Jeff Morris wrote:
There is an article in the new Soundings about the first Pride of Baltimore and
the causes of the disaster.

Okay, I'll definitely read that as soon as we get it.

.. It is written by Melbourne Smith, her first captain
and designer of classic ships such as Spirit of Massachusetts.

While Smith does not cite "poor seamanship" directly, he does say that the top
hamper should have been lowered for the voyage. With the topmasts and yards
rigged, he claims the knockdown was inevitable. This was the common practice
for ships of this type, and he claims it was also the cause of her grounding
several years earlier, when three captains refused to take her around Hatteras
in April with the topmasts rigged.

Saying that a knockdown is inevitable is a bit hyperbole, don't you
think? No doubt at all the boat would have had better reserve stability
with the topmasts & yards unshipped & stowed, but she also would have
been notably slower & possibly much less maneuverable. And in a white
squall with 70+ knot winds, would she have fared significantly better?


The actual sinking was caused by leaving the companionway hatch open. Since it
was positioned on the port side, a knockdown to port would result in rapid
flooding.

I thought it was the main deck hatch which was the culprit. If it had
been sized for safety, instead of historical accuracy, it also would
have been easier to secure. Ironic. IIRC there was some discussion about
it when the Pride 1 was new. In fact, at many places along the line
during designing & building, there were conscious choices made between
safety & historical accuracy.

Leaving the hatch unbattened while on the open sea was sloppy. However,
again it was an issue of history versus modern safety standards... if it
had been a modern hatch it wouldn't have been such a PITA to open &
secure, and there would have been no reason to leave it unsecured.

A point to remember is that white squalls have sunk a lot of good boats
with good captains. The weather was clear and fine, then approx four
minutes later the ship was foundering.

It's possible that Pride 1 would have sunk even with topmasts struck and
hatches secured. If she got knocked on her beam ends and stayed that
way, how long would it take for the same flooding to occur? Longer, it's
true, but how much? In short, it was a tragedy that was exacerbated by a
bit of sloppiness by the captain, but it was hardly gross incompetence
as some have charged.



BTW, my wife did a brief cruise on the Pride shortly before the sinking.

I took a brief daysail out of Beaufort NC on her, and have sailed on
Pride 2 a couple of times. I've also sailed on Shenandoah, another
vessel where historical accuracy took precedence. It's truly a different
world.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King