Robert Elgar Datlen

 

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Charles Walter Datlen - The Times Article
The Late Fatal Collision off Dover (8 January 1866)

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THE LATE FATAL COLLISION OFF DOVER.
DOVER, Saturday
The protracted inquiry into the circumstances attending the collision between the mail packet Samphire and the American Fanny Buck, off Dover, on the night of the 13th December, was resumed at the Town-hall this morning, and brought to a conclusion.  The parties concerned were represented by the several professional gentlemen who had been in attendance on the previous days over which the inquiry has extended,- Mr. T. Fox appearing for Captain Bennett, the commander of the Samphire; Mr.Fowler, from the office of Messrs. Freshfield and Newman, for the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company, Mr. W. E. Knocker, for the mail packet service, and Mr. Edwards for the owners of the Fanny Buck.
Frederick Waters, examined by Mr. Knocker.- I was in the starboard lifeboat, lowering it, after the collision.  I lowered the after pennant.  I was in the after part of the boat.  When the captain gave orders to clear away the davit tackle falls, I cast off the lowering apparatus and slacked both falls, and lowered the boat level with the rails.  I made the davit tackle falls fast, and also made fast the lowering apparatus.  I then ran forward, and on coming aft again I found the boat full of passengers.  It was then nearly level with the rails.  I begged of the passengers to come out of the boat, as there were too many in it for me to see to the gear.  Seven or eight of the passengers did come out.  I then got in to the after part of the boat over the gunwale, and overhauled the davit tackle.  I could not get the block unhooked from the passengers sitting on the thwarts.  I could not get them to move; I therefore overhauled the fall well, so as to allow the boat sufficient fall to go into the water if the lowering apparatus should be let go, and also to prevent the boat going head first.  The boat was then lowered, and she went down all right.
Captain Harris.- Went down by the run?
Witness.- No, far from it; she went down as fair as a boat could go.  I don’t know that she slipped a cupful of water.
Mr. Knocker.- Did and one’s scarf or neck-tie get into the block?
Witness.- Yes, a gentleman’s neck-tie got into the block, but it did not prevent the boat going down.
Mr. Knocker.- Do you know who lowered the boat?
Witness.- I cannot say who had hold of the pennant at the main thwart, but I lowered my end.
By Captain Harris.- Malpas and Datlin were in the boar with me.  The boat did not fill till after it was in the water.  I don’t know that anyone was pitched into the stern sheets by the boat being lowered.
Captain Harris remarked that it was a very extraordinary thing that the other man who assisted to lower this boat could not be found.  This certainly could not have been done by a passenger.  It must have been done by some person conversant with the lowering apparatus.  (To witness.) - Are you quite sure there were no firemen in the boat with you?
Witness.- Yes, Sir; quite sure.
Mr. O’Dowd suggested that to make clear the evidence given on Wednesday as to the Post-office contract it would be well to recall Lieutenant Morgan, who was accordingly recalled.
Lietenant Morgan then said,- In my examination of Wednesday last I said “the company receive a reward if the voyage is performed under the contract time; but if the contract time is exceeded a forfeit has to be paid.”
Mr. O’Dowd, in order to make the remainder of the evidence quite clear, here read some of the clauses of the contract, from which it appeared that the duration of a voyage between Dover and Calais is not to exceed two hours and five minutes, and that a premium of 5l. is paid to the contractors by the Postmaster-General on each occasion on which the voyage in either direction is performed in less than the time allowed; but out of the accumulated premiums thus payable to the contractors they are bound to repay, or the Postmaster-General is entitled to deduct, 5l. in respect of each occasion on which the voyage in either direction shall exceed the time allowed by 15 minutes.
Examination of Lieutenant Morgan continued.- Since my examination I have read the Post-office contract.  Out of the 5l. premium paid for quick passages the captain receives 2s.  I am afraid we do not receive the premium quite so often as Captain Bruce thought - six times out of seven.  Perhaps we get the premium twice out of three times, or three times out of four.  If the voyage is performed in two hours four minutes and a fraction of a minute we get the premium.  There is considerable accumulation of premiums during the year, but I cannot say the amount without referring.
Mr. O’Dowd.- 1,000l. or 500l.?
Lieutenant Morgan.- I really cannot say.
Mr. O’Dowd.- That is a little extraordinary.  If the average is what Captain Bruce describes it, it must be something like 3,600l. a year.  Can you tell us how often the penalty is imposed?
Lietenant Morgan.- I cannot tell exactly.  The papers go to London.
Mr. O’Dowd.- Can you give us a rough estimate?
Lieutenant Morgan.- I really cannot.
Mr. O’Dowd.- Not as the marine superintendent of the compant?
Lieutenant Morgan.- I should say perhaps 1,000l.
Examination continued.- The penalties are imposed if we exceed the passage by 15 minutes.  The master does not lose anything by the enforcement of the penalty.  There is a clause in the contract binding the company to employ the very best boats in point of equipment, and subject to the approval of the Admiralty officer at Dover.
By Mr. Fox.- There are four commanders in the service, and the average amount each commander receives per annum as his share of the premium, supposing they make an equal number of trips each, is about 14l.
This being the whole of the evidence of the witness, Mr. Fox said he would like to ask, before handing in the statement of the captain of the Samphire, whether the case was entirely closed.
Mr. O’Dowd said that he had concluded on the part of the Board of Trade, and the professional gentleman representing the various parties concerned stated that they had no more evidence to call.
Mr. Fox.- Then I will hand in the statement of Captain Bennett, and will accompany it with certain testimonials to his efficiency from Rear-Admiral Hathorne and Captain Boxer, R.N. the superintendent of the marine department of the South-Eastern Railway Company at Folkestone.
The following was then read as “the statement of John Whitmore Bennett, commander in the Royal and Imperial Mail Packet service:”-
“On the night of the 13th of December last I was in temporary command of the mail steam packet the Samphire, having been appointed to that ship on the 6th of December, in the absence of Captain Matthews, the regular commander, who had been directed to perform other duties in London.  My Certificate of competency as master of a home-trade passenger ship is dated th 26th of December, 1855.  I have been continually employed in the Channel service, first as a mate and subsequently as master, for the last 19 years.  I have commanded a mail packet since March 1862.  On the night of the 13th of December last I left the Admiralty Pier, Dover, in command of the Samphire at 58 minutes past 10, having on board the English mail for Calais, in charge of mail officer Suters, and about 70 passengers and  baggage.  When we started I was at my usual post on the bridge platform, having with me the call-boy, Henry Hills, and Robert Malpas as the look-out man.  I was on the port side of the bridge, and Malpas on the starboard, ready to pass my orders to the engineer.  Thomas Northover was stationed at the extreme end of the vessel’s bows as the look-out forward.  Having seen everything clear, and just as we were leaving the Admiralty Pier, I called to Northover to keep a good lookout.  He answered, ‘All right. Sir.’ or ‘Aye, aye, Sir.’  We started with the usual lights-viz., white at the masthead, red on the port bow, and green on the starboard bow.  They were all burning brilliantly.  I had examined them according to my custom before leaving the pier.  The wind was about N.N.W., light; the atmosphere was rather misty, and it was very dark.  I had the second mate, Charles Datlin, at the ‘con,’ and one seaman, George Boyce, at the wheel.  Prior and up to the time of the occurrence the chief mate was on the fore deck, with the mail master, and the rest of the crew were engaged in looking out and performing the ordinary duties of the passage.  While on the bridge, the night being dark, I was constantly using my night glasses.  We proceeded on the voyage, steerings S.E. half E., and going at the ordinary speed.  From 15 to 20 minutes after we left the pier, and at a distance therefrom of about three or four miles, I heard Northover shout out ‘A sail on the port bow.’  Just at that moment I saw a white light appear about two points on the port bow.  It was so dark that I could not see the hull of any vessel.  I immediately gave the word ‘hard a-port,’ which was acknowledged by the second mate, at the wheel.  The helm was at once put hard a-port, and the vessel answered it.  The next moment I saw the loom of a vessel, which afterwards turned out to be the bark Fanny Buck, closing so hard upon us that I gave orders to ease and stop the engines in quick succession, which orders were duly carried out.  The bark instantly struck us on the port bow, when at that moment I ordered the engines to go astern.  As soon as the steamer could get stern way the vessels cleared each other, and I then had the engines stopped, and ran off the bridge (which I had not left from the time of starting) to the fore part to ascertain what damage the Samphire had sustained, and who and what were in the fore deck or in the fore cabin, and while doing so I observed a dim green light on the starboard side of the bark.  I had seen no green light on her previous to this.  As I got forward I heard screams from the fore cabin.  I made an attempt to go down and save those there, but the water was flowing in so fast that I compelled to retreat after I had gone down about two steps.  I had seen two ladies in the fore cabin when at the Admiralty Pier.  It struck me that the screaming came from them.  I then went to the skylight to try how I could get into the cabin that way, when I found the skylight blown off by the concussion of the water and air.  I felt with my hand the water level with the deck, so that I knew no assistance to anybody in the fore cabin could be given by way of the skylight.  Finding it impossible to do anything forward, I ran aft and ordered the two lifeboats to be cleared and lowered, at the same time doing all I could to allay the fears of the passengers, feeling assured from my examination forward that there would be very little danger if the bulkheads held tight, there being no sea on.  The port lifeboat was the first lowered.  The mate, some of the crew, and one or two passengers were in her in a minute.  The boat shoved off from the side of the ship to prevent more passengers jumping into her, and, believing her to be full, I deemed it expedient at once to order her to pull inshore and obtain assistance, and she left accordingly.  In the meantime the starboard lifeboat was being lowered.  I immediately went to her and assisted myself to get her rightly into the water.  I found the passengers crowding round this boat also, in a very excited state; indeed, more persons jumped into the boat while hanging at the davits than she could fairly hold.  I even had my main force to pull several off the rail, assuring them that everything would be done to save every life, and there would be no danger if they would only be quiet and trust to me.  Datlin, the second mate, Malpas and Waters, of the crew, with the mail-master, were in this boat but in lowering her, from the number of the passengers that were in her, and could not be removed from her, the fore-runner got hung up, and consequently, instead of both end going down together as they should have done, the stern went down and the bow remained hung up until some one in the boat cast the fore pennant and the bow went down by the run, whereby a great deal of water was shipped.  As the lowering apparatus worked well until the boat was within four feet of the water, the hanging up can only be attributable to something pressing on the fore pennant.  I ordered this boat to make for the bark, and get them to heave to and send for assistance.  I saw the boat pulling away in the direction of the bark; she did not return to the ship.  The two lifeboats having left, I then (more as a matter of precaution than necessity) asked the assistance of the passengers to clear away the two quarter-boats.  They most willingly lent a hand, and we soon got the starboard boat hoisted up to the tackles and over the side.  At this moment, in spite of all I could do, and what I told the people, they would rush into this boat, and the consequences were that the fore part only was lowered away, and the passengers so crowding the after part, the seaman (Boyce) there was of no use whatever, and at length, by the people shifting about, the boat went down by the run and was capsized.  From what I could see, most of the passengers managed to scramble up the side of the steamer by means of the boat-tackle falls, but I saw three passengers still in the water.  I then ordered the other quarter-boat to be cleared.  This boat I had kept in reserve for the ladies, and was making arrangements to put them in, but when she was launched, although I told the passengers I wanted that boat for the ladies, and pulled several back, they overpowered me, and about 15 or 16 people rushed into her.  This boat with difficulty got clear of the ship, when I ordered her to pull round to the starboard side to pick up those in the water who were holding onto the lines.  I had thrown a life-buoy down when the starboard quarter-boat upset, and as the port quarter-boat passed round the stern of the steamer I dropped another life-buoy into her, and Boyce, one of the crew in the boat, put it over the head of the man in the water; but finding this boat, when she got round on our starboard quarter, did not come alongside, but went off in the direction of Dover, I dropped over the starboard side into the water myself, and put the bight of a rope round one person, and the passengers assisting he was hauled up and saved.  I then passed a line round another in the water and he was hauled up as far as the rail, when the rope slipped over his head and he fell down and was seen no more.  This was a stout, heavy, foreign gentleman, and had a great cloak on and large boots.  Seeing no one else in the water, and not knowing what became of the third person, I was then hauled up myself, much exhausted.  In the meantime our whistle was blowing continually, for I had no rockets or blue lights to use, as they were in the fore compartment, which was under water.  Soon after this I saw a steamer’s masthead light, which I thought was the Belgian boat.  I could not see her hull; only her light.  I ttok one of the best lanterns in the ship, and, accompanied by one of the crew, went on the paddlebox, and we shouted and waved the lights.  Failing to attract the attention of the steamer, I proceeded again to examine the damage caused by the collision, and when I found that a little water was coming over the engine-room bulkhead I had the fore boiler blown off to lighten the ship, and had the baggage and movables in the fore part of the ship taken aft.  I then occupied myself, with the assistance of the remaining part of the crew and the passengers, in making a raft with the loose spars and gratings we collected.  I had scarcely made any progress when the Belgian steamer hove in sight, came alongside, and took on board all passengers and the baggage that remained in the Samphire.  As my three boats had gone away and the fourth had been lost, they left me their lifeboat and a supply of blue lights.  These I kept using as a guide to the Belgian boat, which came again about two hours afterwards and towed the Samphire into Dover harbour; the Samphire helping by using her own engines, we got in the harbour about 8.15 a.m.  After the port quarter-boat had left us the passengers became reconciled and quiet, and felt confidence in the statements I had made to them, and the seaworthiness of the Samphire to keep afloat until assistance reached us.  I saw nothing of the bark five minutes after the collision.  I could see no hull of any ship or boat of any kind.  It came on thicker as the morning advanced, and the only light I could see was the light I have described, and believed to be at the time a white light of the Belgian mail packet and the Varne light.  From the time of the collision to the time when the Belgian steamer first came to us we had drifted, I think, about 10 or 12 miles.  We used the engines at intervals to keep the ship and the engine-room dry.  We had at all times and under all circumstances the command of our engines, but we had lost all steerage power.  I wish to add that every precaution was taken by me to insure a safe passage, and to insure the safety of the passengers even after the accident has happened.”
Mr. Fox then addressed the Court in a speech of considerable length on behalf of his client.  He commenced his observations by thanking the whole of the parties concerned in this inquiry for the consideration they had extended to Captain Bennett, upon whom none of the representatives of the conflicting interests involved had sought to cast any blame, while on the part of the Board of Trade, Mr. O’Dowd, on opening the proceedings, had referred to him in a way which was a most flattering and highly esteemed addendum to the other testimonials he had had the honour to lay before the Court.  The voluminous nature of the evidence rendered it not a little difficult to point out the portions of it to which it was his duty, in the interest of his client, to direct the Court’s attention; but he would endeavour as well as he was able to advert to some of these points.  Beginning with the weather on the night in question, with respect to which the evidence was of a most conflicting nature, he thought it might be safely concluded that the night was dark and hazy.  Only one out of all the witnesses examined ventured to say that it was a clear night.  This was Mr. Frause, one of the gentlemen who came from London.  The evidence which was perhaps the most reliable- the testimony of the Coastguard and the captain of the pilot cutter- described the night as dark and misty, or hazy, without going so far as to say that it was actually foggy.  In spite of this evidence, however, the people on board the Fanny Buck had sufficiently good eyesight to swear they saw herring-boats and hulls of ships half a mile off.  He asked the court to form its opinion whether the state of the night was such as these witnesses represented it, or whether the independent testimony of such witnesses as the Coastguard and the captain of the pilot cutter, which agreed with the statement given by another most important witness, the second officer of the Belgian steampacket, should not rather be relied on?  Then as to the rate of speed, it appeared from the evidence of the gentleman just referred to, who held a commission in the Belgian navy, and was quite competent to form an accurate opinion on the subject, that the Belgian boat was going at the rate of 13 or 14 knots an hour, while it was in evidence that the Samphire, whose course was not very different from that of the Belgian packet, was making only 12 knots an hour.  The Belgian officer also said that he did not consider it necessary to take any extraordinary precautions on this particular night.  He would ask the court to bear the evidence of this gentleman prominently in mind, because he considered it not only the best evidence that could possibly be obtained on certain questions of fact, but because it bore in an important manner on the conduct of Captain Bennett.  The next question presenting itself was that of the look-out.  The testimony tended to show that every precaution was taken to insure a goo look-out on board the Samphire.  The look-out man, Northover, who was stationed in the forepart of the steamer, was famous for his sharpness of vision, and in addition to him, as look-out man, there was the second look-out man on the bridge with the captain - who was using his night glasses in accordance with his invariable custom - and also a boy.  Added to all this, it must be remembered that it was the duty of all seamen on board to keep a look out, and there was nothing to show that they were neglecting their duty in this respect.  It was also in evidence that Captain Bennett, on the steamboat leaving the pier, gave express injunctions that a good look-out should be kept.  He confessed, with reference to the evidence of the look-out kept on board the Fanny Buck, that, as a layman, he was not a little astonished at it, while totally unable to understand it.  The Rotterdam pilot swore that he saw the steamer’s lights ten minutes before the collision, that he watched her coming on, and perceived that a collision was inevitable, but that he, notwithstanding, did not in any degree alter his course, his only explanation or apology for this extraordinary, not to say inhuman, course of conduct being that he was entitled to keep his course, and that it was the business of the steamer to get out of the way and take care of herself.  Then there was the evidence of the American gentlemen, some of whom saw fishing boats and hulls a long way off, while others coul not have seen hulls without lights.  Notably, there was the evidence of the witness who saw the white light of the steamer from 700 to 1,000 yards off; but saw her red light about three minutes afterwards, and her green light about a minute and a half after that - statements which must of necessity be contradictory, bearing in mind the rate at which the steamer was going.  Mr. Fox then referred to the evidence of the steward on board the bark, expressing his surprise that the imputations contained in that witness’s evidence upon the American Consul, Mr. Irons, his “runner” in buttons (a laugh), and Mr. Bonden had not been rebutted.  His evidence showed that the Fanny Buck’s lights were not properly trimmed, and that they were not exhibited just prior to the collision.  He then referred to the circumstances immediately following the collision, and the desire manifested by Captain Bennett to do all in his power for the safety of the passengers, contrasting it with what he characterized as the inhuman conduct of the persons in charge of the bark, who made no effort to render and assistance to what they at the time believed to be the drowning passengers and crew of the steamer, and of whom nothing whatever would have been heard, perhaps but for the necessity of her entering some port for repairs.  If any question should arise in the minds of the court as to the rate at which the Samphire was going, although he could hardly suppose this would be the case after the evidence of the Belgian officer, it must be remembered that the public held out a premium for rapid transport, whether by boat or by rail, by patronizing those modes of conveyance which went at express speed.  A public department also followed the like course in offering a direct money premium for all voyages made in less than the average or stipulated time.  He was aware that the demand of the public, and also of the Post-office, assumed that the speed attempted should not be inconsistent with safety, and he contended that the evidence went to show that no fear upon this point could have reasonably arisen in Captain Bennett’s mind.  Mr. Fox concluded his lengthened remarks by asking the Court, in the face of all the circumstances, and the presumptions he had endeavoured to suggest in favour of Captain Bennett, to give in his favour any doubt that might arise, and to show by their judgment that they exonerated him from serious responsibility.
The only other professional gentleman who desired to address the Court was Mr. Knocker, who merely observed that it had been the wish of the mail packet service to afford the Court every opportunity throughout the inquiry of arriving at the true facts of the case, and that he had striven as far as possible to carry out this object.
The Mayor and Dr. Astley, together with the nautical assessors, then retired, accompanied by the clerk to the Court, Mr. J. Stilwell, and after an absence of about an hour and a half returned, when the Mayor propounded the following judgment:- “After a most careful and anxious consideration of the voluminous and contradictory evidence take in this inquiry, we have come to the conclusion that the captain of the Samphire, who is solely responsible or the conduct and management of his vessel, is culpable for having driven his vessel at so great a speed across one of the most frequented narrow seas in the world, on so dark and hazy a night as that of th 13th of December.  The attendant circumstances, however, are such, and the default of the bark in not properly exhibiting a sufficient light from her lamps having to some extent contributed to the damage and loss of life, we do not think we should be justified in awarding so severe a sentence as either deprivation or suspension of his certificate.  The circumstances to which we allude, and which we think it right now to mention, without waiting for the publication of our report, are - first, the provisions of the contract carrying the mails, which hold out a direct premium for quick passage in all weathers, and the natural desire of the captain to gain the premium and avoid the penalty on behalf of his employers; secondly, the great moral pressure put upon both the owners and commanders of the vessels by the public, who require the utmost despatch to be used in the transmission of the mails, and the desire of the passengers frequenting the route for quick passages, a desire which can only be gratified in cases like the present by a neglect of some of those precautions which we think indispensable for safety.  The great interest evinced by the public in these proceedings has induced us in thus announcing our decision to go further into detail than we should otherwise have considered incumbent on us.  The various other questions arising on this inquiry as to the conduct of the captain and crew of the Samphire after the collision, and other matters, will be more fully entered into in our detailed report to the Board of Trade.  The Court has great pleasure in handing back to captain Bennett his certificate, and at the same time testifying to his laudable exertions in endeavouring to save life after the collision.”
Mr. O’Dowd said he thought he should be wanting very much, however unusual such a course might be at the close of a judiciary inquiry, if he neglected to thank the Bench for the attention they had paid to the case which had been brought under their consideration.  He felt however, that these proceedings ought not to close without his adverting to the almost unexampled labour imposed on his Worship the Mayor of Dover and his brother magistrate, Dr. Astley, by the voluminous examination of witnesses which had taken place, and taken place of necessity, and he hoped it would not be deemed presumptuous on his part to express, so far as he might humbly be allowed to represent the Board of Trade, his thanks for the patience and great ability the Bench had exhibited during this, the longest inquiry within his experience of such matters, which extended over a period of some 10 years.
The proceedings then terminated.
 
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