General Grant

About

General Grant was a 1,005-ton three-masted bark built in Maine in the United States in 1864 and registered in Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Ulysses S. Grant and owned by Messers Boyes, Richardson & Co. She had a timber hull with a length of 179.5 ft, beam of 34.5 ft and depth of 21.5 ft. While on her way from Melbourne to London, General Grant crashed into a cliff on the west coast of main island of the Auckland Islands of New Zealand, and subsequently sank as a result. Sixty-eight people drowned and only 15 people survived.

The ship departed Melbourne on 4 May 1866 bound for London via Cape Horn, under the command of Captain William H. Loughlin. It was carrying 58 passengers and 25 crew, along with a cargo of wool, skins, 2,576 ounces (73.028 kg) of gold, and 9 tons of zinc spelter ballast. Included in the passenger list were a number of successful miners from the Australian gold fields.

At 11pm on 13 May 1866, the Auckland Islands were sighted dead ahead. With only light winds, the crew were unable to change course, and eventually collided against the cliffs and drifted into a large cave on Auckland Island 's western shore. The rising tide and increasing swell caused the mainmast to hit the cave roof repeatedly until the mast forced a hole through the hull; the ship sank on 14 May 1866. Although the weather remained calm, the boats were not launched immediately on the ship entering the cave as it was very dark, there was no obvious landing place, and pieces of spars and rock were falling down continually.

Once daylight arrived the three boats on board were prepared for launch. The boats consisted of two quarter boats (each 22 feet long) and a longboat of 30 feet. One of the quarter boats was launched first and sent outside to see if landing could be made. The boat was expected to return for more people but instead waited outside the cave as no landing could be found. By this time the swell was increasing. The second quarter boat took a number of passengers and crew, including Mrs Jewell, to the first boat for transfer. The longboat was lying on the quarterdeck and was filled with passengers. The ship was sinking fast, and the longboat floated off General Grant ' s decks. Unfortunately, the longboat was swamped with water just after getting clear of the ship. The second quarter boat stayed out of the danger area, but three people (David Ashworth, Aaron Hayman, and William Sanguily) were able to swim through the surf to the quarter boat. A total of fifteen people, including 9 crew and 6 passengers, survived the wreck. The captain did not leave the ship.

The list of those on General Grant includes:

- William H. Loughlin of New York – Captain – Drowned at time of wreck

- Bartholmew Brown of Boston – First officer – Lost at sea attempting to reach New Zealand

- B. F. Jones of Massachusetts – Second officer – Drowned at time of wreck

- Magnes Anderson of Sweden – Carpenter – Drowned at time of wreck

- Keding – Steward – Drowned at time of wreck

- William Newton Scott of Shields (also reported as W. Newton Smith) – Able-bodied seaman – Lost at sea attempting to reach New Zealand

- William Ferguson – Able-bodied seaman – Survived

- Cornelius Drew – Able-bodied seaman – Survived

- Peter McNevin of Islay – Able-bodied seaman – Lost at sea attempting to reach New Zealand

- Andrew Morison of Glasgow – Able-bodied seaman – Lost at sea attempting to reach New Zealand

- David McLelland of Ayr, Scotland – Able-bodied seaman – Died on the Island

- William Murdoch Sanguilly – Able-bodied seaman – Survived. Mr Sanguilly was originally from Cuba and eventually made his way to Melbourne, Australia, thereby becoming the first Cuban resident in Australia.

- Aaron Hayman (also reported as A. Harpman)- Ordinary seaman - Survived

- Assistant Cook – Drowned at time of wreck

- Mrs Brown – Passenger (wife of First Officer, Bartholmew Brown)- Drowned at time of wreck