Disaster
Tayleur left Liverpool on 19 January 1854, on her maiden voyage, for Melbourne, Australia, with a complement of 627 passengers and 25 crew. She was mastered by 29-year-old Captain John Noble. During the inquiry, it was determined that her crew of 25 had only had 12 trained seamen amongst them, of which 8 could not speak English. It was reported in newspaper accounts that many of the crew were seeking free passage to Australia. Most of the crew were able to survive Tayleur 's sinking.
Her compasses did not work properly because of the iron hull. The crew believed that they were sailing south through the Irish Sea, but were actually travelling west towards Ireland. On 21 January 1854, within 48 hours of sailing, Tayleur found herself in a fog and a storm, heading straight for the island of Lambay. The rudder was undersized for her tonnage, so that she was unable to tack around the island. The rigging was also faulty; the ropes had not been properly stretched, so that they became slack, making it nearly impossible to control the sails. Despite dropping both anchors as soon as rocks were sighted, Tayleur ran aground on the east coast of Lambay Island, about 5 miles from Dublin Bay[6] Initially, attempts were made to lower the ship's lifeboats, but the first one was smashed on the rocks. The second one drifted out into the Irish Sea; this lifeboat was eventually found in 1856. Then it was deemed that launching further boats was unsafe and unnecessary. Tayleur was so close to land that the crew were able to collapse a mast onto the shore, and some people aboard were able to jump onto land by clambering along the collapsed mast. Some who reached shore had carried ropes from the ship, allowing others to pull themselves to safety on the ropes. Captain Noble waited on board Tayleur until the last minute, then jumped towards shore, being rescued by one of the passengers. With the storm and high seas continuing, the ship was then washed into deeper water. She sank to the bottom with only the tops of her masts and flags showing.
A surviving passenger alerted the coastguard station on the island. This passenger and four coast guards launched the coastguard galley. When they reached the wreck, they found the last survivor, William Vivers, who had climbed to the tops of the rigging and spent 14 hours there. He was rescued by the coastguards. On 2 March 1854, George Finlay, the chief boatman, was awarded an RNLI silver medal for this rescue.[7]
Newspaper accounts blamed the crew for negligence, but the official Coroner's Inquest absolved Captain Noble and placed the blame on the ship's owners, accusing them of neglect for allowing the ship to depart without its compasses being properly adjusted. The Board of Trade, however, did fault the captain for not taking soundings, a standard practice when sailing in low visibility. The causes of the wreck were complex and included: Tayleur has been compared with RMS Titanic. They shared similarities in their separate times. Both were RMS ships and White Star Liners (although these were different companies), and both went down on their maiden voyages. Inadequate or faulty equipment contributed to both disasters (faulty compasses and rigging for the Tayleur, and lack of life boats for the Titanic).
- Compass problems due to the placing of an iron river steamer on the deck after the compasses had been swung.
- Absence of a mast head compass placed at a distance from the iron hull.
- Northerly current in the Irish sea similar to that which drove the Great Britain northward.
- Slotting effect of the wind in the sails driving the ship sideways.
- Large turning circle making the ship un-maneuverable.
- The anchor chains breaking when they were dropped in final efforts to save the ship.
- The captain being injured in a serious fall and possibly having head injuries as a result.
- Lack of lifebelts (then uncommon) and panic leading to increased loss of life.
