MANAOS M221
Official No: 127412 Port Number and Year: 1st in Milford,1908
Description: Steel side / beam trawler; steam screw; coal burner. Ketch rigged: foresail, mainsail, mizzen
Crew: 9 men
Registered at Milford: 28 Jan 1908
Built: Smiths Dock Co., North Shields., in 1887. (Yard no. 366)
Tonnage: 217.61 gross 82.49 net
Length / breadth / depth (feet): 117.9 / 21.61 / 11.5
Engine: T.3-cyl. 52 nhp. Engine and boiler by McColl & Pollack, Sunderland
Owners:
28 Jan 1908: Thomas George Hancock, 95 Priory Rd., Milford
John Davies Harries, Hamilton Tce., Milford
Landed at Milford: 9 Feb - 22 Sep1908
Skipper: Thomas Salter cert. 5349, age 30, born Exeter, residing 5 Vicarage St., Pill, Milford; signed on 23 Jan, 11 Jul 1908
Notes: 29 Sep 1908: Wrecked on Clohane Is., SW coast of Ireland. [See story below.]
Cert. Cancelled & Milford Registry Closed: 16 Oct 1908
Accidents and Incidents:
From the Haverfordwest & Milford Haven Telegraph of Wednesday 12th February 1908:
The steam trawler "Manaos" arrived in dock on Sunday morning for the first time, with a good cargo of fish. She was recently turned out from the well known yard of Smith's Dock Trust Limited, South Shields, and proceeded straight from the yard to the fishing grounds. The owners are Messrs. T. G. Hancock and J. D. Harries, and she is in command of Captain Tom Salter. The "Manaos" is a neatly designed boat, and needless to say is equipped with all modern facilities. Her maiden trip raised £219.
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Statement made by Skipper Thomas Salter:
We left the port of Milford Haven to fish off the coast of Ireland, our usual fishing grounds. This was on the 23rd September 1908. After we had completed our fishing trip and was returning back home to Milford, the trawler struck an unknown rock and sank. The crew were all saved except the Mate. This was on the 29th September 1908.
From the Haverfordwest & Milford Haven Telegraph of Wednesday 7th October 1908:
The crew of the steam trawler "Manaos" which went ashore on Clohane Island, off Mizen Head, County Cork, on the 29th, inst. reached Milford on Saturday. The only one missing of the crew of nine, is the mate, Charles McKenna, whose loss remains a mystery, and is greatly regretted by his mates. The survivors all speak in the very highest terms of the heroism of the skipper, and had it
not been for his bravery and resourcefulness it is probably not one would have survived.Interviewed by our representative, the men told a tale of some hardship. Captain Salter is too modest a man to tell his own story, but as far as it can be gleaned, it appears soon after darkness, and in thick fog, when the "Manaos" struck, the missing mate was at the wheel, and the deck hand was with him, the rest of the crew being below at tea. McKenna had only just begun his watch, and was given his course by Captain Salter, who set it by the Bull Point Lighthouse, and then went below. In a few minutes there was a crash, and the mate ran below and called all hands on deck. That was the last seen of him.
The skipper believed what had happened was a collision, and he lit a flare by which he saw the vessel was on the rocks. The water was breaking over the vessel, and James Moloney, the second hand, says he had a narrow escape of being washed overboard. It was impossible to reach the rocks by anything that could be pushed off from the ship, and Captain Salter, as the best swimmer, volunteered to take the risk. He took a running leap, a distance of perhaps 16 feet, and by good luck found a footing on the rocks. A line was thrown and made fast, and the men were hauled ashore. It was then that they
found that the mate was missing, and a search was made for him in vain.Curiously enough, the "Manaos" had gone ashore at the same spot, and was resting on the bones of the "Ribble", of Fleetwood, lost 2 years ago, and when the crew climbed some distance up the rocks they found her fish-boards, and sheltered under them till daylight. They then found a hut and waited there until the men employed in building a fog signal station on the island came to work. Mr Ford, the foreman, was most kind, and sent about five miles to the mainland for some whisky for the men, and gave them dry clothing and food,
for they were perishing almost with cold and exposure. They received every attention later on at the hands of the authorities.James Moloney, the second hand, who narrowly escaped the mate's fate, said when the skipper saw the position he said, "Now my lads, the ship has gone, but I'll try and save you."
The roar of the water on the rocks and the dash of water on board and the darkness and fog were confusing, but the skipper shouted to them to stick together, and he lit another flare. More than a boat's length away lay the rocks, and after vainly trying to bridge them the skipper leaped the chasm and saved his crew.
"I am sure," added Moloney, "we all owe our lives to his coolness and daring." The boatswain, Dan Nicholls, a man of few words, agreed. Moloney went on to tell how, led by the captain, in his bare feet -for he had taken off his shoes before leaping - they scrambled up rocks where a false slip would have meant death. Midway he halted them until daylight, when they found the hut and assistance.
The "Manaos" left Milford on Wednesday, the 23rd ult., and fished off the Blaskets until Tuesday. She was returning to Milford with fifty kits of fish, having done very well. The owners are Messrs T. G. Hancock and J. D. Harries, of Milford Haven, and she was launched only last January by the Smith Dock Shipbuilding Company, Shields, and was one of the finest trawlers out of the port of Milford.
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[See http://www.irishwrecksonline.net/details/Manaos618b.htm ]
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