State Library of South Australia

A steamship and the tug 'Lioness' on a slipway [PRG 280/1/33/250] • Photograph

Info

Share
- facebook
- twitter
- pinterest
- google+
- email
Buy
Download
Permanent link
Print

Prev Next

Summary

A steamship and the tug 'Lioness' on a slipway in New Zealand; a small photograph of a man thought to be a sea captain is superimposed on the top left corner, name not known. According to a researcher, this photograph shows the screw steamer 'William Miskin' and the paddle-steamer tug 'Lioness' aground at Hokitika, New Zealand, in 1866. The Master of the Lioness was George Richard Whitford. The other vessel is the screw steamer 'William Miskin' which had been caught on the bar at the mouth of the Grey River. The Lioness failed in its attempt to tow her across the bar. Another researcher has provided the following information: "'William Miskin' was an iron screw steamer of 142 tons gross and 115 tons net register, built at Kingston-upon-Hull, England, in 1852. ON 32,479, length 100.6ft,beam 17.6ft and depth 9.9ft. Her engines were of 30hp and her owner at the time of her demise was R. B. Martin and commanded by Capt. Bain. Early on the morning of Feb. 4 1868 the steamer went ashore at Timaru, NZ. She became a total wreck, one of her crew being drowned. The others on board narrowly escaped when the steamer struck the beach, having to scramble over her bows as her hull was being broken into pieces. The master was on shore at the time, and he was a witness of the complete destruction of the vessel, about a mile and a half north of the landing place. On Feb 3 a SW gale sprang up, and the 'William Miskin' was riding at the Timaru roadstead with two anchors down. Late in the afternoon heavy seas broke over the vessel, and everything movable was washed off the deck. She then commenced to drag, but the officer on watch kept the steamer under a full head of steam, head to sea. At 1.30am on Feb. 4 the steam failed, the constant seas pouring over the vessel having extinguished the fires. All this time the crew were engaged in bailing out water from the engine room, as the pumps were found to be useless. At 2.30am the chief officer discovered that both cables had parted, and, finding the steamer helpless and entirely at the mercy of the waves, he attempted to keep her steady by ordering the topsail and jib to be set. In an hour and a half after the cables had parted the 'William Miskin' grounded within a few yards of a rocky promontory. She was thrown high and dry on a shelving, sandy beach, and all hands, numbering 12, reached the land with the least difficulty. Immediately on striking, the steamer commenced to break up, and she was actually broken in two when the last man to leave jumped from her shattered deck onto the shore. (NZS) From New Zealand Shipwrecks 1795-1975 by C W N Ingram-A H & A W Reed Ltd-5th edition 1977-This description does not fit with the photograph."

Restrictions

This image has no known copyright restrictions.

Please refer to the State Library's Conditions of use.

Learn more about copyright and our collection.

Physical description

13 x 16.5 cm

Dates / Publication details

Approximately 1914

Collection

Part of Searcy Collection

Subject

Tugboats -- New Zealand
Steamboats -- New Zealand

Catalogue record

Return to catalogue

Digitisation information

Date

27/03/2002

Format

image/tiff

Resolution

2,989 x 2,300 pixels (6.9 MP)

Size

6.88 MB

Ask Us

If you would like further information about this image, please Ask Us