RMS Tayleur
 The Tayleur in a contemporary representation
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The RMS Tayleur was an iron - Klipper , that of the British shipping company White Star Line was chartered and on its maiden voyage in January 1854 in the Irish Sea after hitting a rock went down. 362 of the 652 people on board were killed. Although she is also referred to as "the first Titanic of the White Star Line", both ships belonged to White Star Lines of the same name, but legally different.
The ship
The iron-built clipper Tayleur was built in 1853 at the Bank Quay Foundry in the English town of Warrington on the River Mersey . She was the largest of the eleven iron-built ships built at the Bank Quay Foundry between 1852 and 1855. The ship was ready after only six months and was launched on October 3, 1853 in front of a large crowd. The Tayleur was built for Charles Moore & Company and cost £ 34,000 in monetary terms at the time . The experienced sailing ship designer William Rennie from Liverpool designed the Tayleur . When it was launched , it was the largest ship of its time. She was 1,750 GRT tall, 70 m long, over 12 m wide and three decks high. 650 beds were available to travelers . 9000 tons of cargo could be stowed in their holds . The ship was named after Charles Tayleur, founder of the Vulcan Engineering Works in Warrington and co-owner of the Bank Quay Foundry.
The new ship was chartered by the White Star Line , a British shipping company based in Liverpool, to use it in the booming emigrant traffic from Great Britain to Australia . Because of the gold digging in Australia, large streams of emigrants had set up there. This White Star Line, founded by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson, was a predecessor of the "actual" White Star Line, which was founded in 1868 by Thomas Henry Ismay and which became one of the most successful shipping companies in Great Britain.
The first White Star Line later merged with other companies, including the Black Ball Line and the Eagle Line, but went bankrupt in 1867 . Ismay bought the house flag and started his own thriving business. After the completion of the Tayleur , she anchored in Liverpool on January 14, 1854 to be prepared for her maiden voyage to Australia.
The downfall
Chain of grievances
On Thursday, January 19, 1854, the Tayleur left Liverpool shortly before noon on her maiden voyage to Melbourne . There were 71 crew members and 581 passengers on board. Just over half of the passengers were British, the rest came from Central Europe and Scandinavia . In command was the 29-year-old Captain John Noble, who had been personally chosen by the owners to be in command of their new flagship .
The ship was clearly understaffed in terms of crew. Later research found that there were only 37 trained sailors among the crew, and only 25 of them spoke English . The rest were Chinese and Indian . In addition, there were later reports that many of the crew members had only hired to get free passage to Australia. Captain Noble also noticed shortly after departure that the ship was difficult to steer. In addition, the compasses on board did not work properly because of the iron shell of the Tayleur . As a result, the ship took a different course shortly after leaving the port. On the bridge of the ship it was believed that she was sailing south through the Irish Sea , instead the Tayleur took a westerly course and headed for Ireland .
On Saturday, January 21, after two days at sea, the ship got caught in a storm while heading straight for Lambay Island . There was also thick fog . The rudder of Tayleur was designed for their size too small and was not capable of maneuvering the ship around the island. The rigging was also in poor condition, as many of the ropes had not yet been sufficiently stretched and the sails were hanging too slack and could hardly be controlled. As soon as the rocks on the shore of Lambay Island were sighted, both anchors were lowered to avoid an impending collision. The rudder was put hard to starboard .
Collision and sinking
Despite these measures, the Tayleur ran onto the cliffs on the south-east bank of the island, about five miles from Dublin Bay . The ship was stuck, was surrounded by a stormy surf and was towered over by 24 m high cliffs. The Tayleur was raised several times and thrown back onto the rocks. There was great fear and panic on board; the passengers ran around in search of their loved ones and for rescue and were either washed overboard by the dozen by the breakers or jumped into the sea.
The lifeboats were made ready for lowering, but after the first crashed into the rocks and smashed after being lowered, the evacuation was suspended. The sailing ship was so close to the shore that the crew fell one of the masts and were able to establish a connection to the land. Several passengers were able to save themselves on the bank. Some of them had taken ropes that were connected to the ship and that served as a rescue for other people. Mainly men made it to safety this way; most of the women and children lost their footing, slipped, and were swept away by the whipped sea.
Because of the churned sea, no more lifeboats could be launched. The high waves tore the Tayleur down from the rocks and pushed her into deeper water, so that she finally went down 20 minutes after the collision with the stern first. Most of the passengers were still on board the ship at that time. Captain Noble waited until the last moment and jumped off his ship. He was pulled ashore and survived. After the Tayleur sank to the bottom, the tips of her masts were still sticking out of the water.
One of the passengers who had made it ashore alerted the coast guard , which was making its way to the ship in a lifeboat. Only one survivor was found there, William Vivers, who had held onto the rigging for 14 hours. The head of the task force, George Finlay, was awarded a silver medal for the rescue operation on March 2, 1854. Of the 652 people on board, 362 lost their lives. They were buried on Lambay Island . Of the over 100 women, only three survived. The majority of the 71-strong crew survived. After the news of the disaster reached the country, the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company sent their mail steamer Prince to search for survivors.
The wreck of the Tayleur lies at a depth of 18 m on the bottom of the Irish Sea, about 30 m from the shore of Lambay Island at the position 53 ° 28 ′ 54 ″ N , 6 ° 1 ′ 12 ″ W . The diving without permission of the Office of Public Works is prohibited.
examination
The disaster was followed by four different official investigations , some of which ended with different results. There was one forensic examination at Malahide , one by the Board of Trade under Captain Walker, one by the British Admiralty under Mr. Grantham, Inspector General of Iron Ships, and one by the Liverpool Maritime Board.
The newspapers in particular blamed Captain John Noble for the accident, but the investigations absolved him of any responsibility and held the owners of the ship responsible for the tragedy because they had allowed the ship to sail without ensuring that the compasses were working properly. Only the Board of Trade complained to Captain Noble that he had not had the water depth measured by plumb despite the proximity to land and limited visibility . The number of people on board and the death toll also vary depending on the source. According to some texts, there were between 528 and 680 people on board, of whom between 297 and 380 drowned. Basically, it is assumed that there were 652 passengers, 290 of whom survived.
Compare with the Titanic
The Tayleur and Titanic were both mail ships owned by a shipping company called White Star Line that went down on their maiden voyage with great loss of life.
On both ships, details of the construction and equipment contributed to the extent of the accident. On the Tayleur it was the iron cover that influenced the compasses, as well as the insufficiently fastened sails. On the Titanic , it was the lack of lifeboats.
literature
- HF Starkey. Iron Clipper - Taylor. The White Star Line's First Titanic . Avid Publications ( Bebington ), 1999
- Edward J. Bourke. Bound For Australia: The Loss of the Emigrant Ship "Tayleur" at Lambay on the Coast of Ireland . Edward Bourke ( Dublin ), 2003
- DR MacGregor. Fast Sailing Ships, their Design and Construction 1775-1875 . Nautical Publishing ( Hampshire ), 1973
Web links
- Detailed data on the origin of the Tayleur ¸ their demise and its causes
- Shorter summary of the ship's history (with picture)
- Illustrated book review by Donald Gunn Ross III of HF Starkey's Iron Clipper Tayleur publication
- Compilation of contemporary newspaper reports about the sinking
- Incomplete passenger and crew list with an overview of survivors, dead and missing