The Delaware was considered a large vessel for her time - an iron steamship of 3,243 tons. She had been built in 1865, and was rigged for sail. On 18 December 1871 she left Liverpool bound for Calcutta with a cargo of cotton, silks, sheet lead and tin. She had a crew of 44 men.
IN TROUBLE... BUT SEEN FROM BRYHER
A Nor'Westerly gale had built to storm-force when the Bryher pilots first saw her on 20 December. In the huge Atlantic rollers, now breaking into foam, the Delaware was being pushed towards the Norrard Rocks and Tearing Ledge. If she hit there, her fate would be sealed.
They raced to the summit of South Hill with telescopes to get a better view of the impending disaster. They could only watch helplessly.
On board the Delaware the crew frantically fought to save the ship. The engines were red-hot as they tried to force maximum power from the screw.
Eventually - and fatally - the engines had to be stopped. The captain immediately ordered a jib-sail to be hoisted in an attempt to guide the ship between Mincarlo and the other rocks.
If he could just get the ship to run before the wind she would avoid the reef and come inside Mincarlo to calmer waters...........
THE STORM TAKES HOLD OF HER....
To the despair of the crew, and those on the shore, the jib-sail was carried away by the gale within a few minutes. As the remnants of the canvas cracked like a whip in the rigging, they desperately struggled to raise a stay-sail - their last hope. No sooner had they raised it than it too was swept away in shreds.
The seas were now mountainous - rising up like the sides of houses.
The Delaware started to wallow broadside-on in the swell, one second in the trough of the waves the next lurching to the crest, being lifted up like a toy in the bath.
The poor souls on board could now only commit themselves to the Almighty.....
SHE DISAPPEARS BEFORE THEIR EYES...
A huge sea completely enveloped her and she disappeared under a wall of water. When she reappeared, the horrified onlookers could see that all the superstructure had been ripped away. She was now a naked hull.
The next sea broke over her - and she disappeared forever. An iron steamship had vanished within a few seconds on the deadly Norrard Rocks.
THE RESCUE PLAN IS CONTRIVED....
The Bryher men quickly calculated that if anyone had survived they would most likely be carried on wreckage towards White Island - a small uninhabited island of about two acres, fairly flat, covered by long grass and sea pinks, with a rocky shore and a boulder-strewn beach.
It is situated quarter of a mile west of Samson, the largest uninhabitated island of Scilly.
The onlookers scanned the boiling white seas through telescopes. To their amazement, survivors were spotted - two men clung to half a boat, two gripped a spar, and another hung onto a piece of wreckage.
Five men were still alive from the crew of forty four who had set out together from Liverpool just two days earlier.
The Bryher men never hesitated - a rescue plan was swiftly contrived which the pilots among them considered feasible. It was a brave and ambitious plan.
They chose the best sea-boat they had - the six-oared pilot gig 'Albion' with a beam of 5ft 6in and 30ft long. The plan was to carry the gig for half-a-mile overland to Rushy Bay where she could be launched with a following wind and sea.
The men raced to the gig shed at Great Par. Six oars were placed across the gig, twelve men took the weight in the crook of their elbow, with their other hand on the gunwhale to steady her. Each one struggled with the pain and the weight, but none complained and none would drop the load while there were still souls to be saved.
THE CREW ARE SELECTED...
When they reached Rushy Bay, ten men were selected to make the rescue mission. Their ages ranged from 21 to 50. The names of those heroes were:
Thomas Bickford |
Patrick Trevellick, William Woodcock, James Jenkins jnr, John Jacob Jenkins, Richard Ellis, William Jenkins, Stephen Woodcock, Thomas Bickford, John Webber, Sampson Jenkins.
Their acknowledged leaders were coxswain Patrick Trevellick who took charge of the yoke lines in the gig, and Richard Ellis who was to be dropped on Samson to signal back to Bryher where another crew waited with a sister gig 'March'.
They launched 'Albion' and the crew pulled hard as Trevellick steered out into the stormy seas. Pilot gigs are designed to run before huge seas, but the 1/4in planks twisted and groaned as they gradually edged towards Samson with every powerful stroke.
They finally made the lea of North Hill and were able to beach. Some of the crew scrambled ashore and dashed to the summit.
THE SURVIVORS STRUGGLE FOR LIFE....
Through their telescopes they could make out the two men on the half boat being swept towards the rocks of White Island quarter of a mile away.
As the half boat struck the rocks one man jumped into the sea and clung on with his arms. When the backwash left him high and dry he scrambled over the rocks to the grassy shore.
The second man stayed on the boat, was then washed up into the rocks and was able to follow his crew-mate to safety.
The two men on the spar were cast ashore about 100 yards further out on the point of the island which is covered at high tide. They were seen to get onto the rocks, but despite a desperate struggle were soon swept off and drowned.
The fifth man, on the piece of wreckage, was swept ashore where the two survivors landed. But he had no strength left to get off the rocky beach, and was soon swept away, never to be seen again.
The handful of watchers on the summit could see no other survivors, but from their vantage point were able to see how the two men might be rescued. It would involve rowing the 'Albion' further down Samson and carrying her - yet again - across a 200 yard isthmus and relaunching her on the other side.
They ran back to their companions. It was decided to carry out the plan, and if they reached White Island, four men would jump out leaving five men on the oars to keep her in the shelter of the island.
But first, they had to row down Samson, beach the gig and carry her over the isthmus. They reached the East Par beach without incident, and then began the Herculean task of again lifting and carrying the 30ft gig.
A HERCULEAN TASK....
Progress was desperately slow as they stumbled over seaweed, sand, grass and scrub. The full force of the gale whipped sand and spray into their faces and eyes.
Eventually they reached the bank at the West Par where they faced their most formidable obstacle. The seaweed-covered boulders and stones gave a treacherous foothold, and the gale all but tore the gig from their grasp.
They unshipped the slings and each man grabbed hold of a thwart. If they dropped her on a jagged stone, a plank might shatter and the life-saving mission would be over. With a supreme effort they made it over the bank and laid her on the beach, holding her down against the wind.
All was now set for the struggle against the freezing wind and sea. They left Richard Ellis on Samson to signal their progress back to Bryher, and then they started their heroic pull to White Island.
They met the full force of the Atlantic, with the gale almost slap "on the nose". The gig flexed and creaked, the men strained every tired sinew to keep her moving toward White Island. The 'Albion' stood on end as each roller passed under her, but slowly they made progress until they were halfway there in the savage wind and seas.
THEY FINALLY REACH WHITE ISLAND....
The second half seemed easier to all of them, and they finally made a landing against a stony brow on White Island. They watched for the best moment and then ran in quickly on the back of a wave.
As the sea receded the four men jumped out as arranged, and on the next wave the 'Albion' floated off again without damage.
John Jacob Jenkins - first to the scene |
The youngest man aboard - John Jacob Jenkins - was the first to reach the two survivors.
What happened next was pure farce.
The two survivors gathered stones and were prepared to throw them to defend themselves against the islanders whom, they had been told, were little better than savages.
How wrong they were.
RESCUED, CLOTHED AND COMFORTED....
One survivor was without a jacket and in bare feet, the other had no trousers, and both were soaked and freezing. The 'Albion' crewmen gave them their own socks, jackets and a blanket.
After reassuring them, they then carefully searched the island for more survivors - without success. Eventually the 'Albion' returned, and with the survivors aboard they started the long pull back to Samson - this time with the wind and sea behind them.
Back on Samson, Richard Ellis had signalled for the sister gig 'March'. That crew then repeated their companions' feat of carrying her to Rushy Bay before launching her for Samson.
The 'Albion' reached Samson safely, coming ashore on a wave and being hauled up the beach by the exhausted crew. There they left her, while they struggled across the isthmus with the two survivors. At East Par they found a fern rick where they rested for the first time.
Macwhinnie - saved |
When the 'March' finally arrived at East Par on Samson the 'Albion' crew took her over and fought their way back to Bryher with the survivors.
On Bryher they took them to John Jacob Jenkins' cottage "Southward" where they gave them hot drinks and put them to bed. The two survivors were the First Mate - a black man called MacWhinnie - and the Third Mate who had the same name as many of his rescuers - Jenkins.
The men left on Samson stayed all night and carried the 'Albion' back over the isthmus. Next day every man on Bryher helped bring everyone and everything back to Bryher.
Neither gig was ever used again for pilotage. The 'March' had been built to beat the 'Albion' - which she invariably did - and other rival pilots then built the even-faster 'Golden Eagle'. The 'Albion' pilots later commissioned the 'Czar' - the fastest of all -with an extra oar.
The 'Albion' was sold to Mr A Watts of St Mary's who used her planking to build a 10ft sailing dinghy. The 'March' was allowed to fall to pieces on Bryher.
NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED......
........BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Five days after the rescue it was Christmas Day, but the Bryher men who risked their lives in this extraordinary and heroic rescue were never acknowledged, never thanked nor rewarded in any way by any authority.
But at least on Scilly their selfless bravery is remembered and is still looked upon as a glittering example to all who call themselves seamen.
As we look back over a shoulder into History, we at least are happy to tip our hat to better men than us.
Robert Maybee of St Mary's - wrote a poem about the rescue. Here are a few verses......
John Jenkins Snr |
And on the bridge the captain stood,
He was a valiant man;
Although his leg was broke, and foot as well,
He still kept in the van
But then an awful sea broke on the ship,
And snapt the bridge in two;
The captain then was swept away,
And near fifty sailors too.
But Bryher men had watched the boat,
And volunteered so brave
That to White Island they would go
The shipwrecked men to save
Coxswain Patrick Trevellick |
They launched their boat down in the sea
And on the foaming billow tost;
Their friends and wives stood weeping at the scene
And thought they must be lost.
Now may God bless those Bryher men
For all that they have done.
Their deed of daring shall be known
Wherever shines the sun.
