Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage and legacy

Volume Ten - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Even more aspects - The Lloyd's Register at Penarth Dock . . .

'Grantor'
Wreck of a Steamer from Cardiff - Three of the Crew Reported Drowned - 'Lloyd's St. Vincent, Cape de Verds, agent telegraphs : - The British steamer Grantor, from Cardiff for Santos, with coal, was wrecked on March 31st on the east side of Bonavista. It is reported three of the crew were drowned. The ill-fated vessel sailed from Penarth on March 17th. At the Cardiff Shipping Office, boatswain, donkeyman, and six A.B.'s were signed on. All these, with the exception of S, Deme, A.B., of Newbury, were foreigners of mixed nationality.' - South Wales Echo [163] [361] 6th April 1897.

Shipping Disaster - Cardiff Steamer Wrecked and Three of the Crew Drowned - 'Lloyd's St. Vincent, Cape de Verds, agent telegraphs that the British steamer Grantor, from Cardiff for Santos with coals, was wrecked on March 31 on the east side of Bonavista. It is reported that three of the crew were drowned. The crew, which was shipped at Cardiff, was composed of foreigners, the greater portion of whom were Greeks. The vessel was a steel screw steamer of 2,936 tons gross register, and was owned by Messrs. J. Holman and Sons, London, the local brokers being Messrs. Watts, Williams, and Co.' - Evening Express [135] [361] 7th April 1897.

How British ships are Manned - Board of Trade Enquiry - 'On Saturday Mr. Marsham. Commissioner of Wrecks, resumed his inquiry at Westminster into the loss of the steamship Grantor, which was lost on the evening of March 31st last off Bonavista, one of the Cape Verde islands. The Grantor was a magnificent new cargo steamer, only built in the year 1896, at a cost of £30,000. [equivalent to £4,021,058 in 1999] She left Penarth on March 19 with a crew which, with the exception of the officers and engineers, only contained a solitary Englishman, named George Dewe, the rest being Greeks, Portuguese, Turks, Egyptians, and Malaya. Her captain, who holds a commission as sub-lieutenant of the R.N.R., attributed the disaster to the "set of the tide" and to a "land haze" which is peculiar to the islands in question. Since the inquiry was first opened a number of the crew of the ill-fated steamer have been brought home, and on Saturday Manuel Cadovey, Nicholas Casalia, Meneas Georgius, and Marco Staffenel occupied the time of the court for some hours in having the history of the disaster translated to them by interpreters. The only English English sailor, George Dewe, in his evidence said, "I took the wheel going into Las Palmas and out again," - "Are you very proud of that?" asked counsel. "No, I ain't," was the reply, "but I was the only man who understood the difference between larboard and starboard." (Laughter.) "When I was relieved from the wheel the only way in which I could communicate with the man who took it was by pointing to the compass." - The second officer, Mr. W. E. Balleine, said that he had no recollection of the captain ordering any alteration of the course, which had been asserted. - Mr. Marsham : I suppose if you had had an order, and had not obeyed it, you would have remembered that? - Witness : I was three hours in the water, sir, and cannot recollect. On the conclusion of the evidence Mr. Marsham gave judgment. He said, with regard to the question of whether a proper course was steered, the master stated that he ordered the second mate to alter the course half a point to the south at 4.30 p.m. The second mate stated that his memory entirely failed him on that point by reason of his having been in the water for three hours in great danger, and his having made a voyage since. The course did not appear to have been thereafter altered. If the alteration had been made, it would have been a safe and proper one. The reason for the course not having been altered if the order were given must have been that the second office did not hear it. The cause of the casualty was that the ship was set to the westward of her course by the currents, which appeared to have been unusually strong on that night, and were in excess of what the master expected and allowed for, and that the land was obscured by haze. The circumstances under which the three men lost their lives were that, after the vessel stranded, the lifeboat, in command of the master, in which they and several others of the crew were, was struck by a sea and turned completely over, all the occupants being thrown into the water. The third engineer, who was for some time near the master on wreckage, and the two other men, who were not seen after the overturning of the boat, were drowned. In conclusion, Mr. Marsham said the court attached no blame to the master or officers.' - Weekly Mail [067] [361] 17th July 1897.

The steamship 'Grantor' was built as a general cargo vessel with a steel hull and single screw propulsion. She was launched at the Middleton shipyard of Furness, Withy & Company Limited of West Hartlepool during December 1895 and completed in January the following year. Her vital statistics were 315.0 ft. long x 43.0 ft. breadth being of 2936 tons gross register. [425]