Southport and St Anne's lifeboats disaster
Encyclopedia
On the 9 December 1886 the Mexico, a Hamburg
-registered barque
bound for Guayaquil
from Liverpool
went aground
near Southport
, in a full west north westerly gale
.
A lifeboat
, the Eliza Fernley, was launched from Southport
in response to distress signal
s from the Mexico
. When the craft reached the Mexico, it was struck by heavy seas and capsized. Two hours later, she was found approximately three miles from Southport at Birkdale
. Fourteen of her sixteen crew had perished.
The two survivors, Henry Robinson and John Jackson, were trapped under the boat after it capsized and only survived by freeing themselves, swimming out and clinging onto the keel of the boat, then walking miles back to their homes and raising the alarm. One of them had tried and failed to rescue other comrades who were still trapped under the boat. Amazingly, four other men from the Southport boat initially survived the disaster but subsequently could not be saved.
Between fifteen and twenty minutes after the Southport boat launched, the neighbouring St Anne's lifeboat—the Laura Janet—was also called out. Her crew rowed her out to five hundred yards, and then hoisted sail, proceeding to two miles off Southport. In the words of Patrick Howarth, author of Lifeboat: In Danger's hour:-
Additionally, a third lifeboat, from Lytham reached the Mexico. By that time, the Mexico had settled on her beam ends, and the crew had lashed themselves to the rigging
. The lifeboat, on her maiden rescue
, rowed for a mile and a half through the River Ribble
, and then rowed to the Mexico, rescuing all twelve members of the barque's crew. In the process, the crew shattered three of her oars, and the small craft was filled numerous times with water.
The bodies of the unfortunate lifeboatmen (who were fishermen by trade) were removed from the beaches and laid out in the coaching house of the nearby Birkdale Palace Hotel. The coach house was later converted to a public house, being named The Fishermen's Rest, and is reputed to be haunted by the spirits of the dead men.
The disaster is the worst in the history of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
(RNLI), with 27 lifeboat crew lost.
A public fund for relief of the sixteen widow
s and fifty orphan
s was opened with the RNLI contributing £2,000, the queen and the emperor of Germany also contributing. £30,000 was raised in total. A memorial
statue
of a lifeboatman looking out to sea on was placed on the promenade at St. Anne’s. At Southport, a memorial was erected in Duke Street Cemetery and a permanent exhibition can be seen in the Museum of the Botanic Gardens in Churchtown, Southport.
In 1925, the RNLI abandoned the Station at Southport and left the town with no lifeboat. However in the late 1980s, after a series of unfortunate tragedies, local families from Southport started to raise funds and eventually bought a new lifeboat for the town stationed at the old RNLI boathouse. The lifeboat is completely independent of the RNLI and therefore receives no money from that organisation. Instead it depends entirely on donations by the public.
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
-registered barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
bound for Guayaquil
Guayaquil
Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...
from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
went aground
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
near Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
, in a full west north westerly gale
Gale
A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...
.
A lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...
, the Eliza Fernley, was launched from Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
in response to distress signal
Distress signal
A distress signal is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals take the form of or are commonly made by using radio signals, displaying a visually detected item or illumination, or making an audible sound, from a distance....
s from the Mexico
Mexico (barque)
Mexico was a barque that was wrecked off Southport on 9 December 1886. She was repaired only to be lost in Scottish waters in 1890.-Shipwreck:...
. When the craft reached the Mexico, it was struck by heavy seas and capsized. Two hours later, she was found approximately three miles from Southport at Birkdale
Birkdale
Birkdale is a village and district in the southern part of the conurbation of the town of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The village is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from...
. Fourteen of her sixteen crew had perished.
The two survivors, Henry Robinson and John Jackson, were trapped under the boat after it capsized and only survived by freeing themselves, swimming out and clinging onto the keel of the boat, then walking miles back to their homes and raising the alarm. One of them had tried and failed to rescue other comrades who were still trapped under the boat. Amazingly, four other men from the Southport boat initially survived the disaster but subsequently could not be saved.
Between fifteen and twenty minutes after the Southport boat launched, the neighbouring St Anne's lifeboat—the Laura Janet—was also called out. Her crew rowed her out to five hundred yards, and then hoisted sail, proceeding to two miles off Southport. In the words of Patrick Howarth, author of Lifeboat: In Danger's hour:-
"What happened there has never been clearly established. Two red lights were seen at Southport, which may have been signals from the life–boat. All that is known is that at quarter past eleven the next morning the life–boat was found ashore, bottom up, with three dead bodies hanging on the thwartThwartA thwart is a strut placed crosswise in a ship or boat, to brace it crosswise.In rowboats it can also serve as a seat for a rower....
s with their heads downwards. Every man in the crew was lost".
Additionally, a third lifeboat, from Lytham reached the Mexico. By that time, the Mexico had settled on her beam ends, and the crew had lashed themselves to the rigging
Rigging
Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...
. The lifeboat, on her maiden rescue
Maiden voyage
The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. A number of traditions and superstitions are associated with it....
, rowed for a mile and a half through the River Ribble
River Ribble
The River Ribble is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire, in northern England. The river's drainage basin also includes parts of Greater Manchester around Wigan.-Geography:...
, and then rowed to the Mexico, rescuing all twelve members of the barque's crew. In the process, the crew shattered three of her oars, and the small craft was filled numerous times with water.
The bodies of the unfortunate lifeboatmen (who were fishermen by trade) were removed from the beaches and laid out in the coaching house of the nearby Birkdale Palace Hotel. The coach house was later converted to a public house, being named The Fishermen's Rest, and is reputed to be haunted by the spirits of the dead men.
The disaster is the worst in the history of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
(RNLI), with 27 lifeboat crew lost.
A public fund for relief of the sixteen widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
s and fifty orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
s was opened with the RNLI contributing £2,000, the queen and the emperor of Germany also contributing. £30,000 was raised in total. A memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
statue
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
of a lifeboatman looking out to sea on was placed on the promenade at St. Anne’s. At Southport, a memorial was erected in Duke Street Cemetery and a permanent exhibition can be seen in the Museum of the Botanic Gardens in Churchtown, Southport.
In 1925, the RNLI abandoned the Station at Southport and left the town with no lifeboat. However in the late 1980s, after a series of unfortunate tragedies, local families from Southport started to raise funds and eventually bought a new lifeboat for the town stationed at the old RNLI boathouse. The lifeboat is completely independent of the RNLI and therefore receives no money from that organisation. Instead it depends entirely on donations by the public.