Maritime record MWX2007 - Netley Abbey

Sank following collision with HMS SURPRISE, a 1,650 ton despatch vessel. (1)(2) Construction: pdeck 24ft; fcastle 33ft; 2 x decks Machinery T Richardson and Sons, Hartlepool Built: 1898 Builder: W Gray Where Built: West Hartlepool Propulsion: Screw driven, 3 cylinder triple expansion engine HP: 191 Boilers: 2 Owner: Pyman Watson and Co., Cardiff Master: G M Lewis Crew: 24 Date of Loss Qualifier: A Additional sources cited in United Kingdom Shipwreck Index: BOT Wk Rt 1899 A

Estimated Position 50 34.30 N 21 53.10 W taken from (5)
gross tonnage

Sank following collision with HMS SURPRISE, a 1,650 ton despatch vessel, position of loss cited as 2 miles south of the Shambles lightship. (1)(2)

Account of loss synthesised from the Naval & Military Record, 10 August 1899; United Service Gazette and Naval & Military Chronicle, 12 August 1899; Army & Navy Gazette, 12 and 26 August 1899; Western Gazette, 11 August 1899, Hampshire Post, 11 August 1899, and The Times, 23 August 1899:

At 6am on Thursday morning (3 August) NETLEY ABBEY left Cardiff for Kronshtadt with a cargo of 2,300 tons of Welsh coal for the Russian Government. On Friday 4 August the vessel ran into a fog bank approximately 8 miles E x S of the Shambles light vessel at 4.05pm, when Captain Lewis reduced speed to dead slow from 8.5-9knots.

At 4.15pm he reported the sound of a siren on the port bow and as the sound approached he stopped the engines to listen. He claimed that he was acting 'according to the rule of the Board of Trade', and the Chief Officer corroborated this view of the vessel's speed at the court-martial, but other commentators claimed that 'the collier was not under control at the time of the collision'. The helmsman was steering E 3/4 S but saw nothing of the other vessel until after the impact.

HMS Surprise had left Portsmouth earlier on 4 August, clearing the Needles Channel about 2pm in fine weather, but afterwards ran into a fog bank so dense that it was impossible to see half a ship's length ahead. At the time there was a SW breeze with a 1.5 knot tide against the ship, reducing her speed to an effective 8 knots. Commander Fane-Hervey was on the bridge and heard a whistle from another ship, which he did not believe to be close by; in the meantime a watch was kept and the siren sounded. At 4.25pm a steamer loomed up some 150 to 200 yards right ahead of the SURPRISE, and Cdr Fane-Hervey ordered the engines astern and the helm ported.

By the time the NETLEY ABBEY had seen the SURPRISE the two vessels were only two ships' lengths apart, and likewise ported his helm but it was too late. NETLEY ABBEY was struck at right angles almost amidships on the port side and was virtually cut in two by HMS SURPRISE, the two ships were locked together for about 10 minutes.

The collier's engines were stopped and the crew were mustered to climb aboard HMS SURPRISE. HMS SURPRISE was badly damaged but was able to reverse out of the wreckage once the crew of the NETLEY ABBEY were all safely aboard. NETLEY ABBEY sank at 4.49pm. The crew were landed and a court-martial subsequently took place, the findings of which were: the case against Cdr Fane-Hervey partly proved because the SURPRISE's engines had not been eased following entry into the fog. However, the poor handling of NETLEY ABBEY and failure to sound her siren was considered to be the primary cause of the collision.

There are some discrepancies in the reports. Captain Lewis reported his position as 'between 8 and 10 miles east by south half S (magnetic) of the Shambles lightship' (Hampshire Telegraph & Naval Chronicle 12, 19 and 26 August 1899), reported as 'off the Shambles lightship during a dense fog (Dorset County Chronicle, 10 August 1899). However, the military press stated the position as off St. Alban's Head.

Given the contemporary position of the Shambles lightship at 50 30.50N 002 20.00W, both vessels would appear by their own accounts to have been south of St. Alban's Head. (3)

Position of loss described as off St Alban's Head, or Shambles light vessel east by south half south magnetic, about 8 miles. (5)

Built: 1898 (1)(2); 1878 (3)
Builder: W Gray (1)(2)
Where Built: West Hartlepool (1)(2)
Propulsion: Screw-driven, 3-cylinder triple-expansion engine (1)(2)
HP: 191 (1)(2)
Boilers: 2 (1)(2)
Construction: poop-deck 24ft; forecastle 33ft; 2 x decks (1)(2)
Machinery T Richardson and Sons, Hartlepool (1)(2)
Master: G M Lewis (1)(2)(3)
Crew: 24 (1)(2); 25 (3)
Passengers: 1 (3)
Owner: Pyman Watson and Co., Cardiff (1)(2) Netley Abbey Steamship Company Ltd (Pyman Watson and Co.) (5)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
BOT.Wk.Rtn.1899 Appx.C Table 1 p151; LR.1896-7 No.164(N)

<1> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<2> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<3> Openshaw, Martin and Sheila, 2013, Problems in Correctly Identifying a Shipwreck. Mariner's Mirror, 327-333 (Article in serial). SDO20676.

<4> Openshaw, Martin and Sheila, Problems in Correctly Identifying a Shipwreck (Monograph). SDO20677.

<5> Wendes, D, 2006, South Coast Shipwrecks off East Dorset & Wight 1870 - 1979, 50-51 (Monograph). SDO10496.

<6> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, Shipwreck 871 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 901239 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

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Record last edited

Apr 11 2024 12:45PM