SO close to home and yet so far....In circumstances very similar to the loss of the Hull trawler Edgar Wallace H262 only four years previously, would be almost repeated as the Hull trawler Lady Jeanette H466 would turn over with the loss of nine lives as she attempted to anchor, to await entry into St Andrews Dock. After leaving Hull on the 27 Feb for the Norwegian fishing grounds,the Lady Jeanette arrived back in the Humber just after 1.50pm on Mar the 8th after a successful 15 day fishing trip having approx 1,500 kits of fish aboard. As she made her way to St Andrews Dock around 4pm there were several other vessels already anchored in the river, awaiting high tide at around 8.15 pm to enter into the dock, the Lord Hotham been the furthest up river around Strickland St Bridge. There was a very strong 4 knot tide running and after passing the Lord Hotham the Lady Jeanette let her anchor go to which the cable ran out at too fast a speed, and comming towards the end of the cables length, the cable came taught and parted. After the cable parted the vessel moved up the river towards Hessle in the tide and shallower water, where she swung round and quickly took to the ground, working her engines forward and astern she tried to get off the sandbank, but drove herself further on untill she turned over on her beam ends, very close to the same place as the trawler Edgar Wallace met a similar fate. On the previous night the The Hull trawler Brontes had become fast on the same sandbank but had managed to get herself off. With the sounding of the trawlers whistle and witnesses on shore, vessels immediately went to the assistance of the Lady Jeanette, the first arrival was a tug from Goole (Triune ) followed by a power barge the Cite de Paris which had come across from the Lincolnshire side of the river. They found men on the bow and others desperately clinging to the starboard side of the vessel. At great risk the rescue vessels went close in to the vessel which had sunk into the mud up to its foremast, to get the men off. The ferry Winfield Castle Capt E Coombe also altered her coarse to render assistance but with the Cite De Paris close to the trawler, could not do so without putting it`s own passengers in jeopardy, so made her way to the New Holland pier. The gathering crowds which lined the riverside quay could see the fore part of the stranded vessel showing above the surface as the events unfolded. Vessels searched the river for anyone who had been taken by the tide, after two hours news of the men had started to reach the shore, female relatives of the crewmen were in tears, as it was unclear if there were survivors that had been picked up by the ferry or other vessels and landed in New Holland. Arthur Cargill and one of the owners went to the vessel in a tug but there was no more signs of life, it was dark when the Cite de Paris ( 8 survivors taken from the vessel including the skipper ) and the Triune ( 1 survivor C Neilson taken from the water ) would return to the dock entrance with the survivors. The men were taken to the Insurance building for a roll call, where one female relative made her way to the room Where`s our Stan? she asked. Officials could not answer as Stan Harvey was one of the missing men. Skipper Gilbert Parkinson married with a 3yr old son comes from an old Hull fishing family, deemed as one of Hulls finest younger skippers he had held his skippers certificate for the past four years. There also been five skippers in the family his younger brother been the most recent to receive his certifiacte. He told the Mail that so quickly after the cable parted did the disaster take place, that the crew had no time to realise what had happened. Even he had but a short space of time to prepare himself for the heeling over of the vessel, and what time he did have he spent in warning the crew to launch the boat and save themselves. Some of the survivors who had also had no warning of the impending fate of the vessel, spoke of the crew playing cards below deck minutes before the disaster, they had had a good trip and were looking forward to getting ashore. The Mate E Fell who had been going to sea for 16 years was with the skipper in the wheelhouse when the vessel capsized I felt her begin to go, and scrambled up the tiled floor of the bridge towards the door. Just as I reached it the door slammed, but I managed to force my way out and climb over on to the side of the ship. The skipper climbed out of one of the bridge windows. Most of the crew had come on deck when we had touched the bank, and as she turned over some of them jumped for it into the water. There was no hope for them. The tide was too strong and swept them all away except Neilsen, who`s been very fortunate. I don`t remember very clearly what happened after she turned over. There were other men scrambling on to the ship`s side, and I shouted to them:`stay where you are! She won`t go any further!` Those who satyed were saved, being taken off by a tug with a red funnel. As the trawler touched the chief engineer Gerald Doncaster told the Trimmer A Middleton to go on deck and see if the trawler had freed herself, this was the last order he gave and saved Middletons life, as just as he reached the deck, the trawler heeled over trapping them left in the engine room. J Rial third hand was in the galley with the cook Norman Ward when the trawler began to turn over he followed the cook out who was first on to the deck but was lost, Riall clammbered onto the ships side by climbing through the rigging on the way finding the bosun D Maguire held fast having his oilskins caught in the small boat, which Rial cut with his gutting knife, freeing him. Bill Greening the deckie learner on only his second trip lost everything but arrived home safely without even getting wet. Charles Hayward was with Bosun Maguire trying to get the boat out after hearing the skipper yell, when the vessel turned trapping both men, they managed to get free and Hayward ended up on the ship`s side. Up to his neck in water he threw his lifebelt to his pal Jack Foster. After hanging on for an hour Hayward was rescued by the Cite de Paris it then made it`s way towards Foster hanging onto the lifebelt, but just as they were going to pull him aboard he let go and sank. Charles was bitter about been wrecked so close to home and devastated that his pal had died so close to rescue. Jack Foster wanted to go to sea with his pals and had not come from a fishing family. E H Newton the Second Engineer trapped in the engine room was making his first trip aboard the trawler after been on big boats. He was the holder of the Royal Humane Society vellum award for rescuing a ship mate who had been washed overboard in the North Sea. Bosun D Maguire said Most of us were on the boat deck at the time, launching the ship`s boat. She threw the sparehands off the boat deck, and they hadn`t a chance. I was trapped under the small boat untill Riall came along and cut me adrift. We had the boat launched but it was still in the davits at the time, and the trawler simply heeled over onto that side. Deckhand C Neilson had been with the trawler for two years It seemed as if I had been in the water an hour before I was picked up, I picked up a lifebelt which was thrown to me and was practically numbed when taken aboard ship. I lost all my gear and came home in trousers lent to me on dock. After been in the water he was washed towards hessle when the tug picked him up. On June 29th the body of Thomas Smith was washed up at Paul. For over a month a German Salvage company worked day and night attempting to salvage the Lady Jeanette but after two attempts to lift her all further attempts were abandoned as the salvage company moved onto the salvage of the St Delphine which had sunk in a collision the day after the loss of the Lady Jeanette. LADY JEANETTE
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 07:51:30 +0000
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