Lugger "Queen of the Isles" - 15 Nov 1858

The first service for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute Castletown lifeboat came early on the morning of Thursday ,15th November 1858, to a small lugger the "Queen of the Isle", laden with coals , anchored in Castletown Bay. It was blowing a gale of wind from the eastward at the time and no communication was possible with the shore. It was reported by persons who had knowledge of the vessel that she had no cable on board which could be trusted to hold against so bad a gale , which appeared to be increasing, and with her jib foresail and mizen having been carried away, the lives of the crew were in greatest of danger. The Lifeboat was launched and a small anchor and hawser brought out with the Rev E Farrier , one of the local lifeboat committee accompanying the crew. On arriving at the lugger, her crew consisting of 2 men and a boy , were found to be in a helpless and exhausted state from exposure to the cold and the luggers' cable was found to be very light chain in bad condition on which it may be said the preservation of vessel and crew depended. A second anchor was got out and three of the lifeboats crew left on board who slipped anchors and made Castletown Harbour some hours afterwards.

Smack "Jabez" - 30 Aug 1858

At about nine o'clock on Friday night, the 30th August 1859, signals of distress were observed from a vessel in Castletown Bay, where upon the lifeboat was immediately launched but in consequence of its being only an hours flood ,the boat had to be sent down under King Williams College, where she was launched through a tremendous surge. The horses attached to the carriage refusing to face the surge, part of the crew had to jump overboard to assist in getting her afloat.

The lifeboat crew under the command of Coxswain Sinnot, put off in the large seas to the relief of the vessel reaching her at about midnight. The vessel proved to be the sloop "Jabez", of Greenock, Charles Henry master, laden with slates from Bangor to Glasgow. They carried away their main sheet off the Calf, and rove a second, which was also carried away and disabled one of the crew. The boom breaking in two, carried the boy over with it , but he fortunately held on and was got on board again. The sloop then ran into Castletown and let go both anchors, when the lifeboat put three men on board and lay astern. The best chain parted about an hour before high water, when with great difficulty the crew made sail and finally succeeded in getting the vessel into harbour after she had grounded at the Pier Head. Had it not been for the lifeboat, there is not the slightest of doubt both vessel and crew would have been lost, as the one anchor would not have held for five minutes from the rocks, and the boom stove the small boat so that they were without means of escape.

It was reported that the Lifeboat behaved exceedingly well and rowed through the breakers and against a strong SSW gale and heavy sea with great speed; and the crew though drenched and fatigued with their perserving exertions in launching the Lifeboat, will be well repaid by the satisfaction of having saved the lives of the crew as well as bringing the ship and cargo to a place of safety when the cable parted. The crew were rewarded with a sovereign each, the usual payment from the society for a night service. The captain presented the men who so nobly jumped overboard to assist in launching the boat with 10 shillings out of his own pocket.

Schooner "Opreisningen"

The next service came the 30th August 1859 to the Norwegian schooner "Opreisningen", Evensen master, laden with timber, and bound for Castletown. The vessel got on the rocks under King Williams College at low water on that Tuesday evening. She was off the bay a few days previous but had been unable to beat in. It then blew hard through the day and as the wind did not abate during the evening the lifeboat was launched to take off her crew. The next morning , after putting two anchors out, warps were made fast from the vessel to the quay. The anchors were hove up and by sheer manpower she was hauled nearly a mile into the harbour. Fortunately her cargo of timber kept the vessel afloat and she was not badly damaged.

Barque "Ohio"

On 19th November , the barque "Ohio" of Liverpool, laden with salt for Stettin in Prussia and new owners, grounded at Kentraugh in the afternoon.She had left Liverpool on the 18th under the command of J W Liebnitzky. The following morning three feet of water was found in the bottom of her holds and with the pumps being choked by the salt , the master decided to head for the Isle of Man to effect repairs.During the afternoon the barque arrived in the Carrick Bay and took on board a pilot. As it was low water she went to anchor however a squall caused her sails to unfurl causing her to drag her anchors. Unable to furl the sails in time she was dragged on to the rocks under Kentraugh.

The Castletown lifeboat was quickly dispatched and launched from the beach at the Strand Hall; but previous to the barque going aground the pilot boat from Port St Mary had gone to her assistance and made an effort to haul her into harbour however the effort had failed. The shore boat then took off eight of the crew. The sea had considerably increased as the wind went round to the south west when the lifeboat rescued the captain, mate and the remaining two hands and landed them at Port St Mary. The vessel and cargo were subsequently lost.

lugger "Nimrod"

On 9th February 1861 she went to the assistance of the lugger "Nimrod" of Castletown saving three lives however no report of this service seems to have survived.

Schooner "Eliza Ann"

Later in 1861 a magnificent service was rendered to the schooner "Eliza Ann" of Dublin on the 23rd November.

The weather, as reported in Douglas, was showing the island was in the centre of a deep depression of 989 Mb, with a minimum temperature of -1 c , a maximum temperature of 1.5 c gale force winds from the south west which then went round to the north east and showery.

The Monas Herald of the 27th reported this vivid account....

"Castletown Bay presented a fearful but magnificent spectacle during the storm; the waves rolled in like mountains, enveloping the rocks and the strand in foam. A vessel was seen in the offing driving before the sea, and would probably be the vessel which was seen off Douglas in distress. About three o'clock in the afternoon a messenger arrived from Derbyhaven for the Life boat, a schooner which had taken shelter in that bay in the morning having exhibited a flag of distress. The Life boat was quickly dispatched, under the superintendence of the Rev. E. Ferrier, Government chaplain, who accompanied the boat to Derbyhaven ( the Rev. gentleman always takes a lively interest in these matters). The gale raged at this time with such violence that it was impossible for human agency to row any description of boat against it; hence the Life boat was taken to the head of the Fort Island, where the crew dropped anchor, and drifted down towards the schooner. When they got alongside the schooner they found the crew ( poor fellows !) about to commit themselves to the small boat, having launched it and put a few things into it. Had they put off from the schooner they must inevitably have perished, as it would have been impossible for a boat to have lived in the sea on such a rock-bound coast as lay to leeward. The vessel rode out the gale, as it moderated after high water."

On the same night another schooner called "Eliza" from Newry was forced ashore at Groudle with the loss of her mate and two crew ; the master and ships boy being able to save themselves.

It was reported at the same time that Douglas was with out a Life boat ( the station having closed down in 1851 ) and that had one been available that the loss of lives at Groudle could possibly have been avoided . Elsewhere round the island that many vessels were sheltering off Ramsey where four smacks were driven ashore and a schooner smashed in to another smack resulting in the loss of one.

Schooner Vixen

On the 25th March 1864 , the schooner Vixen , of Peel, bound from Bordeaux to Belfast called in at Port St Mary in order that the wife of Captain Sainsbury could accompany him on the last leg of the voyage.

The Vixen left the Port at 2.30 pm in a strong northerly wind and the vessel quickly round the Calf of Man. When about 2 miles north nor west of the Calf , the schooner was caught by a sudden gust of wind which throw her on her beam ends. The sea roughened by the squalls she was turned into wind and almost immediately foundered in twenty fathoms of water. This was observed form shore however by the time the Castletown Lifeboat arrived it was too late to render any help for the Captain , his wife and the schooners five crew , who all perished.

Schooner "Water Lily" of Pwllheli - 22nd May 1864

During a storm which started the previous day, a large number of vessels had taken shelter in Derbyhaven Bay. During Friday 22nd, the gale increased considerably and about two o'clock in the afternoon a servere squall swept over Castletown and Derbyhaven causing one vessel, the schooner "Water Lily" to be torn from its moorings. She was some 64 tons registered, owned and captained by a Mr Parry from Bangor, North Wales and was bound from Dundalk in ballast back to Bangor. It transpired that she had previously been ashore in Ireland and was making about one foot of water an hour when her last anchor parted when the vessel was hit by the squall.

The Castletown Harbour Master had been surveying the scene when the schooner started to drift rapidly offshore with a flag of distress flying at her main mast. The Castletown Life boat was at once sent to Derbyhaven and speedily put off to rescue of the crew of the drifting vessel. In addition to the usual crew, H C Gill, the Hon. Secretary to the RNLI was on board. The lifeboat reached the casualty about a mile outside Fort Island, the crew of master, two men and a boy were taken off and landed at the bridge connecting Fort Island and Langness. Soon after the rescue of the crew the vessel was observed to drift about a mile eastward with the flood tide, when she fell over her beam-ends waterlogged and sank.

The steamer "Snaefell" left Douglas shortly after noon in order to take the schooner in tow but arrived to find only a few articles of clothing. With the vessel un insured, the master had lost his livelihood and savings. For a short while afterwards her topmasts were visible at low water.

Copyright J B Kelly 1999- 2008