Daily Event for March 4, 2009

On March 4, 1889 During a voyage from Batoum to Hong Kong the SS Sumatra's cargo of cased petroleum caught fire, captain James Brady and his thirty-five man crew acted quickly and managed to put the fire out. As a precaution Brady put into Constantinople where he unloaded some of the cargo and had a local surveyor from the Governors office inspect the ship and certify the fire was out.

This was done and the ship was reloaded and continued on her voyage. A week later smoke was again found in the ship, it was coming from the after hold, the same hold where the original fire had been located. This time no amount of effort could save the ship and after several hours Brady lowered his boats and abandoned his ship.

During the evacuation of the ship one man fell overboard trying to avoid the flames and was drowned, but all the other crewmen got off the ship and moved to a position about two miles away, this due to the extreme heat from the burning ship. Sometime during the evening the ship exploded and sank, leaving the 35 survivors drifting in four lifeboats.

Brady put his position as about 100 miles from Port Said and took the other three boats in tow and kept them together, the next morning a steamer was sighted and even though distress signals were sent, the ship passed without responding. Fortunately a few hours later the SS Glenearn of the Glen Line arrived on the scene and rescued all 35 men, they were landed at Malta.

An inquiry about the sinking was made at Malta which exonerated Brady and his crew, but had nothing good to say about the authorities at Constantinople and the job they did.
© 2009 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com



Roll of Honour
In memory of Able Seaman John McGovern who lost his life in SS Sumatra
"As long as we embrace him in our memory, his spirit will always be with us"


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