The wreck of the General Grant

[trikikiwi]

Kia Ora,
There's a fascinating story behind this wreck and it's subsequent history. It's still waiting to be found, but I don't think I'll be volunteering.
Here's a link
http://www.maanz.wellington.net.nz/projects/gengrant.html

Cheers, Mike

 

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[Cablava]

Picture-of-ship. General Grant, she was an American clipper ship of 1183 tons, built in Maine, USA in 1864. The ship had a timber hull with a length of 179.5ft, beam of 34.5ft and depth of 21.5ft.


Our Journey to England began on the 4th May 1866 in Melbourne Australia laying a course, which would take us North of the Auckland Islands (about 300kms south of New Zealand). We made good way for the first 9 days then the winds fell away leaving us with no steerage; our ship was making no headway and was at the mercy of the tide and current.

At eleven O’clock on a very dark night we sighted the Auckland Islands Dead ahead with no steerage we drifted in the choppy seas under the cliff face, at 1 am on the 14th the bow struck the cliff, the ship lay to the cliff and drifted sternwards along the cliff face until a large cave appeared the ship drifted into the cave where on the mast fouled the roof of the cave, causing big shocks though the ship.

As the tide rose the mast became more violently lodged in the roof of the cave shocking the ship until it at last punched through the bottom of the ship. In this picture-of-ship she was doomed from that point our ship settled deeper into the water.

The General Grant was an American clipper ship of 1183 tons, built in Maine, USA in 1864. The ship had a timber hull with a length of 179.5ft, beam of 34.5ft and depth of 21.5ft. 68 people were drowned either in the cave or in an attempt to reach the shore. Of the crew of 22 and 61 passengers the fifteen survivors included 9 crew and 6 passengers, one of who was a woman.