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SS Regulus

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Theroadislong (talk | contribs) at 14:06, 6 April 2018 (Theroadislong moved page User:JeromeOBrien/sandbox/SS Regulus (Steamer) to Draft:SS Regulus (Steamer): Preferred location for AfC submissions). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
  • Comment: I have a feeling this might eventually be a useful and interesting article, but the current draft doesn't have sufficient sources to meet WP:GNG. I do encourage you to keep searching for good sources, however, and add them to the article.
    I did a little searching myself and found this poem written about the ship. To me, that's a good sign that this is probably worth writing an article about.
    It's also mentioned here -- RoySmith (talk) 17:52, 3 April 2018 (UTC)
SS Regulus

SS Regulus (80531) Was a an iron screw steamship registered in St. John's, Dominion of Newfoundland. She was lost, with all hands, on October 23rd, 1910 on the rocks known as Hayes' Reef in Leeward Cove, 1.5 miles south of Motion Head, Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove, Newfoundland.[1][2]

History

The SS Regulus was constructed by Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Company at Willington Quay and launched on October 26th, 1878. She entered service with Stevens and Mawson, Newcastle. In 1897 the vessel was purchased by A. Harvey and Company of Newfoundland and entered service as a general cargo vessel servicing routes between Newfoundland and various ports along the northeast coast of North America.[3]

Loss

On Oct 22, 1910 the Regulus departed Bell Island Newfoundland en route to Sydney, Nova Scotia, in ballast.. At 2 pm that day A. Harvey and Company received a telegraph from Bay Bulls stating that Regulus tail shaft had broken and she was at anchor off Shoal Bay and requesting immediate assistance. Two tugs, the "John Green" and the "Ingraham" were immediately dispatched from St. John's to render assistance. The HMS Brilliant was also in port and offered to assist but it was decided that the two tugs would be sufficient for the task.[1]

After passing Cape Spear the John Green encountered fog which grew denser as they made headway. When the tugs had reached the last reported location of Regulus a dense fog had blanketed the entire area with a strong southerly breeze blowing and seas beginning to get heavier. The tugs cruised around for hours and It was not until 10 pm that evening that the John Green sighted the Regulus lights and came alongside.. At this time three options were discussed. 1) The tug would take Regulus crew off the vessel and land them in Bay Bulls. 2) The crew would remain with Regulus and the John Green would remain close by the Regulus until daylight. 3) The tug would take Regulus under tow to St. John's. For unknown reasons Option 3 was chosen and the crew set about to take Regulus under tow at at near 10:30 pm. It took between one and a half to two hours to weigh the Regulus anchor, why the anchor was not slipped remains a mystery to this day. At approximate 1 am the tow commenced, by this time the southerly breeze has increased to gale force and had veered southeast with heavy seas making. The tow proceeded at about 2 miles per hour a pace such that both vessels made considerable leeway toward land which was spotted by the tugs crew off the port bow at about 2:30 am. The tugs crew immediately ported to avoid rocks resulting in the tow line breaking. The crew of the John Green then witnessed the lights of Regulus drifting leeward for approximately 5 minutes before disappearing.[1]

At day break a search was immediate started for survivors, however the seas were still heavy and by days end it was concluded that there were likely no survivors. The propeller of the vessel was spotted lodged in a cliff at Leeward Cove[1] which confirmed the Regulus foundered on Hayes Reef in Leeward Cove.

Marine Court of Inquiry

On November 16th, 1910 a Marine Court of Inquiry was held at St. John's, Newfoundland with Mr. J.G. Conroy presiding. The final judgement of the inquiry laid blame for the disaster on the crew of the tug John Green. The course steered by the tug was not a safe and proper course to clear Motion Head. To safely clear Motion Head, in such conditions, an east course should have been followed instead of the northeast by east course taken.[1]

Partial Crew List

John Taylor (Captain)

Malcolm McNeil

John Penston

M F Knight

John Kent.

Fred Cooke.

M Dalton

Joseph Fitzpatrick

Arthur Forbes

Joseph Murphy

John Rodgers.

Michael O'Brien

John Osbourne

Herbert Goudie

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Report on Marine Court of Inquiry" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  2. ^ "Wrecksite Records". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  3. ^ "Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Record". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

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