Title
Baltic Thames sailing barge aground, St. Clements Isle off Mousehole. 1907
Subject
aground St Clements Isle
Description
The Sailing barge Baltic was bound for Newlyn from Medway with a cargo of cement for the harbour extension works. It wrecked on St. Clements Island on November 1st 1907.
The Baltic got off course after rounding the Lizard. The night was so dark and thick that her plight was hidden from the shore, and nearly an hour went by before the flickering light of a paraffin soaked mattress burning on the foredeck was seen from the village of Mousehole.
The coastguards sent word to the lifeboat station at Newlyn, while six Mousehole fishermen decided to make a rescue bid of their own. They manned the crabber, White Lady, but as the harbour mouth was close by the large timber baulks which kept out the rough seas in the winter, they had to manhadle her over the pier and down into the sea outside. Big waves were dashing against the expose harbour wall, making is a hard struggle to row the crabber clear of the rocsk and shallow water.
At last it was accomplished and the fishermen pulled towards the glimmer of foam which distinguished the dark mass of the island from the darkness around. The tide was ebbing fast and jagged ledges and rocks were coming awash: it took five attempts to find a landing place for the White Lady. The fisherman Stanley Drew leaped on to the rocks with the Mousehole pierhead light in one hand and managed to scramble across to where the shipwrecked peoople were huddled.
Headed by a young Irish Sailor, Adam Torrie, who had risked his life to get on to the island over the Baltics Bowspirit, Captain Langford, his wife, and daughter, and mate George Baines had abandoned the barge for the slightly better safety of the rocks.
Drew carried Mrs Langford, who was nearly hysterical, back to the crabber and William Harvey followed with her daughter in his arms. The others made their way after him and when all were safely aboard the White Lady the fishermen headed back for Mousehole. But by the time the tide was low and the task of getting back into the harbour was even more difficult, and the women had to be hauled to the top of the wall by ropes tied under their arms.
The Baltic soon became a total wreck, but the bravery of the six fishermen did not go unrewarded: Stanely Drew, William H. Harvey, Luther Harvey, Charles Harry, Richard Harrym and Richard Thomas recieved a cash award from the RNLI, as well as a silver medal which a Birmingham buisnessman had especially struck to commemorate their action. Adam Torrie, the Irish sailor, settled in Mousehole and married the harbourmaster's daughter, and today his descendants live in the village.
Descripton from Richard Larn and Clive Carter, Cornish Shipwrecks: The South Coast (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1971), p. 194-195.
The Baltic got off course after rounding the Lizard. The night was so dark and thick that her plight was hidden from the shore, and nearly an hour went by before the flickering light of a paraffin soaked mattress burning on the foredeck was seen from the village of Mousehole.
The coastguards sent word to the lifeboat station at Newlyn, while six Mousehole fishermen decided to make a rescue bid of their own. They manned the crabber, White Lady, but as the harbour mouth was close by the large timber baulks which kept out the rough seas in the winter, they had to manhadle her over the pier and down into the sea outside. Big waves were dashing against the expose harbour wall, making is a hard struggle to row the crabber clear of the rocsk and shallow water.
At last it was accomplished and the fishermen pulled towards the glimmer of foam which distinguished the dark mass of the island from the darkness around. The tide was ebbing fast and jagged ledges and rocks were coming awash: it took five attempts to find a landing place for the White Lady. The fisherman Stanley Drew leaped on to the rocks with the Mousehole pierhead light in one hand and managed to scramble across to where the shipwrecked peoople were huddled.
Headed by a young Irish Sailor, Adam Torrie, who had risked his life to get on to the island over the Baltics Bowspirit, Captain Langford, his wife, and daughter, and mate George Baines had abandoned the barge for the slightly better safety of the rocks.
Drew carried Mrs Langford, who was nearly hysterical, back to the crabber and William Harvey followed with her daughter in his arms. The others made their way after him and when all were safely aboard the White Lady the fishermen headed back for Mousehole. But by the time the tide was low and the task of getting back into the harbour was even more difficult, and the women had to be hauled to the top of the wall by ropes tied under their arms.
The Baltic soon became a total wreck, but the bravery of the six fishermen did not go unrewarded: Stanely Drew, William H. Harvey, Luther Harvey, Charles Harry, Richard Harrym and Richard Thomas recieved a cash award from the RNLI, as well as a silver medal which a Birmingham buisnessman had especially struck to commemorate their action. Adam Torrie, the Irish sailor, settled in Mousehole and married the harbourmaster's daughter, and today his descendants live in the village.
Descripton from Richard Larn and Clive Carter, Cornish Shipwrecks: The South Coast (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1971), p. 194-195.
Date
1907
Identifier
WRECKS 32OF 269
Coverage
Mousehole
Street Name
Baltic