The Loss of the Jane Vosper (7 page)

But immediately he was on his feet again. ‘James Hassell,’ he called, glancing over the assembly.

Captain Hassell, looking anxious and thoroughly woebegone, rose from his seat with the other officers and moved round the room to the witness box. There he was sworn and invited to sit down.

‘You are James Hassell, master of the
Jane Vosper
,
the ship which is the subject of this enquiry?’

‘I am.’

Then ensued a long questionnaire on Hassell’s age, qualifications and career. He had been twenty-five years with the Southern Ocean Company, eighteen as a skipper, and eight in command of the
Jane
Vosper
. He was adequately qualified for his job and had never before been involved in any serious mishap.

A similar but more detailed questionnaire on the ship herself followed. Her size, age, design, workmanship and equipment were taken in turn and legally established. The captain said she was a good sea boat, steady, easy to steer, and very dry, as well as being well built and well found in every way. There was nothing about her, he declared, to account for the explosions or to warrant any suggestion that she had been sunk more easily than a ship should.

Mr Armitage then turned to the voyage and took Hassell through each step from the London Docks until the first explosion.

‘Now,’ he went on, ‘during those six days of the passage, up till the time of the first explosion, did you notice anything abnormal or unusual about the ship or crew?’

‘Nothing whatever. Except for the delays from fog and wind, the voyage was entirely normal and satisfactory.’

‘You were satisfied with your crew?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘There was nothing to suggest that disaster might be approaching?’

‘No, sir. Nothing.’

‘Except that you had lost some thirty-three hours, you were entirely satisfied with your progress?’

‘Entirely.’

‘And before you started? Was everything perfectly normal and satisfactory?’ ‘Perfectly so.’

‘Were you satisfied with the nature and stowing of the cargo?’

‘Quite satisfied.’

‘Very well. Now we come to the explosions. Will you tell us in your own words what occurred?’

Hassell told of his being unable to sleep and his decision to go on deck, of his doing so, of the sea that was running, and of the first explosion. Then he described the steps he had taken to ascertain the damage. How he had rung down the engines to S
LOW
A
HEAD
, reducing the speed as much as possible consistent with keeping the ship’s head to the seas. How he had called for information to the engine room and taken over the ship himself, so that his deck officers might go and find out what had happened.

Slowly Mr Armitage took him through the events of that dreadful night. The second explosion, the third, the fourth. The orders he had given, the wireless messages he had sent, his inspection of the damage in the stokehold and No. 1 hold, and his consultations with the chief engineer and first officer. Finally, his conclusion that the ship could not be saved, the last message to the approaching
Barmore
,
and taking to the boats, the sinking of the
Jane
Vosper
,
and the final rescue by the
Barmore
.

The KC then turned once again to the explosions.

‘Now at first you tell me you weren’t certain of exactly where the explosions had occurred. But later you came to a conclusion on this point?’

‘In the light of what happened afterwards, it was clear that they were in No. 2 hold.’

‘Quite. What size was this hold?’

‘About 40 feet long by the full breadth of the ship, say 34 feet, and about 17 feet deep.’

‘That’s a large space, very much the size of this room, I should say.’ Mr Armitage looked round. ‘Now can you form any opinion as to whereabouts in the hold the explosions occurred?’

For the first time Captain Hassell looked doubtful. ‘I’ve been thinking about that, sir,’ he answered. ‘While I can’t swear to it, I am of the opinion that they were low down.’

‘Yes? Why do you think so?’

Again Hassell hesitated. ‘I’m afraid it’s more what the chief engineer reported than what I saw for myself,’ he admitted. ‘He said –’

‘Well, we’ll get that from him. What did you see for yourself?’

‘When I went down to the stokehold after the last explosion I saw that the principal buckling in the bulkhead, what I might call the centre of the buckling, was low down: about five feet from the floor plates. That’s what I saw, but there was another reason. It didn’t occur to me at the time, but I’ve thought of it since. It seemed to me the shots were individually small. If they hadn’t been, they would have blown the hatches off. But if they were small, they must have been low against the ship’s bottom to puncture her plates.’ ‘Yes?’

‘I think, sir, that without considering the puncturing of the ship’s bottom at all, one could say they were low down because they didn’t raise the hatches.’

‘I should have thought that even a small explosion and low down would have blown off the hatches. Would a large volume of gas not have been generated, which must have gone somewhere?’

‘That is so, but in the case of the
Jane
Vosper
the holds were well ventilated and in my opinion the ventilators afforded the necessary relief.’

‘Ah, quite so. That all sounds very clear and very ingenious, if I may say so, captain. An interesting and important point, that the charges were probably small.’ He paused for a moment, then resumed. ‘Now another point. Was any adjustment made with the disposition or otherwise of the cargo since the stevedores finished with it?’

‘No, sir, the hatches weren’t opened.’

‘But you have told us that the holds could be entered without opening the hatches?’

‘That is so. But the cargo would not normally be moved without opening the hatches.’

‘I see. Do you mean then that at the time of the explosion the hold contained everything loaded by the stevedores and nothing else?’

‘I believe that to be correct.’

‘What’s your own view, captain, as to the cause of the explosions?’

‘I can’t explain them at all. I know of nothing that could have caused them and am entirely puzzled by the whole thing.’

‘Now, here’s a more difficult question. During the loading of that hold, up till the time the hatches were battened down, could anyone have placed explosives in the hold?’

A slight movement passed through the assembly. This was the first time the suggestion of foul play had crept into question or answer, and it evoked a corresponding reaction. Persons who were already looking bored sat up sharply. The atmosphere grew more tense.

But the suggestion did not seem strange to Captain Hassell. He agreed that this was a more difficult question. He didn’t think anything of the kind could have been done, though he wasn’t prepared to state it as a fact. In the daytime he believed it would be impossible. He pointed to the fact that during loading hours no one could have approached unseen. At night there was a watchman aboard, apart from those on the wharves, and he thought it very unlikely that anyone could have passed these men.

‘Then with regard to the period between the battening down of the hatches and the disaster. During that period could anyone have smuggled in explosives?’

As to the possibility of this the witness was not so sure. Granted that someone with explosives was on board who wished to sink the ship and endanger his own life, Hassell supposed an opportunity could have been found. But he was dogmatic about its probability. He didn’t believe that any of the men who were on board were capable of doing such a thing, or had done it.

Mr Armitage did not press the point, but turned instead to the question of the wireless signals. These he went over in detail, obtaining Hassell’s reason for every message he had sent. He was particularly searching in his questions with reference to the final SOS, and the reason which induced the captain to abandon ship. At the end he said, ‘Thank you, captain,’ and sat down.

As he did so another little wave of movement passed over the room. People who had been listening intently suddenly found they had become cramped, and took advantage of the break to change their positions. A buzz of conversation arose, as whispered remarks were exchanged. Then Mr Trafford’s voice was heard inviting anyone who was appearing for a client, and who wished to ask questions, to do so.

Three or four of the legal-looking men stood up, and Trafford took them in turn. But to Jeffrey their questions seemed to have very little point. In no case did they succeed in bringing out anything new. All that they got was confirmation of statements already made.

When the last had finished Trafford said he would himself like to ask one question: ‘When your second officer reported that there was fire in No. 2 hold, what exactly did you do? I ask because no action seems to have been taken to deal with it.’

‘I realized the danger of fire at once, sir,’ Hassell replied, ‘and I was quite clear as to what I should do about it. But I was more afraid that the ship might be taking water, and until the wells were sounded, I refrained from any decision as to the best thing to be done. In the end the fire was put out automatically by the flooding of the hold.’

Trafford nodded. ‘I follow,’ he admitted, then went on: ‘That will do for the present, Captain Hassell. Please don’t go away, as some further question may arise. Now, Mr Armitage?’

Hassell left the box and Armitage stood up and called, ‘Henry Arlow.’

Arlow was sworn, and then in due form asked his name, position, qualifications and history. Though he was only first officer of the
Jane
Vosper
and had never had a ship, he had held for eight years his master’s certificate. His qualifications were therefore satisfactory and his record was good.

Then to Jeffrey and others of those present the enquiry began to drag. For all the preliminary questions asked Arlow were those which the captain had already answered. It was not until Armitage reached the actual explosions, that Arlow had anything new to tell.

He described, as Captain Hassell had done, the feeling and sound of the first explosion, his first thought that it was an engine-room accident, and then his reassurance on this point. He felt sure from the first that it was not due to the ship striking an obstruction. When, therefore, the captain had said he was taking over the ship and had instructed him to go below and find out what had happened, his first thought had been the holds. He decided that before anything else he must find out if the ship were taking water. The men were aroused by the shock and he called the carpenter and bosun, and sounded the well first in the forepeak and then in Nos. 1 and 2 holds. All these were dry. Then he started to inspect the holds. The second explosion occurred when he was in No. 1 hold, and it sounded in No. 2 hold, beyond the bulkhead. He then went into No. 2 hold, and there he smelled smoke and burnt explosive. The smoke was hanging about rather than pouring up, and he did not think there was serious fire. He was sure the explosions had come from low down in the hold. He was satisfied from the sounds that no explosions had occurred abaft the engines, so he did not sound the well in No. 3 hold.

His researches so far had not shown that there was anything wrong with the ship, so he had gone up again on the bridge to report to Captain Hassell. While doing so the third explosion had occurred. It seemed to come from the same place as the others, and he at once ran down to sound the well in No. 2 hold again. This time he found water was coming into the ship. Moreover, it was gaining so quickly that he didn’t believe anything could be done to stop it. He was satisfied that all the pumps they had on board wouldn’t equal the flow.

But though he realized that they couldn’t keep the water down in No. 2 hold, he believed that the ship would float all right even with this hold flooded, provided the rest of her was tight. He at once sounded No. 1 hold again. He found it dry. He then sounded the forepeak again. It was also dry.

Then he went back to No. 2 hold. There was by this time five feet of water in it, and the level was rising quickly. Arlow sent a man with the news to the captain while his thoughts turned towards the bulkheads. He knew the safety of the ship depended on their holding, and he wondered whether they had been damaged by the explosions and whether any attempt should be made to shore them.

To get a ruling on this point he went again up on the bridge to see the captain. There he found the chief engineer. It appeared that the captain was already discussing strutting the bulkheads with him, and he, Arlow, was now instructed to get the forward bulkhead shored up from No. 1 hold. He went down at once and saw to getting out beams and wedges.

Arlow then described his once again sounding the well in No. 1 hold after the fourth explosion, and his horror at finding that this hold also was taking water. It was coming in slowly, and he thought the pumps should hold it. He was about to report in person to the captain, when he heard the pumps starting. He sent a man to the captain and then carried on with his work.

He told in detail, made more convincing by its moderate language and freedom from word painting, of the terrible job he had there in the hold. Everything was jammed up with cargo. It was piled against the face of the bulkhead, and he couldn’t get it clear. He began to despair of his job, thinking that they would have to wait till the hatch could be opened and the winches got to work.

They had, however, after great efforts, succeeded in getting the cargo moved back in the centre of the bulkhead for a width of some four feet, and they were gradually working down the face to make a sort of well or sump down which they could get to the water and perhaps put down suction pipes for additional hand pumps, as well as getting in some timbers against the bulkhead, which could afterwards be strutted back from the beams or the after end of the hatch. While they were working the water was gaining on them; admittedly quite slowly, but definitely. With the pumps they had they couldn’t keep it down. However, they had stuck to the work until they were recalled by the captain, who said that he had decided to abandon the ship. With regard to the actual taking to the boats, seeing the
Jane
Vosper
sink, and being picked up by the
Barmore
,
he simply repeated what the captain had already said.