Recent Losses of Iron Steamships - The Case of the " Constance "
A formal investigation was held at the Public Board Room, Post Office Chambers, in the Borough of Middlesbrough, on the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 22nd days of March, 1880, before E. J. Coleman, Esq., assisted by Captains Forster and Castle, and Robert C. May, Esq., C.E., into the circumstances attending the loss of the steamship Constance on the 9th February, 1880.
The Court, having carefully inquired into the circumstances attending the above-mentioned shipping casualty, found, for the reasons stated in the annex to their report, that the steamship Constance capsized and foundered at sea on the 9th day of February, 1880, owing to -
1st. That she was overladen
2nd. That the construction of the said steamship was such that she did not possess sufficient stability for the carriage of the weight of coals on board, especially in reference to the large quantity of coals carried above her main-deck.
The annex to report states that “ the Constance, official number 67,533, was a screw steamer, built in 1874 at Whitby, by Messrs. Thos. Turnbull and Sons, and was owned by Mr. Thomas Pyman and others, of West Hartlepool, he being the managing owner. She was registered at West Hartlepool as 224 feet long, 30 feet beam, and 17 feet deep, with engine-room 34.3 feet long.
| |
Under her tonnage-deck |
813 |
tons |
60 |
| |
Under break-deck |
81 |
'' |
49 |
| |
Topgallant-forecastle |
28 |
'' |
07 |
| |
Chart-house |
2 |
'' |
23 |
| |
|
-------- |
|
-------- |
| |
Total |
1,009 |
'' |
56 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Less deductions for engines and crew spaces |
374 |
'' |
45 |
| |
|
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|
-------- |
| |
Register tonnage |
635 |
'' |
45 |
She was rigged as a fore-and-aft schooner. This vessel had an iron main-deck, extending from the stem to 100 feet aft or to the fore bulkhead of the engine-room. There was a raised quarter deck 90 feet long, extending from the after bulkhead of the engine room to the stern-post, and 4 feet above the line of the main-deck, but there was no main-deck of any kind in this vessel other than that in the fore part of the vessel. There was a bridge 48 feet long, 7 feet high, and extending from wing to wing, and was constructed as follows:- The frames were carried up every other one, the space being 3 feet 10 inches, and plated with is iron; there were no vertical stiffeners. The deck was 3-inch yellow pine deals. Under the bridge there were engineers' cabins and messroom and galley, with a coal bunker at the sides that would contain 83 tons of coal. Near the after part of this bridge-deck there was a donkey boiler weighing 4 tons, and at the sides of the bridge there were four boats ( two on each side ). |
