchors at midnight, and was driven onto the rocks beneath nearby cliffs, at Foreness Point. [10] The crew lashed themselves to the one remaining mast and were spotted from the beach at dawn. Two lifeboats, the Mary White and the Culmer White, made three trips to rescue them. The lifeboats and crew were from Broadstairs and Margate. The Mary White had to be hauled and dragged two miles over fields of snow to bring it to a place from which it could be launched. [11] [9] [12] [6] Captain Tate and his crew from the Northern Belle were all saved. [13]

The return of the Mary White from the wreck of the Northern Belle with seven of the crew The return of the "Mary White" from the wreck of the "Northern Belle", with seven of the crew.png
The return of the Mary White from the wreck of the Northern Belle with seven of the crew

On 15 January 1857 (Thursday) the Illustrated Times of London advertised that they would print five engravings of the tragedy and portraits of the crew the following Saturday. [14]

It was reported on 22 January, in a letter to the London Evening Standard , that the ship and cargo were still on the reef, in good condition, and were salvageable. [5]

News of the disaster was broadcast world-wide, as far as the Sydney Morning Herald who picked up the story from the New York Times . [15] A benefit by "gentlemen amateurs" was held at the St James's Theatre, in London, on 7 February. [16]

On 23 February 1857 3,340 barrels of damaged American flour, part of the cargo, was auctioned off at the New Corn Exchange Coffee House, Mark Lane, London. [17] On 2 March, another 450 barrels of damaged American flour and 20 barrels of damaged linseed cake was auctioned at the coffee house. [18]

The rescued crew are taken to The Captain Digby Rescued Crew of the Northern Belle, 1857.jpg
The rescued crew are taken to The Captain Digby

The Times reported on 5 March that the vessel was a shipping hazard and all her cargo had been salvaged except forty to fifty logs of mahogany. It was thought that only two barrels of dynamite would be required to destroy the wreck. [19] The Liverpool Echo pointed out on 9 March 1857 that the wreck in foggy weather was an obstacle to navigation, "A few days ago a ship had a narrow escape by striking it." [20]

In April 1857, the U.S. president Franklin Pierce had 21 silver medals struck and issued an award of £270 sterling for sharing amongst the rescuers, £10–£30 per man. [6]

The London Morning Chronicle of 9 October 1857 reported that the wreck was to be raised, and that chains had been fitted with a view of floating her with the aid of buoys at the next spring tides. Some Whitstable people had bought the hull for £260. [21] [22]

Attempts to raise the Belle on 21 November 1857 were unsuccessful despite successfully raising the stern out of the water with the help of four pontoons. One of the chains around the hull broke during the process, aborting the attempt. [23] The masts disappeared from view in early December, and a green buoy marked "Wreck" was put in place 10 fathoms eastward from the stern. [24]

In June 1858 Canterbury Town Council, put on display a piece of the wreck taken from the recently raised hull, which was completely riddled with Teredo worm. [25]

A Margate beer shop was named the Northern Belle in 1858. [26]

The crew of the Mary White in their life-boat are drawn through Broadstairs on 6 January 1857. The crew of the "Mary White" in their life-boat drawn through Broadstairs.jpg
The crew of the Mary White in their life-boat are drawn through Broadstairs on 6 January 1857.

Legacy

The tragedy inspired several literary works including novels and poetry. Charles Mackay published a poem "Northern Belle – a tribute to the brave", in February 1857. [27] Edwin Arnold wrote "The Wreck of the Northern Belle" with the proceeds to go to representatives of the Victory crew. [28]

Related Research Articles

The Margate surfboat refers to three surfboats used for maritime rescue at Margate, on the eastern tip of Kent. They were run as cooperatives, with local boatmen clubbing together to buy them and then receiving a share of any salvage money received.

SS <i>Suevic</i> British and Norwegian Jubilee-class ocean liner

SS Suevic was a steamship built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line. Suevic was the fifth and last of the Jubilee-class ocean liners, built specifically to service the Liverpool-Cape Town-Sydney route, along with her sister ship Runic. In 1907 she was wrecked off the south coast of England, but in the largest rescue of its kind, all passengers and crew were saved. The ship herself was deliberately broken in two, and a new bow was attached to the salvaged stern portion. Later serving as a Norwegian whaling factory ship carrying the name Skytteren, she was scuttled off the Swedish coast in 1942 to prevent her capture by ships of Nazi Germany.

Queen of Nations United Kingdom merchant ship

Queen of Nations was a wooden-hulled, three-masted clipper that was built in Scotland in 1861 and wrecked on the coast of New South Wales in 1881. She spent her entire two-decade career with George Thompson, Junior's Aberdeen White Star Line.

Over the years, a number of ships have foundered off Southport. For the purposes of this article, the Southport area shall be considered as Southwards from Lytham St Annes to Freshfield.

SS <i>Monte Nevoso</i>

SS Monte Nevoso was a cargo steamship that was launched in 1920 in England, owned in Italy, and wrecked in 1932 in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreness Point</span> Headland of Kent, England

Foreness Point is a low headland on the coast of Kent in England. It extends a short distance into the entrance of the Thames Estuary, on the north coast of Thanet, between Palm Bay in Cliftonville and Botany Bay in Broadstairs. Off the point there is a reef, exposed at low tide, known as Long Nose Spit, where common periwinkles are collected by the public as a food item. There is a water treatment plant on the headland.

RNLB <i>Cecil Paine</i> (ON 850)

RNLB Cecil Paine is a retired Liverpool-class non-self-righting lifeboat of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. It was the second motor lifeboat to be stationed in the English coastal town of Wells-next-the-Sea in the county of Norfolk in the United Kingdom, and was on station at Wells from 25 July 1945 until she was sold in June 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Ray Hodgson</span>

Joseph Ray Hodgson was an Englishman hailed as a hero dozens of times after risking his life to save people from drowning, often during a winter storm in the North Sea. He was nicknamed "The Stormy Petrel", after the storm petrel seabird, because whenever a gale blew up, he could be seen on Sunderland pier searching the skyline for ships in distress in order that he might help. Hodgson was living and working in Sunderland at the same time as the diver, Harry Watts, who was also famed for saving lives.

SS <i>Jebba</i>

SS Jebba was a steamship that was built in Middlesbrough in 1896 and wrecked on the south coast of Devon in 1907. She was launched as Albertville for the Compagnie Belge-Maritime du Congo (CBMC), and was renamed Jebba when Elder, Dempster & Co acquired her in 1898. She was the first of four CBMC ships to be called Albertville, and the first of two Elder, Dempster ships to be called Jebba.

SS <i>George Spencer</i> Wooden steamship wrecked in the Mataafa Storm of 1905

The George Spencer was a wooden lake freighter that sank on along with her schooner barge Amboy on Lake Superior, near Thomasville, Cook County, Minnesota in the Mataafa Storm of 1905. On April 14, 1994, the wrecks of the Spencer and the Amboy were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Kiowa was a steam cargo ship built in 1903 by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia for Clyde Steamship Company with intention of operating between New England and southern ports of the United States.

The Pomona was a fast packet clipper ship constructed in 1856 for Howland and Frothingham. She operated for just over two and a half years transporting emigrants and cargo from Liverpool, England to New York City. Pomona sank in the early morning of April 28, 1859 after a navigation error caused the ship to strike the Irish coast. 424 of the 448 people on board died.

Lalla Rookh was a square-rigged, iron-hulled tea clipper of 869 tons, built in 1856 in Liverpool, Lancashire, owned by William Prowse & Co. and said to travel fast. She was used for trade with India and China, and was advertised in 1871 as a packet ship to take passengers to Australia. She was completely wrecked at Prawle Point, Devon on 3 March 1873, with the loss of one crew member and all of her cargo of tea and tobacco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadstairs Lifeboat Station</span> Former lifeboat station in Kent, England

Broadstairs Lifeboat Station was a former lifeboat station in Kent, England. It was rather unusual, as it never had a boathouse, although a building was provided by the Harbour Commissioners in which to store all the equipment. The lifeboat was kept under a tarpaulin, and was stored on the pier at Broadstairs, a harbour town on the east coast of Kent.

References

  1. ↑ The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1857. Cambridge University Press. 28 March 2013. ISBN   9781108054485 . Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "A Boatman's Tales". Holbourn genealogical index. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "Ships – Havre". The Times Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana. 25 January 1854. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Sailings for United States". Liverpool Echo. 2 March 1855. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 Baldwin, Astley Henry (23 January 1857). "The Wreck of the Northern Belle". The Standard, London. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Dallas, G. M. (1 May 1857). "The Northern Belle". Daily News. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  7. ↑ "Sales by auction". No. 28 February 1857. The Manchester Guardian.
  8. ↑ "The Northern Belle". The Royal Cornwall Gazette, Falmouth Packet, and General Advertiser. 16 January 1857. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  9. 1 2 Morris, Susan. "Shipwreck of the 'Northern Belle' and the loss of the 'Victory'". emptageofthanet.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  10. ↑ Lane, Anthony (2009). Shipwrecks of Kent. Stroud: The History Press. pp. 18, 22. ISBN   978-0-7524-1720-2.
  11. ↑ Cates, Michael; Chamberlain, Diane. "The Mary White life boat rescuing the crew of the American Ship the Northern Belle". Bonhams. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  12. ↑ Lang, John (10 January 1857). "The Loss of the Northern Belle (with timetable of events)". Hampshire Telegraph and Navy Chronicle. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  13. ↑ "The late gales – more fatal wrecks". The Era. 11 January 1857. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Periodicals". Daily News. 15 January 1857.
  15. ↑ "American Coast Defences". Sydney Morning Herald. New York Times. 1 August 1857. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Benefit for the Broadstairs and Margat Boatmen". The Examiner. 31 January 1857. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "To be sold by public auction". The Ipswich Journal. 21 February 1857. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Sales by auction". Manchester Guardian 28 February 1857. 28 February 1857. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  19. ↑ An Observer (5 March 1857). "Letter to the Times: The Wreck of the Northern Belle dated 3 March 1857". The Times. p. 10. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  20. ↑ "Multum in Parvo". Liverpool Echo. 9 March 1857. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "The Northern Belle". The Morning Chronicle (after "The Southern Gazette"). 9 October 1857. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  22. ↑ "The Northern Belle". Daily News. South Eastern Gazette. 8 October 1857. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  23. ↑ "Margate". Dover Telegraph and Cinque Ports General Advertiser. 21 November 1857. The efforts used to raise the Northern Belle have proved unsuccessful, owing to the breaking of one of the chains which was around the hull ...
  24. ↑ "Wreck of the Northern Belle". Norwich Mercury. 12 December 1857. p. 3. Notice hereby given, that the roasts of the American ship, "Northern Belle," stranded on the rocks off Longnose, having now disappeared, a green buoy, marked with the word wreck
  25. ↑ "Canterbury Town Council exhibition". Kentish Gazette. 22 June 1858. p. 6. There were also exhibited a piece of the wreck of the ill fated Northern Belle, lately picked up, and completely riddled with the Teredo Destructor
  26. ↑ "Licensing at Margate". The Era. 26 September 1858. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  27. ↑ "New Publications". New York Times. 6 February 1857. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  28. ↑ "The wreck of The Era by Edwin Arnold" . The Era. 22 March 1857. Retrieved 15 June 2018.

51°23′40″N1°25′40″E / 51.39444°N 1.42778°E / 51.39444; 1.42778

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.