NEWS STORY
Posted: 24/03/1878 13:12:50

Loss of HMS Eurydice

THE LOSS OF HMS EURYDICE

Why is a Royal Naval vessel given a particular name, and does it have any future hearing on its Destiny?

The name for HMS Eurydice originated from Greek mythology. Eurydice was a beautiful nymph. Wife of Orpheus, she died from the bite of a serpent on her marriage day. Orpheus followed her into the abode of Hades. where the charms of his lyre suspended the torments of the damned and won back his wife. on the condition that he should not look on her face until she had reached earth. At the very moment when they were about to pass the fatal hounds, the anxiety of love overcame him. Orpheus looked round to see that Eurydice was following him, and he saw her caught back into the infernal regions. Orpheus's grief at the loss of Eurydice was so great that he treated with contempt the Thracian women, who in revenge tore him to pieces under the excitement of their Bacchanalian orgies!
HMS Eurydice was launched from Portsmouth Dockyard on 16th May 1843 and was a twenty-six gun Frigate, after a christening ceremony performed by Miss Elliot the daughter of the vessel designer, Rear Admiral Elliot. Following which, in honour of the occasion Admiral Sir C Rowle organised refreshments for fellow Officers and friends.
Derisively called a "Jackass Frigate" because of her small size (921 tons) being not much bigger than a Brig, she had the advantage of better accommodation for her Officers and crew and could also carry a heavier armament than a Brig. She carried two tiers of guns, one on the upper deck and one on the main deck, the lower deck being reserved for quarters for the crew and stores.
HMS Eurydice was of an experimental design, the purpose of which was to try and reduce the vessels draught, by at least one tenth, but still maintaining good sailing and safety qualities. Alas, as time would tell this would not be the case, and the experiment was to end in disaster.
The main deck of HMS Eurydice was watertight, and the only communication with the lower deck was by hatchways in the middle of the main deck, these were surrounded by high coamings to stop any flooding of the lower deck. It was usual to sail with the main deck gun ports open in moderate weather, because even if the vessel did ship a sea or two no harm would be done other than a wet deck, and the water could run harmlessley through the scuppers back from where it had come, the sea.
HMS Eurydice was a 6th rate, sailing frigate armed with twenty four 32 pounder and two 12 pounder guns. Because of her new design she was to prove to be an especially "handy" ship for navigating narrow shallow waters such as rivers. Her main deck ports were five feet above the water line. It was decided by the Admiralty to use HMS Eurydice to train young seamen in the art of seamanship, and was commissioned by Captain Hare in 1877 for this purpose. Throughout the summer she was to be seen cruising off the Isle of Wight and in the English Channel. In November 1877 HMS Eurydice left for a training cruise round the West Indies and on 6th March left Bermuda to return to Portsmouth, with her now well trained and disciplined crew.
The daily life on hoard a British Man-of-War is a very well regulated affair, each day through the week is reserved for certain exercises and tasks, for example on HMS Eurydice, Thursday was called "Rope Yarn Sunday" when the crew were given time to make or repair their clothes. Friday was devoted to gun drill, and on Saturday the vessel would be cleaned ready for the Captain's inspection, the decks would be scrubbed and holy-stoned and any small defects repaired.
This was especially important on Saturday 23rd March 1878 as HMS Eurydice sailed up the English channel on the last leg of her cruise. All seamen take great pride in their vessel, particularly when returning to their home port. On Sunday 24th March 1878 as she was passing Portland, the weather was fine and there was a bracing north westerly breeze. At 10 o'clock all hands were mustered for the usual Captains inspection, after which the Captain held a short Sunday service as there was no Chaplain on board, after which the crew was dismissed and had their dinner.
As well as full crew HMS Eurydice carried several passengers including a Captain of the Royal Engineers, six Sappers, a Sergeant of Marines with twelve men and other supernumeraries, all returning to England from the West Indies. HMS Eurydice rounded the Isle of Wight passing within three miles of Ventnor in the afternoon and was still making fair progress under full sail though the weather was deteriorating. It was well known the dangers of sailing close to land and under high cliffs, so the Captain ordered the watch to shorten sail. At half past three the wind was freshening, the barometer falling and there were some very strong squalls, all the signs pointing to the fact that a southerly gale was brewing.
The Captain was anxious to reach safe anchorage at Spithead before dark. When with appalling suddenness a terrific squall struck, accompanied with a blinding snow storm. The Eurydice heeled over, as tons of water rushed through the main deck ports, and so down the hatchways to flood the lower deck. She was thrown onto her beam-ends and sank barely five minutes from the time the squall struck, little was left to show that there had been a disaster and within ten to fifteen minutes the storm rapidly cleared, and the sun broke through the clouds.
HMS Eurydice sank two miles from the shore in Sandown Bay, in eleven fathoms of water, the only part of the vessel to remain above the water were her mastheads. At first there were many confused cries for help from drowning men who were clinging to bits of wreckage, but soon all was quiet as they were carried away by the strong tide, benumbed by the very cold water. From reports, the loss of life was great, out of all the men on board, passengers and crew of about three hundred only six were rescued alive, and three of these died from exhaustion and exposure before they could be landed. All available boats rushed out from the shore to help in the rescue. Captain William Langworthy Jenkin of the schooner Emma, bound from Newcastle for Poole saw the wreckage and masts above the water steered for the spot, hoisting out his boats to help in the rescue. With such a great tragedy so close to her home port and the loss of a large number of local men and boys a relief fund totalling £23,040 was raised for the many dependents of those lost.
The wreck of HMS Eurydice was salvaged the following September and brought hack to Portsmouth Dockyard, after which she was broken up. There was great local and Admiralty interest and many remedies were suggested to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. This was not to be the case, as her sister ship HMS Atlanta was to disappear from the surface of the oceans two years later, never to be heard of again.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who was a resident of Southsea at the time, put pen to paper and wrote a powerful poem about the catastrophe.