SS Busby

SS Busby
She was nigh new, having only made the one trip previously. 2,070 tons; launched February 1894 Stockton, for Ropner and Co. Sailed from Newport 22nd June 1894, she took 600 tons of coal for Civitavecchia. Heading past Trevose, Captain Sherwood set course to pass Longships. Heading on she encountered a bank of drizzle, which prevented her from getting a course fix, as Godrevey was blanketed; as she passed St Ives, the weather enclosed with poor visibility at 10 pm. In fact it was so poor and the Captain imagined they were approaching Longships, that they increased from slow ahead to full ahead. It was too late fro them, they were inside the Three Stone Oar, as engines were called to stop all, the ship ran over the rocks. All steam was released by the engineer (Thompson). They all assembled on deck as the rockets were fired; twelve men and a dog were landed by coastguards by breeches buoy. Others were in the lifeboat and pulled ashore. Captain and CO Thomas and Brand remained on board. As dawn broke, The Liverpool Salvage Association had arrived, hoping to use the spring tides, cutting the hull and dumping the cargo. Still hard at it on the 16th July, Busby was re-floated by a couple of Falmouth tugs. The sea took over and a fresh north westerly brought heavy seas, and forty salvors were hurled into the depths of the hull, stunned and being pinned down by the weight of water cascading on them. Busby settled in twenty feet. Panic set in as men were being grabbed and pulled out before they were taken with the ship (including the pumping team from Penzance - John Nicholls, George Chirgwin, Harry Nicholls, John Tucker). The ship finally was swamped into twenty fathoms of water, the visible part being only the masthead. Captain Sherwood was found guilty by BoT Enquiry of not navigating with due care. He was suspended for just six months as he had been a reliable master for Ropners. The ship had broken into three sections and was reported to be settling into the sandy sea bed 6th December 1894.