Similarly many vessels loaded with coal from S Wales never arrived in South Amnerica, spontaneous combustion setting them on fire at sea...per example as detailed by Lady Brassey in her book Voyage of the Sunbeam during her World cruise. And then there were the many early cases where water got into cargoes of rice, which then proceeded to swell, slowly forcing the ship's timbers apart.....if not jettisoned overboard, although once it was discovered there was rarely enough time to get down to the cause of the problem ? Paul On Wed, 13 Nov 2013 16:43:15 -0000, "Rosemary & Stan Rodliffe" <[email protected]> wrote: >There were many reasons for loss of a ship at sea and not all to be blamed >on the weather or the captain. In 1864 Captain Frederick Coombe Wale lost >his barque Grahamstown to a fire caused by spontaneous combustion in his >cargo of wool, hides, horns, etc. He was 300 miles north of Table Bay when >the fire was discovered but managed to work his way back, saving seven >passengers and his crew although the vessel and cargo were lost. On return >to England he took command of a brand new ship Queen of the Bay. Full >details at http://www.thornburypump.co.uk/Ancestry/QotB.php > > > >Best wishes > >Rosemary Rodliffe > > > >Newnes Round the Coast 1895 freely available on-line at: > > <http://www.thornburypump.co.uk/Ancestry/resources.php> >http://www.thornburypump.co.uk/Ancestry/resources.php > > > > > > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message 50° 33' N, 2° 26' W http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.html