An Open Boat’s 1,200-Miles Voyage in 1886

Dunnottar Castle

The Dunnottar Castle was a three-masted, iron sailing ship built in Glasgow and launched 24 December 1874, by James & George Thomson, Clydebank, Yard Number 135, for Thomas Skinner & Co, Gordon Street, Glasgow. She was registered 22 January 1875, O/N 71692, dimensions 1,750 gross and 1,702 net tons, Length 258.2 ft, beam 38.6 ft, depth 23.5 ft. She was was wrecked on a reef at Kure Atoll in the Hawaiian Islands on 15 July 1886, out of Sydney bound for a U.S port with coal.

From "Sea Breezes", New Series, Vol.5, January 1948, p. 48-50.

Edward J. Holl was an apprentice in the Dunnottar Castle, a ship of 1,750 tons gross which was wrecked in July, 1886, while homeward bound from Sydney; he was a volunteer member of the crew of the boat which sailed 1,200 miles from Cure Island to Hawaii to obtain assistance for the rest of the crew, and the following is the letter he wrote home (in copperplate script) recounting his adventures. The writer ultimately rose to command ships of the Union-Castle Line and was killed by enemy action in 1916.

My dear Mother and Father, — I daresay you have been rather anxiously wondering where we have been to all this time. I expect you will have heard before this reaches you that the poor old Dunnottar Castle is lost, but thank God we are safe and getting on all right again. After leaving Sydney instead of going south about, as I told you in my last letter, we came up through the Islands. It is rather dangerous navigation as you are continually on the look out for reefs, shoals and rocks, most of which you can’t see until you are on the top of them, as we found to our cost. We had splendid weather all the way up; on June 12 we sighted two rocks, Lord Howe and Balls Pyramids; on the 17th we made Mathew and Hunter Islands, on the 19th we sighted Fiji Islands, and on the 2lst we made Sophia Island, a small, low, uninhabited island, but covered with coconut trees.

That week we crossed the meridian of 180 so had eight days in the week but they took jolly fine care to make it come to two pea-soup days. After leaving Sophia Island I saw nothing more until we found ourselves on top of Cure or Ocean Island (28 deg. 23 N. and 178 deg. 25 W.) on July 15. It was in the first watch when we struck and the second mate’s watch on deck. I was keeping a look out on the poop as we expected to make the land that night; well, one bell had been struck and the watch called. I had just hove the log and told the second mate how many she was going and whilst he went down telling the skipper I thought I could smell the land and when the second mate came up I told him and we both had a good look round with the glasses but could see nothing.

He went to tell the captain, but almost before he could get on deck we found ourselves grazing over some rocks and the next minute we were on the top of a coral reef, and all that night we were hauling the yards round and round trying to back her off, but all to no purpose; there was a ground swell on at the time and every time it caught her it bumped her further on and almost shook the sticks out of her. As soon as daylight appeared we saw we were in between two reefs with Cure Island about eight miles distant on our starboard bow.

From the time we struck until Monday morning we did not stop running out kedges, discharging cargo, etc., but could not keep the water under so had all the boats over and provisioned them. There being 10 feet of water in the hold we left her on Monday morning, the 19th, and made for Cure Island where we arrived in the afternoon and found it to be nothing more than a big coral sandbank .about two miles long, half-a-mile wide and the highest part about 10 feet above the level of the sea, with no sign of living thing or vegetation on it. We rigged tents up on the beach that night; and I can tell you we did not sleep light. The next day, Tuesday, some of us went off to the ship and brought ashore the remainder of the stores, etc., and found 22 ft. of water in her; the remainder on the island were rigging tents and digging wells in search of water, which they found, but it was rather brackish.

On Wednesday it was proposed we should send a relief boat here as where is not one chance in one hundred of ever being picked up down there. We volunteered for a crew, which consisted of the mate, five hands and myself. On Thursday and Friday we were busy employed rigging our lifeboat up for our trip of 1,200 miles, and on Saturday we left the island with the hearty good wishes for a quick voyage and safe return to them with relief. We took enough provisions for a month, as we expected to get the N.E. Trades and run down. in 15 to 20 days, but instead of that we got the wind from the south’ard and east’ard and had a dead muzzler right the way down. The old hooker only had one good quality about her and that was she was a good sea boat, but as for sailing she would go like an old crab. After we had been out a fortnight we found it would be like taking us two or three months instead of two or three weeks, so we had to start and economise our provisions or else they would not last, so on August 23 we had to buckle down to one biscuit and one pint of water a day. On August 28 we had a consultation and determined to run a little out of our way and made for Necker Island in hopes of being able to get water. We made the island on the 31st but could not get within four or five miles of it is as there seemed to be a strong current setting right off the shore. We found that during the last week we had only made 173 miles, so that day we had to buckle down again to half the amount we had before, as we thought a little was much better than none at all.

Next land we made was Bird Island; we sighted it on Sunday, September 5, but did not get up to it till Tuesday. We pulled all round it in search of water but could not find a landing place as it was nothing more than a big steep rock, but we managed to catch two boobies, and as we had a little spirit lamp in the boat we had a jolly good feed. From there to Kauai we did pretty good work and made 140 miles in five days, the last 30 of which we pulled every inch as it was a dead calm and we only had enough tucker in the boat for that day.

When we got near enough to the shore to make things out I can tell you it raised our spirits to see smoke rising and afterwards we saw some natives galloping down on horseback. At first sight of these fellows we hardly knew whether they were civilised or not but at any rate as soon as they saw us they came off in their canoes and one of them spoke a little broken. English, so we told him that we were hungry and thirsty. Well, they took us ashore in their canoes, as there was a very heavy surf on, and I can assure you I never met with a kinder hearted set of people.

You, would have split your sides to see us when we landed on the beach, not one of us could stand, and we rolled about as if we had been drinking; they took us up to their huts and gave us everything they had and if ever I had a feed in my life I had one then. I was afraid I should overdo it after so long with hardly anything, but I am glad to say it took no effect on me. That was on Sunday about 12 o’clock when we landed; about 3 o’clock in the afternoon the mate got some of the natives to take him round to a small place called Hanalai where they said he would find an English steamer, which he did, and they came round after us and brought us all on to Honolulu where we arrived on Monday night. On the Tuesday the consul chartered a steamer to go down for the rest of the boys and left that afternoon, so she did not lose much time. The mate has gone with her so we hope to see the rest of them up here in a week or two. The people have been very kind to us and we are living like young fighting cocks. Several of the big nobs have sent us a dozen or so of beer, so we are doing the grand.

How are you all getting on at home? I don’t know when we shall get our letters as this is such an outlandish place; there is no telegraph here to anywhere and this is the first mail for ’Frisco since we have been here. There is only one English ship here, the Isle of Erin, and there are six apprentices in her, so I am all at home.