Sinking "treasure galleon" evacuation rules

[REITRE]

In 1575 a veteran captain (later admiral) of the spanish West Indies convoys aka "Treasure fleets", Juan Escalante de Mendoza, wrote a treatise on navigation in the the West Indies spanish trade route: "Itinerario de Navegación de los mares y tierras occidentales".
In the book, Escalante, writes about many points, among them shipwrecks. An interesting point because he gives a list of the evacuation order when a ship was deemed in risk of sinking.

When the ship was traveling in a fleet, so nearby ships could assist it, the evacuation order was the following:
- And when it was concluded that it was neccesary to forsake the ship, the first to be docked (evacuated) should be the gold and silver currency and pearls and all of the other things of low bulk and high value.
- The second, all the women, children and the old, sick and disabled, and clerics and other members of religious orders that should be found inside.
- The third, all the passengers and slaves.
- The fourth, the "pajecillos de nao" (lower rank cabin boys) and the old and disabled sailors.
- And when, only remained the captain, master and pilot, and boatswain, and the leading seamen and ship-boys; if it could be docked in the other ships some high-price merchandise like silk, carmine and cochineal, and everything else that could be in accordance with the space, time and place that it may have.
- And it should be noted that when it´s forsaken at sea, the last that should leave the ship are the captain, master and pilot, boastwain, and storekeeper and the more able seamen... And they should be the captain, master and pilot, and boastwain those to exit in the last boat of the ship...

When the ship was alone, the situation was pretty different and here the objective was to fill "boats and shallops" with as many people as posible:
- The first that should be boarded in those boats and shallops are the women and the children,
- and then the passengers and small and thin people,
- and the last the seamen and ship boys.
- The very last should be the captain, master and pilot, and boastwain.
Escalante wrote that usually there would not be enough room for all the people in the boats and shallops, so the crew should improvise rafts for themselves and let women, children and other passengers use the boats.
That was the theory, but Escalante aknowledged that the reality was many times different, with something more in the line of every man for himself.

 

[Silesius Smithee]

When the ship was traveling in a fleet, so nearby ships could assist it, the evacuation order was the following:
- And when it was concluded that it was neccesary to forsake the ship, the first to be docked (evacuated) should be the gold and silver currency and pearls and all of the other things of low bulk and high value.

These days, ships have a "Ditch Bag". A waterproof bag or container with emergency supplies and especially Emergency Locator transmitter (ELT)(EPIRB) but with also enough roof for the ship's log and/or anything important or valuable enough to have been in the Captain's safe. Unless, of course, whatever was in the safe needed to be destroyed rather than fall into enemy hands.

 

[johnincornwall]

Interesting. All sort of assumes a nice gentle leaking/sinking in a calm sea though. Capitan Mendoza hasn't added a condition about raging storms

The Captain of the Costa Concordia might have benefitted from a quick run-through. I guess nowadays the treasure would be last, after him!

 

[MAGolding]

Interesting. All sort of assumes a nice gentle leaking/sinking in a calm sea though. Capitan Mendoza hasn't added a condition about raging storms

The Captain of the Costa Concordia might have benefitted from a quick run-through. I guess nowadays the treasure would be last, after him!

If a hypothetical treasure on the Costa Concordia was evacuated immediately after the captain of the Costa Concordia, it would have been second, not last, since the captain of the Costa Concordia was first to leave..

 

[REITRE]

Interesting. All sort of assumes a nice gentle leaking/sinking in a calm sea though. Capitan Mendoza hasn't added a condition about raging storms

Yes, the situation assumes that after surviving a storm or another kind of accident, the ship is in bad state and leaking.
In the middle of a storm, boarding boats wasn´t truly very safe, so better to try to survive through it. About that, he mentions that it could be necesary to lighten the ship in order to prevent excesive heeling and that dangerous waves flood the ship. He critizises that sailors tend to throw in the water whatever they have closer at hand. He explains that it´s better to select the items to be discarded, selecting high bulk and low value merchandise, and preserving neccesary things like anchors and cables, but also guns and essential ammunition. Also, he reminds that it is counter-productive to lighten too much the ship, so it loses stability.

Still, a damaged sailing ship could still be maintained afloat through the efforts of the seamen and the passengers. Mendoza relates an anecdote from a time when he was leadiing a convoy from Honduras through the Bahama Straits. After a storm hit the fleet, his ship was leaking and despite the work at the pumps, there was a decent level of water in the hold. A delegation of passengers and sailors asked Mendoza to give up the ship and order the transfer to another ship. Mendoza didn´t want to give in, but to calm people down accepted but remarked that the evacuation should be done the following day because darkness were coming soon. During the night, he darkened the stern lantern (that marked his ships to the ones following it) and ordered a change of course, so when morning came, no ship was at sigth. Passengers joined efforts with the sailors at the pumps, and Mendoza proudly claimed that when the ship arrived safely to port, she was the most watertight of the fleet.

 

[Keep]

An Iberian saying in the 16th century used to go: "If you want to learn how to pray, go out at sea."

Escalante wrote that usually there would not be enough room for all the people in the boats and shallops, so the crew should improvise rafts for themselves and let women, children and other passengers use the boats.
That was the theory, but Escalante aknowledged that the reality was many times different, with something more in the line of every man for himself.

I can't speak for Spain, but Portugal has a rich body of literature around the accounts of shipwreck survivors in this time period, and people could indeed very easily become desperate and violent when trying to save themselves from a quickly sinking ship. Cutting down masts or fore and aft castles axes in hand was a common course of action if a vessel became so unstable it risked capsizing or opening at the seams in very rough weather. Sometimes the carpenters were able to fashion the timber into rafts in record time, with some help from the passengers. Very dramatic stories.

Another thing: the idea of "captain goes down with his ship" didn't exist. Generally, the orderly evactuation of a sinking ship followed the rules of social hierarchy - nobles first.

Extremely interesting.

 

[johnincornwall]

If a hypothetical treasure on the Costa Concordia was evacuated immediately after the captain of the Costa Concordia, it would have been second, not last, since the captain of the Costa Concordia was first to leave..

Obviously I meant if he'd had a quick run through of the rules. In fact that's what I said

 

[REITRE]

An Iberian saying in the 16th century used to go: "If you want to learn how to pray, go out at sea."

I can't speak for Spain, but Portugal has a rich body of literature around the accounts of shipwreck survivors in this time period, and people could indeed very easily become desperate and violent when trying to save themselves from a quickly sinking ship. Cutting down masts or fore and aft castles axes in hand was a common course of action if a vessel became so unstable it risked capsizing or opening at the seams in very rough weather. Sometimes the carpenters were able to fashion the timber into rafts in record time, with some help from the passengers. Very dramatic stories.

Another thing: the idea of "captain goes down with his ship" didn't exist. Generally, the orderly evactuation of a sinking ship followed the rules of social hierarchy - nobles first.

Extremely interesting.

It was also said that as long as you heared the sailors swearing and blaspheming it was a sign of hope, but if you heared them praying it was a sign that they had given up on saving the ship.

One famous shipwreck incident, the sinking of the galleon Nuestra Señora del Juncal in 1631 is very interesting. The galleon, under command of Andres de Aristazabal, was the "almiranta" (viceflagship) of the 1631 Fleet of Nueva España, sailing from Veracruz. Despite being technically a war galleon, as usual it was loaded with merchandise and silver, and also carried carried passengers.
A violent storm hit the fleet and the galleon started to crack. The crew throw out to the water merchandise, some guns and even chop off the main mast; but it was obvious that the galleon was still in direct straits and the storm was still raging and hiting the ship. Finally, Aristazabal ordered the boastwain to ready the only boat the galleon had and evacuate the noble passengers; among them we find the the marquis of Salinas former governor of Nueva Vizcaya; Juan de Alcarazo, the former governor of Formosa (Taiwan); Diogo Lopes Lobo, admiral of the Manila Galleon among others. No matter what Aristabal real order was, several nobles bribed the sailors to secure a place in the boat with gold chains and other riches, that the sailors put in a coffer. Salinas and Lobo even offered their help in raising the boat.
The boat could be raised a bit but not totally disentagled, it seem due to the wreckage of the fallen main mast, so the nobles resigned to die in a proper manner and retired to the galleon cabin. When the galleon cracked open in two, the crack freed the boat into the water and an all by himself situation followed. 39 people managed to board the boat that was later impulsed by the whirlpool generated by the sinking ship. The following day they would be rescued by another ship. Among them, were the boastwain, a pilot, the chaplain, and several sailors and soldiers but it seems only two passengers boarded the boat: a monk and a merchant; neither of the high ranking passengers survived.
The authorities were deeply suspicious when the survivors arrived in land, with the sailors covered in gold and some even trying to flee. And even, the chaplain accused the crew with saying that if the boat had an excess of weight they would prefer to throw out the chaplain rather than the coffer, and that he had to plead for his life. An inquiry was opened, but the sailors were acquitted of the charge of mutiny but also they lost the bribes.

 

[johnincornwall]

Was a pretty hazardous business, certainly before the invention of copper bottoms, even without storms. The back corner of my mind recalls that in the late 1700s Admiral Kempenfelt's (?) flagship, Queen Charlotte (?) suddenly capsized in Livorno harbour, Italy, with the loss of him and most hands. Bottom just rotted out and collapsed.

Apologies if any of those details are worng, it's a 40+ year old memory and I haven't looked it up

 

[REITRE]

Yes, sailing was hazardous, and a special care was given to the selection of the merchant galleons that would be allowed to travel to America and that they were as watertight as possible.
Copper sheathing would spread in the last half of the 18th century, but many spanish galleons had a lead sheating with the same objective of preventing leaks and the destructive action of the shipworms (teredo navalis).
The practise started in Spain as early as 1514, though in ancient times greek and romans had also used it. Not everybody was fond of it; but still it seems to be more widespread in 16-17th century spanish ships than in other nations. Around 1630 an anonymous spanish treatise on careening advised that all ships bound to Mexico, Honduras and Santo Domingo, and others were the shipworm was particularly abundant, should have a lead sheathing.

 

[MAGolding]

Was a pretty hazardous business, certainly before the invention of copper bottoms, even without storms. The back corner of my mind recalls that in the late 1700s Admiral Kempenfelt's (?) flagship, Queen Charlotte (?) suddenly capsized in Livorno harbour, Italy, with the loss of him and most hands. Bottom just rotted out and collapsed.

Apologies if any of those details are worng, it's a 40+ year old memory and I haven't looked it up

You remembered some of it correctly, an some not so correctly.

HMS Royal George was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy. A first-rate with 100 guns on three decks, she was the largest warship in the world at the time of her launch on 18 February 1756. Construction at Woolwich Dockyard had taken ten years.

Royal George sank on 29 August 1782 whilst anchored at Spithead off Portsmouth. The ship was intentionally rolled so maintenance could be performed on the hull, but the roll became unstable and out of control; the ship took on water and sank. More than 800 lives were lost, making it one of the most deadly maritime disasters in British territorial waters.

Royal George returned to Britain with the rest of the fleet, and had her hull coppered in April 1780. She returned to service that summer, serving with the Channel Fleet under Admiral Francis Geary, and then George Darby again from the autumn.[4] Both captain and admiral changed again in late 1781, Bourmaster being replaced by Captain Henry Cromwell, and Ross by Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt. She served as part of Samuel Barrington's squadron from April 1782, with Cromwell replaced by Captain Martin Waghorn in May.[4] Royal George then joined the fleet under Richard Howe.[4]

On 28 August 1782 Royal George was preparing to sail with Admiral Howe's fleet on another relief of Gibraltar. The ships were anchored at Spithead to take on supplies. Most of her complement were aboard ship, as were a large number of workmen to speed the repairs. There were also an estimated 200–300 relatives visiting the officers and men, 100–200 "...... from the Point [at Portsmouth], who, though seeking neither husbands or fathers, yet visit our newly arrived ships of war", and a number of merchants and traders come to sell their wares to the seamen.[5] The reason most of her complement were aboard was because of fear of desertion: all shore leave had been canceled. Accordingly, every crew member then assigned to the vessel was aboard it when it sank, except for a detachment of sixty marines sent ashore that morning.[6] The exact number of the total crew on board is unknown, but is estimated to be around 1,200.[5][a]

At seven o'clock on the morning of 29 August work on the hull was carried out and Royal George was heeled over by rolling the ship's starboard guns into the centreline of the ship. This caused the ship to tilt over in the water to port.[2] Further, the loading of a large number of casks of rum on the now-low port side created additional and, it turned out, unstable weight. The ship was heeled over too far, passing her centre of gravity. Realising that the ship was settling in the water, the ship's carpenter informed the lieutenant of the watch, Monin Hollingbery, and asked him to beat the drum to signal to the men to right the ship. The officer refused. As the situation worsened, the carpenter implored the officer a second time. A second time he was refused. The carpenter then took his concern directly to the ship's captain, who agreed with him and gave the order to move the guns back into position. By this time, however, the ship had already taken on too much water through its port-side gun ports, and the drum was never sounded. The ship tilted heavily to port, causing a sudden inrush of water and a burst of air out the starboard side. The barge along the port side which had been unloading the rum was caught in the masts as the ship turned, briefly delaying the sinking, but losing most of her crew.[5] Royal George quickly filled with water and sank, taking with her around 900 people, including up to 300 women and 60 children who were visiting the ship in harbour. 255 people were saved, including eleven women and one child. Some escaped by running up the rigging, while others were picked up by boats from other vessels.[5] Kempenfelt was writing in his cabin when the ship sank; the cabin doors had jammed because of the ship's heeling and he perished. Waghorn was injured and thrown into the water, but he was rescued.[2] The carpenter survived the sinking, but died less than a day later, never having regained consciousness. Hollingbery also survived.

A court-martial acquitted the officers and crew (many of whom had perished), blaming the accident on the "general state of decay of her timbers" and suggesting that the most likely cause of the sinking was that part of the frame of the ship gave way under the stress of the heel.[2] Most historians conclude that Hollingbery was most responsible for the sinking.[8] For example, naval historian Nicholas Tracy stated that Hollingbery allowed water to accumulate on the gundeck. The resulting free surface effect eventually compromised the ship's stability.[8] Tracy concluded that an "alert officer of the watch would have prevented the tragedy ..."[8]

This narrative was disputed by historian Hilary L. Rubinstein in 2020. Rubinstein declares Hollingbery innocent, placing blame on others[who?], and argues that Kempenfelt may not have been trapped in his cabin.[9][full citation needed]

HMS Royal George (1756) - Wikipedia

 

[Niobe]

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