Isa - a general history

Official No. 65510.

Owners: 1871 Wilkinson, Watt & Co, Hartlepool.

Masters: 1872 Edward Gardin (b. 1836 Yorkshire C.N. 21792).

On a voyage from Galle to Falmouth with a cargo of rice Isa became a total wreck off the island of Socotra in the Red Sea on 20 July 1872. An account of the event was recorded by letter written from Aden to West Hartlepool on 27 September 1872 by the master of the vessel.

‘In a violent gale on 23 June 1872 which caused severe damage to the Isa she had to be run ashore on the lee side of the island. Twelve of the crew were blind & the others nearly so. A week after she went ashore the Sheik of the island arrived with 100 armed men from Tamarida, the capital, wanting to take the cargo. The master refused so the Sheik stopped the supply of fresh water & food which was being brought to the crew from 4 miles away. After a stay of about 10 days the Sheik returned to Tamarida. On 20 July a heavy sea from the west broke over the ship & by 23 July the cabins were no longer habitable & the ship had to be abandoned. The sea also destroyed all but about 500 bags of the rice which the crew had piled up on the weather side of the ship. The crew then lived in the caves & holes in the rocks for 15 days just bringing enough rice to shore for their immediate needs for fear it would be stolen by the natives. The Sheik returned with about 300 men, armed with daggers, knives & spears, & 150 camels, to take over the ship & her cargo. His men then took the ship’s boats & plundered the Isa. The master was also told to hand over his own money. The Sheik then compelled the crew to go with him to Tamarida saying that he would find them provisions & when the monsoon changed he would find them a ship to take them to Aden. Having little choice the master & his crew made the 35 mile trek to the capital. They walked the greater part of the journey over rocky ground carrying their belongings & 10 bags of rice for food. They were given a rough stone building to live in but the natives kept stealing their belongings. They also threw stones into the building at night. The crew lived on dates & the occasional sheep & with the rice nearly exhausted the master sent the 1st mate & the six strongest men back to the ship to get a fresh supply & to return with it in the lifeboat so that they could communicate with the first ship that came in sight. On 10 September an English speaking Arab told the master that an English man-of-war called the Briton was at anchor at Bander Delishi & that he was their interpreter & had been sent to get them when they had heard about them accidentally the previous evening. The master believed the Sheik had not wanted their presence known & had intended to either starve them to death or send them to the coast of Arabia because he would have been in fear of punishment for his inhospitable treatment of stranded sailors. Hiring camels the men made their way to the Briton & by 9pm that night were safely aboard. The Briton sailed the following morning collecting the 1st mate & the men with him from the Isa. They reached Aden on 27 September from where they sailed home to England.’

Inquiry held at Aden on 1 October 1872.

‘SS Isa was bound from Moulmein for Falmouth with a cargo of rice. She left Point de Gaulle on 2 June 1872 & had a fair voyage until the 17th when she encountered very heavy gales from SW which caused the vessel to ship much water & spring a leak, so that the pumps & crew could hardly keep the water from the furnaces. Part of the cargo was then thrown overboard but the vessel got a list to starboard, & the engines became unmanageable, & then somtimes useless, &, owing to the fermentation of the rice, most of the seamen & fireman became disabled by blindness. As the vessel could only now be kept clear by the engines, which were in a very critical condition, & there only being sufficient coal on board to last two or three days in case the engines did remain efficient, it became evident that the vessel must founder if not run ashore on Socotra. The master therefore beached the vessel, &, after suffering considerable hardships during two months & 17 days on the island, the crew were all taken off by the SS Briton & landed at Aden.

The Court found that the loss of the vessel was not caused by any act or default on the part of anyone on board, & that the master had no alternative left to him except to beach the ship to save the lives of his crew.’

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