PAGE EIGHT

g TllE CHARLOTTETOWN GUARDIAN

auroral: 2s. 1941

MAIDEN VOYAGE

F THE BARBARA MACIJO

Tale of Shipwreck and Disaster Woven About an Island Vessel

Navy Week Recalls the Exploits of the Old Wooden Ships of This Province That Played an Important Part in Island

History.

(By George V. Fraser)

flie prrsent battle or the Atlan. sic. which has been waged un- lucoesafulfy for the past year against British shipping, has prov- ed beyond doubt the superiority of British and Canadian sailors as well as the ships they sail. The heroic behaviour of these “tars" and their iincoiiqticrable spirit in face of great (lancer has been a matter of priue to the Empire. Thcv followed the tradition handed down to them from proceeding gen- erations of seamen.

The part played by Canadian sailors in this great epic oi’ the seas has lxien a source of pride to the

people of the Dominion. Many young men lroin Prince Edward Island have participate-d in the

battle and ev'er_v one has given a good account of himself.

Tales of disaster on the high seas have YECdllCd to the memory of older people in this province the days o1‘ the old sailing vessels. These wooden ships are last dis- appearing from the Island and tak. ing with them a romantic chapter in the history of navigation. The advent of steamers at the turn of the century wrote “finis" to the in. tricguiug bus" ' ' ' Prince Edwin: .limtl

Probably one of the most inter- esting stories ever unfolded about the life of the sailing vessel in this province ivas the tale of ship- wreck and disaster woven about

ihe pride of the last shipbuilding '

venture on the Island. the good ship Barbara MacDonald Seldom it ever has a more interesting ad- venture taken place on the maiden voyage of an Island schooner. Although an account of the dis. aster appeared at the time it hap- pened, the complete story has nev- er been published before. Only re- cently the interesting tale has been unfolded by the person most direct- lv concerned, the builder and owner of the ship, Senator John A. Mac- Donald, who was a passenger on the gallant vessel during the hectic

VOYBQC. Mr. MacDonald, operated the

tricts and placed on board. A large quantity of hay was put on deck and in all, the cargo was valued at $16,000 This important load of fiirm produce was to g0 to St. John's Newfoundland, which was to be the ship's destination on her first VOYREQ-

Mr. MacDonald, in addition to the work done in building the boat and the demands of his other busi- ness, had Just contested a Prov- iiiciul Election and was feeling ra- ther worn out. He decided that it might do hini good to take a sea voyage and despite the protesta- tions of his good wife, made up his niiiid lo go to Si; John's. A3 inc dgly tor sailing drew near, he W213 (‘lllh d uvei" the prospect of tak- lllg u irip on ilie water once again. Iii his vouugir tiiiys he had taken many trips on schooners and was al- ways fascinated by navigation. Here was an opportunity of getting a. niiielniieciritwi rest and at the same time satisfy an old longing. He coiilrl also supervise the marketing of the cargo.

Capt. Thomas Whittle, a native of Newfoundland but a resident o! ithe Island for several years, was lengnged as master of the ship. Ho iviis iissiste-d by his brother, Mr. Josliiiii \Vhittle. who acted as mate, and the following crew: Messrs. -Stephen Pvke, Charlottetown, now l on the C G. S. Montcalm, Robert

Emery, Wood Islands, A Yorston, Georgetown and Michael Bourke, Georgi-town

‘The owner and builder decided to Although Lhe Whittle Brothers name the new boat after one of l_\vere natives of Newfoundland, they his daughters and it was to be ‘ lived on the Island for many years christened by his wife. At last the l and were well known in Charlotte- big day came October 25, and a town. Captain Thomas had pac- large crowd gathered to witness the , ticaliy retired but the lure of the launching. Everything went off- sea made him restless arid once a- without a hitch. The traditional gain he ivrlcnmed the opportunity bottle of champagne was broken on l of returnuig to his old love. the bow and the big vessel started down the runways. with a splash she hit the water, rolled to either ride, then righted herself and 1 December 3, 1919, was clear and proudly floated on Cardigan River i bright; although a light blanket of

It was with a feeling of pride snow had settled over the prov- and satisfaction that Ml‘. Mac- ince. Early that morning the Donald stood back and gazed with' anchor was raised and the Bar. admiration at the product which bara MacDonald set. sail. She WM

On April l, 1919. work was com- menced on the building of another three-master! schooner, the Bar- bara MacDonald. With the experL eiice gained in the construction of the Victory Chimes. Mr. MacDon- ald put every effort forth to make this one even better than its pre- decessor. Nothing was spared and the best of material. available was procured and soon the shipbuilding yard at Cardigan hunimed with rtctitiitvv as the ship slowly took form on the stocks.

All summer long the work con- tinned and in early autumn it was lnearing completloruln the month of October the finishing touches were applied and the ship was made ready for the water. The stage was then set for the big day -the launching of the Barbara Mac- Donald. People came for miles a. round and marvelled at the ex- cellence of the boat. Besides being a strongly construced and well- niotlelletl ship. she was a thing of; beauty. It was much larger than,‘ the ordinary schooners seen about the province today —approximateiy I twice as large. The boat was reg- istered net 190 tons but was cap- able of carrying more than that. She was 86 feet long, 110 feet over. i all and had a 25-fcet, six inch betun She drew 10 feet of water aft and eight feet forward. The craft was valued at about $30,000.

The Launching

Vessel Salli

Th .'l' lik - .h e as she chgi-glliyi; flzecilftljgl?! and many of these men are still residing In the province today although the

lhipynrds do not. operate any

rests In her cradll an the stocks. Experienced sliipbuilders were ln

IBOIC.

shipbuilding yard that turned out this trim nritii. Ht- becnnie inter- ested iii the building oi bouts Wlllif: associated \\iih the late James E. Nl-‘lCDOllIlld ML A., of revered mc- mory. The latter was a successful

lllfifCliflJll in the village of Cai"di-|

gun and also operated a shipyard. when he died in the vem‘ 19413 an

liniiriilsiii-d ve-scl. the Ct'l'llllél. was‘

filll in the stocks. His friend and klSSOClflll‘, Mr. John A. MIIBDOIP nld, thou decided to complete the Job This was his first venture in lhlpbuilding and it proved a luc. cess. However, a prospcring general store occupittl his attention the following few years and it was no‘. until the his years of the last war that he again turned his attention to this interesting industry. The first ship he turned out in the new yards was the Victory Chimes, a sturdy three-mristcd sailing vessel which is still afloat and operating somewhere in the Buy of Fundy. Commenced Building

>__ W

‘had been turned out of his ship-

itowed down the river by a la motor boat until a breath the 5:21 caught her saiis. MacDonald was on board and it was with great excitement he watched the vessel glide over the water. Slowly the village receded ‘into the background and all that could be seen on either side were the red bunks with a white night.- cup. That nijzlii tlic boat rusted in Georgetown Harbour. On Saturday December 6 she continued her trip. ,The weather stayed clear and fair and that evening the schooner had sailed majestically through the straits of Canso or "the gut" as it is familiarly called Sailing around ‘ Cape Breton luck still held out and ithc danger of ice forming in the good weather prevailed. However, ‘river and freezing the ship in. about two days out the ship en- Itltreatened. In the meantime the , countered head winds and slow owner loaded the schooner with a jprogress resulted. Without much general cargo of farm produce. iwarning on December 9, a hurri- ; liushcls of potatoes. vegetabes and ‘cane struck in all its fury and al- outs were hauled daily by the far- ‘most instantly what had hitherto mers from the surrounding dis- seen a peaceful voyage was turned

l"! yard. Many months of labour and from n great deal of money had been ‘spent but the beautiful ship riding i at anchor in the stream was Justi- , i fication enough.

The spars were put in and the ;riggiiig placed on the vessel in prc. partition for her maiden voyage which was to take place S0011. it vtas decided to leave the top miusts ‘on deck and have them fitted after ‘the ship reached hcr (iestination

This was done because of the un- certainty of weather conditions. The rigging was placed on the ship by Captain Daniel Mac- 'D0nald, veteran sea captain. It was now early December and

Jim before flu trhn craft photo no nnufilil.

tool: Thoblgvanolwuabolt

v-m w, ,,..._,v,,£~.,-~,r,i.,_ - . ,....,,,..- ,.,.

lo the Ink! on

l4 "ll Mllhl of tho llunchlng ceremony, ch]; WWI:

d lolonvollnru

' ihand. They were able to

$11M l- llvinc nightmare. The worst storm to sweep the Atlantic in as years had struck with a vengeance and the vessel was still a good dis. tance from St. John's. No. land was in sight but as near as the in. strumenis, which were new. could be Judged. they said the ship was off Cape Pine, Newfoundland. Checking on a mB-p Mr. Mac- Donald ascertained that the boat was at a spot near Trepassy Bay on the soul: Bast Gout of New- foundland. All along the coastline was treacherous going, and, al- though no land was in sight, there are: aways the danger of going on The violent wind blew from the north west and never abated for three long days. No less than 36 vessels went to the bottom during the terrible storm and about 360 sailors were sent to a watery grave. For some time after there were daily accounts of ships being long overdue and almost every 24 hours ‘itha wreckage of a ship would be -washed up on the shores of New- foiindlnnd and other places. , The hurricane struck at mid- night and the crew of the Barbara MacDonald had expected to reach ,‘their destination the next evening. ‘However, old Father Neptune had isomethlng to say about this. When ,the gale struck. the crew at once ‘went into action and took off all lthe sails with the exception of the foresall. But the storm grew fiercer and at last the latter had to be taken down to have a double reef Dut on it. Before it reached the deck it was blown to pieces bv the wind Now nothing could be done and the vessel was forced to buffet ithe fierce ga‘e with bare poles. she ‘was out of control and wallowed ‘around in the big seas with every wave going clean over the deck.

Captain Lost

Then a great tragedy took place. Captain Whittle, who was racing about the deck shouting ‘orders and attempting to do something to save the ship, was caught by one .0: these waves and washed over- board. He was never seen again. This was December 10 The mate, who was a brother of the captain, then took charge. of the ship. But. he had assumed charge of what was a doomed ship. To make matters worse a severe snowstorm accompanied by heavy frost. was now in progress and the suffering of the crew was intensi- fied. A heavy wave had damaged the foreoastle and everyone had to go to the cabin aft Here the entire crew was forced to huddle until the storm died out or the shi went to ‘the bottom. Their condit on seem- , ed hopeless. I The sailors remained crouched in the cabin as much as possible but. once in a while it became necessary for them to go up on deck. Those who braved the danger; to be en. countered in performing this task made sure that they were well fastened by ropes before crossing the slippery, wave-splashed, wind- swept deck. Their difficult task was to take turn about manning the pump to prevent the boat from foundering. However, it was found that the new] built boat was not taking in muc water. After the first day the crew gave up hope. senator MacDonald was

on. A lusty checkup revealed that the foreman r n; pulQd. However the foumut Wu still In coed shape as well u the malnmaat and mizzien and the ship was put in shape to continue her vOYB-se. Th1! took I-bOI-it 24 hours of hard labour but at the end of that time the vessel was Nady again for the

sea-s . Little did the

crew realm that instead of being

ended, their trou-

experience from which they had just emerged with only one casualty seemed to them to be the geatest ordeal they would have pass through as it was only a short sail from Si: John. It is well that the sailors did not know of the dang- ers that lay ahead otherwise oven the most fearless would have shud- deied at the thought ‘of continuing. However, even if they had wished to turn back there was no avenue of escape open. Their course wal mapped out and it was a queer turn of fate that the ship should be sent to the bottom because of an error in navigation after having successfully defied the effort 0f the elements to send her to Davy Jones’ locker.

Question of Navigation

It appear; the new captain wu under some misapprehension u to the exact location of the craft when the storm had abated. He Judged that she was about 200 imiles of: the coast of Newfound- {land now because of the wind and ,tide. Ha figured the ahip had drift- ed this distance while she wan help- lleas during the three-day storm. ‘The owner o: the ship, who was

always keenly interested in the art of navigation, had a different opln_ ion and expressed his views to the ‘captain. He argued that the boat lwas not half that distance off the

coast. However, his argu-

, rock men were of no avail. the was

Accordingly, in charge of new skipper, the schooner {started along her way once again. Nothing unforseen happened for the first few hours. The ship was labouring steadily but the effects of the storm did not seem t» have impaired her ability to ull.

A southerly breeze had sprung up at 9 P. M. that day, Saturday. and this aided greatly as she sall- ed in a northerly course directly to- wards the coast of Newfound and The wind continued from the same direction the next day although l. heavy fog had settled over the ocean. on that Sabbath day, the thankful sailors offered up a ail. ent prayer for their deliverance from the terrific storm which they had just experienced. As the day wore on and the ship held its course, there was nothing to por- tend the terrible disaster ahead.

Ship On the Rocks

shortly after dart set in that fateful evening, it happened. Tho Barabara MacDonald struck the outer rocks off Cape Pine. The proud ship that had weathered the worst storm to hit that. part of the Atlantic in 26 years was de- stined to come to grief through no fault of her own. She had been dealt the death blow. If the plight of the crew had been hopeless be- fore, it was even worse now as the heavy sea and swell drove the ship towards the shore to be pounded to bits against the cliffs. As she worked up closer and closer to the cliff, the ship was being buried un- der the high seas which washed over her sides. Luckily for the crew the schooner Wu a staunch one or it would have been dashed to pieces on the outer rocks.

I11 desperation the men tried to

also satisfied in his own mind that he would never escape from the ltorm tossed ahlp. Thoughts of home and loved ones kept haunting his mind and. when his pllgnt seemed hopeless, he became pos- sessed with one last desire. This was the opportunity of saying goodJiye to his wife and children. He was convinced that if this wish were granted ho would be perfectly satisfied to die.

Minutes seemed like hours as the howling storm continued to rage and its ferocity prevented the sall- ors gaining access to the forcastlo which had been unuhed earlier in the storm. In this part of the ship was stored most of the provisions. Fortunately, however, there was a barrel of biscuits, of the "hard tack" variety, housed in the ship's lazarctta which was situated close to the cabin. Another thing in the crew's favor was that a plentiful supply of fresh water was close at relieve itheir hunger and thirst which was la ‘great help in keeping up their ' p rits.

The men were able to catch a -blt of sleep u they stretched out on the bunks although it was a precarious piece of business. Every once in a while a big sea would roll one of them out. on the floor And even when they fastened themselves to the bunks their con- dition was not battered as the con- tinuous bum ing and lurohing pm. vented aoun sleep.

Ornnped Quartet-v

. The men were like prisoners be- low deck. There was not much room to move around and even sf there had been the continual pitch- ing of the boat made it hazardous. Au the weary hours dragged on conditions hie to improve and ' the howling bll ard outside seemed to mock the sailors. The dock wu ‘coated with ice and also the rig. rig which was clothed with a- out five inches of frozen snow and sleet. Only that the vessel was new and strongly constructed lt would not have remained afloat after the first few hours. As it was strong- ly built plank: lroaned in defiance ll each new blast of wind struck the ship.

‘rhea, on the third day, when things looked blackeat, the storm abated, and the sen calmed down. It was an elated bunch of men who crawled out. of the cabin w itretch themselves. Their some of 0y and relief at having lived

mild and a bet

launch the boat but when it hit the water it was dashed to splint- en. But the courageous sailors re- fused to let this mishap dampen their spirits and they hurriedly sought some other wa to possible safety. Each man gra bed hold of a rope and secured it about his waist then he lowered himself over the lea aide of the boat and clung to the rail on the side. The vessel listed outwards and wltn each sea she pounded heavily on the murderous rocks. In a short while it was quite evident that the craft was going down but the men had no choice but to remain cling- ing to the side. Al each flax-eaten- inf; wave hit her bulwarlu. they were protected from the full weight of the ma but to any the least their condition was lhything but comfortable. Each man was drench- ed to the akin.

For five long hour: this brave band of shipwrecked men stuck to the side of their valiant ship while the merciless seas lashed M h" continuously. To make matters

bles had not yet begun. The terrible .

lee. On ed w

SENATOR J. A. MACDONALD

top at any moment, kept couraifi. llgerytfi abou ac a

cred what had taken 131:0: he joy ink nd l-Yltfiey Bunthfiga W58

fully shouted, "G y w s compamom‘ Th, plum which w" in cation of how much farther they 20 feet long and six feet wide. pro. must ‘m- Afl“ “n “W” cumb-

whlch seemed like an eternity. were only a fraction of the way up but believed they were near the top. It was wel for the fnti icd sa lors that the were shielded rom the bitter trut or many of Zhem

r vided a natural bridge between the Zfiéd ship and the bottom of a cliff. overjoyed at this discovery the men lost no time in scrambling down from their perches on the

side of the boat. Mr. MacDonald received quite a jolt when he hit the plank and was dazed for a few seconds. However, with the rest he was able to tread the dangerous ancway to shore. The men had no dea what was ahead of them but they soon found out that a huge

might have left their bones at the bottom of the cliff.

Hour after hour dra ged on and the men were still toil ng tirelessly along on their wear upward tour- ney. Bprely this ten" bie climb must en w