The Times, Monday, Feb 05, 1866; pg. 11; Issue 25413; col B THE LOSS OF THE LONDON. ----------------------- OFFICIAL INQUIRY. [continued] Mr. William HART, carpenter's mate on board the London, was then examined. He said his first voyage in the London was that which he made in her when she last left London. He did not sign the articles of agreement. He was to have done so at Gravesend, but as he was going to leave the ship at Melbourne he supposed that was the reason he did not sign them. It was understood that he was to sign them before he left the ship. He had nominal wages of 1s. a month, but got a free passage. There was a carpenter on board, but he was lost in the ship. The witness had been nine years a carpenter, and had been to the West Indies as a ship's carpenter. So far as his own employment, he was well acquainted with the construction of the London. He was of opinion that she was a very strong and a very safe ship. Nothing particular happened to her on her voyage to Plymouth. There she took in 50 tons of coal, most of which were stowed on deck round the funnel. She left Plymouth just after midnight of the 5th of January. Nothing happened on the 6th to call for his services. On Tuesday, the 9th, at about 9 in the morning, the foretopmast and the jibboom were carried away. All through Monday afternoon there had been a very strong breeze, and it came on to blow hard during the night. On the Tuesday morning the ship was under steam with her head to the wind. When he came on deck he found the jibboom lying on the starboard bow, right over in the water, and the topmast was swinging in the rigging. The foreroyalmast was hanging down and swinging with the motion of the ship. At 10 o'clock the mainroyalmast was carried away, having broken off above the rigging. The maingallantmast was not carried away. They tried to get the jibboom in, but at that time they could not get hold of it. When he saw it hanging over, it was not likely to do any damage to the ship from knocking against her. He was acquainted with the engine-room hatchway skylight. It went into a rabbet and was fitted with brass fastenings on the inside. The frame of the skylight was of teak, and about three inches thick. The panes of glass in the skylight were plate glass, about 12in. by 9in., and about half an inch thick. It appeared to him, as ship's carpenter, that the hatchway was sufficiently secured. The skylight grating was composed of ¾-inch galvanized iron, the bars being round and two inches apart. The rabbet was about 1½in. thick. He remembered the night of the 10th, when the skylight was carried away. The first he heard of it was when he was called from his berth to secure it. The third officer came and told him that it had been nearly washed off. He attempted to go aft, but was washed against a steam winch by the heavy seas which were coming over the port side. He got up, and reached the hatchway in about two minutes after he had been called. On reaching it he found that the skylight had been knocked right off. It was lying flat on the deck, at the starboard side. The glass was all whole, or, if broken, much of it was not so. He and others tried to put the skylight on again. About 20 made the attempt; but the heavy seas sent it and them to leeward, and it was smashed to pieces. After that they tried to nail sails over the combings of the hatchway, but as fast as they did so the sails were washed off. Before the hatchway was carried away the skylight had been battened down with a tarpaulin and a large sail doubled. The carpenter had battened it down on the morning of Tuesday, the 9th. After the sails which they attempted to nail on the hatchway on the Wednesday night had been blown away they put spars fore and aft the hatchway, and some boards and sails, but the boards and sails were carried away. The spars remained, and they then filled up the hatchway from the engine-room to the upper deck with mattresses, which rested on the engine. Mr. TRAILL. - Now, without forming an opinion from anything you may have heard from any other person on deck, would you say there was anything to account for this? Witness. - Well, on Wednesday afternoon the flying jibboom was carried aft by the men and laid alongside the combings of the hatchway. I saw the boatswain take a piece of 2½-inch rope and lash the flying jibboom down to ringbolts by the side of the hatchway. Captain HARRIS. - Now, what was the diameter of the flying jibboom? Witness. - From nine inches to a foot. Captain HARRIS. - Was the flying jibboom raised on chocks, or laid flat on the deck? Witness. - It was laid flat on the deck. Mr. O'DOWD. - Describe in what way the flying jibboom lay in respect of the hatchway. Witness. - Right fore and aft besides the combings on the port side. It went to the combings of the after hatchway. Captain HARRIS. - Was it close underneath the projecting edge of the skylight? Witness. - It was under the combing, and one end went close up to the bulkhead of the saloon. Mr. TRAILL. - Was the middle of the flying jibboom at about the middle of the skylight of the engine-room hatchway? Witness. - No; the middle of the flying jibboom was at the after part of the skylight. Mr. TRAILL. - Where were the ringbolts to which the flying jibboom was lashed? Witness. - They were on the deck, close to the hatchway. By Mr. O'DOWD. - When the skylight was washed away, he noticed the jibboom flying about the deck. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The carpenter's mate's evidence to continue..... Petra