The Loss of the Jane Vosper Read online

  ‘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.

  ‘You are the officer responsible for the stowage of the cargo, are you not?’ Armitage asked, when all this evidence had been taken.


  ‘Yes, sir, it was done under my supervision and I have a note of it all.’

  At this the interest of Jeffrey and several more quickened. But their curiosity was not about to be satisfied. Armitage turned to Trafford and said that with his permission he would not take this part of the witness’ evidence at the moment, but would recall him later, finishing first with what took place on the voyage.

  The magistrate agreed that this would be a desirable proceeding, and said that in that case he would adjourn for lunch, ending up with the exhortation, ‘Two o’clock, please, gentlemen.’

  Everyone filed out as quickly as they could, Jeffrey, Alexander and Sutton among the others.

  -4-

  SEA JUSTICE

  ‘Well,’ said Jeffrey as they turned towards the Holborn Restaurant, ‘what do you think of all that?’

  ‘I don’t like it,’ Alexander answered; ‘I don’t like it at all. A very mysterious affair.’

  ‘And the further the enquiry goes, the more mysterious it gets.’

  ‘Quite. Explosions in ship’s holds are not uncommon. But it’s extremely uncommon not to be able to explain them.’

  ‘If the captain’s telling the truth, and it certainly seemed to me that he was, it was something in the cargo.’

  ‘It was something in No. 2 hold,’ Alexander replied. ‘I don’t think we’ve had evidence that it was in the cargo.’

  ‘But there was nothing in the hold but cargo.’

  ‘So far as we know.’

  ‘Perhaps so.’ Jeffrey turned to Sutton. ‘What’s your view?’

  ‘It doesn’t look any too good to me either, sir,’ the detective answered. ‘There’s been some hanky-panky going on, and we haven’t got to the bottom of it.’

  Jeffrey looked from one to the other. ‘It seems to me that both of you think the ship was deliberately sunk. Am I right?’

  Alexander shook his head. ‘We’ve no evidence for that. We’ve no evidence for any conclusion. And more than likely there won’t be any.’

  Jeffrey made a gesture of disagreement. ‘If there was no natural or ordinary cause for the explosions, it could surely only mean they were deliberately brought about?’

  ‘Quite. The difficulty is that not being able to find a natural or ordinary cause, is no proof that there wasn’t one.’

  ‘The lawyer’s mind, Alexander. I agree in theory, of course, but in actual life things are different. The obvious explanation is the true one ninety-nine times in a hundred.’

  Alexander smiled. ‘There are two things we’ll be interested to hear at all events,’ he declared. ‘The first is: What was the nature of the cargo in that No. 2 hold? and the second: What was the relation of the insurance cover of the ship and cargo to their value?’

  ‘Ah yes, I agree with you there.’ Jeffrey paused, then went on. ‘Look here, they haven’t given us any too much time to get this blessed lunch. Let’s get on with it.’

  ‘I want something light,’ Alexander declared. ‘These afternoon sessions are sleepy affairs at the best.’

  They compromised on omelettes followed by coffee, to the secret regret of Sutton, whose ideas of lunch ran more towards Porterhouse steak and onions, washed down by draught stout. By five minutes before two they were again in their places.

  The proceedings reopened by the calling of Second Officer Blair. Here again there ensued a good deal of rather wearisome repetition of questions which had already been answered by the previous witnesses. Blair indeed had very little to say which added to the general knowledge. His opinion as to the position of the explosions agreed with Hassell’s and Arlow’s, but he had no suggestions to make as to their cause.

  The only fresh information he gave was about the fire. When sent to investigate the first detonation he had at once made for No. 2 hold, believing that Arlow was already searching the forepeak and No. 1. There he had found that the door by which the hold was reached from amidships had been blown open and that smoke was pouring out. This smoke smelt of explosives and of burning wood. He had at once closed the door to cut off the supply of air, immediately informing the captain that there was fire in the hold. Steps were taken to deal with the outbreak, but before anything could be put into operation there were further explosions and No. 2 hold was pierced and became flooded. The fire had not penetrated above the level of this flooding and was therefore automatically extinguished.

  Angus Mactavish, the chief engineer, was the next witness. After the usual questions as to qualifications and experience, he was asked to tell in his own words what he knew of the affair.

  He said that on the evening before the explosions they had had a little trouble with one of the main bearings of the auxiliary engine which worked the dynamo, which had been inclined to heat. He had decided to light by oil and stop the engine to remetal the bearing. This had been done in the small hours of the morning, and the engine was then tested. He had lain down earlier, but had got up to inspect the work and to be present at the test. It thus happened that he was in the engine room at the time of the first explosion.

  He did not know where the sound came from. It was not very loud, being muffled by the sound of the engines. He had wondered whether the trouble was in the stokehold, and had looked in. Everything, however, seemed to be right. As he had turned back to the engine room to make a closer inspection, the telegraph had rung for SLOW AHEAD. Directly he had slowed the engines and seen that the fire draught was reduced, the bridge speaking tube whistled. The captain had asked if anything were wrong, and he had reported all well in the engine room.

  He had left the second engineer in charge of the engines and had gone back to the stokehold to make further enquiries about the noise. The firemen and trimmers on duty agreed that it was an explosion of some sort, apparently in the adjoining hold. While he was speaking to them the second explosion had come, and it sounded close as well as very heavy. He agreed it was in the hold at the other side of the stokehold bulkhead. So far as he could ascertain, however, no damage seemed to have been done to the ship.

  On his own initiative he immediately got steam to all the pumps, so that if they should be wanted they could be brought into use with the minimum of delay. He was back in the engine room engaged in this work when the third explosion came. He ran into the stokehold but again he could not find anything wrong. However, he heard the ominous sound of water pouring into the ship, and ran back and started the pumps. The bridge whistled again on the speaking tube, and he reported accordingly.

  Asked if he could estimate from what he had heard either the size or position of the hole, Mactavish said that he could not do so with any certainty. It sounded to him, however, as if it were in the bottom somewhere amidships. At all events the sound of flowing water was loudest in the centre of the ship, and grew more muffled as he moved towards the sides. As to the size, he had since worked out a rough calculation from the approximate time the hold had taken to fill, and it would seem to him that the hole must have been somewhere about two feet in diameter.

  The captain had then called him up on the bridge for a consultation. No. 2 hold was by this time about full and the ship was badly down by the head. The captain had discussed the situation and it had been agreed that as the bulkheads might have been damaged by the explosions, they should be shored. He had then returned to the stokehold to get the shoring under way.

  He was actually in the stokehold when the fourth explosion came. This was quite different from the preceding three. It was very much sharper and more severe, and the entire ship vibrated as if she had got a blow from some sort of giant hammer. The bulkhead had buckled; he had actually seen it coming forward. For a moment he thought it was going to give way entirely, which would, of course, have ended all their lives. It hadn’t done so, fortunately. It had remained curving inwards and for a moment it didn’t seem as if a great deal of harm had been done.

  ‘Can you estimate how far the bulkhead curved in from its former plane?’ Mr Armitage asked.

  Mactavish thought abou
t a foot. It was happily not enough to tear the bulkhead away from the sides of the ship, though it was enough to start the joints. Immediately the rivets down each side and along the bottom began to weep. The whole bulkhead had been shaken, and in his opinion it was only a question of time till it gave way altogether. He reported to this effect to the captain, who said he would come down to see the damage and discuss what was to be done.

  He, Mactavish, continued getting his beams and struts into place, but as they worked the flow from the bulkhead grew steadily stronger. At that time the pumps were easily able to cope with it, but he was aware that if it continued to gain on them, the ship was doomed. She was low enough in the water as it was, and she could not carry much more weight.

  The captain went away but returned after some time. The flow was then much stronger. He, Mactavish, was by now convinced that they could do nothing to stop it, and that they would be unable to save the ship. His pumps were still keeping the water down, but the increase in the flow was so rapid that they would not be able to do so long. He had tried to ease up the pressure with shores, but it took time to get the beams into position in the confined space of the stokehold, and he could not get a great deal of force to play. He admitted advising the captain to abandon ship. Under similar circumstances he would do it again. It had proved to be sound advice, for if they had delayed another half-hour they would all have gone to the bottom. The captain agreed after a short time, and he mustered his men and sent them on deck. He made them fire up the boilers before leaving, so that there would be steam for the pumps till the boats got away. He remained below himself till a call from the bridge told him that the boats were out. He and the captain were the last to leave the ship.

  ‘Now about the explosions,’ Armitage went on when the chief’s story had come to an end. ‘You say that the fourth shock was very much more severe than the other three. You mean that a bigger charge of whatever the substance was went off?’