General Grant (3 Masted Barque, Clipper) 1864

[Arturo]

Owned by Boyes, Richardson & Co. Shipyard Boston, US; Built in Jacob Morse, Kennedy River, Maine, US in 1864. 1,103 tons; lenght; 179,5’ (55 m). Passenger: 15 (1st class), 41 steerage. She was named after Ulysses S. Grant.

In May 1866, she set sail from Melbourne, Australia, to England. She was carrying a mixed general cargo that included 2057 bales of wool, hides, skins, bark and timber, 9 tons of zinc, and 2567 ounces of gold in two iron-bound chests. On board were 83 people (58 passengers and 25 crew), including several gold miners returning to England, who were probably also carrying their own gold. The ship was routed via Cape Horn, which made good use of westerly winds for a speedy journey.

The drawback of this route was the poor charting of reefs and islands, and general ignorance about currents. On 11 May, the weather became thick and foggy. Two days later, the fog lifted and it became clear that there was land straight ahead, a black towering cliff face of 400 feet or more. The wind dropped completely and. in the eerie calm that descended, the ship drifted ever closer to the rocks with no way to avoiding the inevitable collision. Survivors later recorded how the cliffs seemed to open up before them as they approached their doom. She drifted into a cavern in the rocks until the mainmast ground against the cave roof and the ship wedged. It was 1 am on 14 May.

The ship sank before dawn and only 15 people got away from the barren rocks in the small boats. It took them two days and two nights of continuous rowing before they reached Auckland Island, where they made camp. Leadership of the small group fell naturally to James Teer, a large Irish gold digger. It was Teer who managed to light a fire with the last of their matches. They kept the fire going for the next year and a half, and it was crucial to their survival. Teer kept strict discipline among the group and, leading by example, worked tirelessly to procure food and shelter, and to maintain constant watch for any sail that
might rescue the castaways.

A group of four men decided to take a chance and sail for freedom even though they did not know the seas and had no navigation charts. They set off in a small boat with enough supplies for three weeks. Unwittingly, they sailed on a course that took them into the emptiness of the Pacific Ocean, and they were never seen again. Morale reached a low point after the departure of the breakaway group and the death of one of the other castaways from blood poisoning, but on 21 November, 1867 their patience was finally rewarded. A sail was sighted and the castaways promptly launched a small boat to intercept the ship. This was the Amherst, of Invercargill, New Zealand, which was carrying out a sealkilling expedition. The captain of this ship offered to take the castaways straight to New Zealand, but James Teer and his companions chose to remain a further six weeks on the island helping to catch seals.

Between 1860 and 1876, three separate attempts were made by different survivors to salvage the gold. None succeeded. Other attempts were made in 1912, 1914 and 1916. The last known attempt were made in 1969, but to this date no gold have been recovered.

Grenada Grenadines 1998 75c, S.G.?, Scott: 2013l.

Source: Watercraft Philately (Article by Dan Rodlie).

Source: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapid ... _grant.htm.

Source: Pickford, Atlas of Ship Wrecks & Treasure.

Source: Hocking, Disasters at Sea 1824-1962.

Source: Wikipedia.