| Summary : 1900 wreck of Austrian barque which stranded at Bude, outward-bound from Cardiff to Luanda, possibly calling at Bilbao en route. Constructed of wood, she was a sailing vessel; her home port of Trieste belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time of loss, but is now within the modern state of Italy. The CAPRICORNO appears to have been in company with the TORDENSKJOLD, also bound with the same cargo from Cardiff to Luanda, and wrecked on the same day elsewhere in the Bristol Channel [see ST 48 SE 7]. |
More information : '...on 28-DEC-1900, both rocket brigade and lifeboat crew could only stand helplessly by on Bude breakwater, defeated by wind, tide, and the ignorance of a shipwrecked crew. The 589-ton Austrian barque CAPRICORNO, Eduardo Perovich master, Cardiff for Sao Paul de Loando...' (5)
'Having parted from the tug FASTNET in rough weather off Lundy during the evening of Christmas day, her captain declined to reconnect the hawser since they were almost at the end of the towing agreement; the CAPRICORNO therefore stood away WNW on the port tack but made little headway. On the 27th the wind again rose to gale force, and by 10am on the 28th she was off Tintagel under reefed topsails with both her boats smashed, driving helplessly to leeward.' (1)(4), based on (5)
'At 1.30pm she struck Bude breakwater, the mate and seven men instantly being swept overboard, the survivors, including Captain Perovick, who had suffered both a fractured wrist and an ankle, took shelter in the cabin.' (1)(4), based on (5)
'Only one sailor, Eduardo Francesconi, stayed on the wave-swept decks, ready to secure the first rocket line, but it fell beyond his reach, in the main backstays. Chief Officer Westcott then ordered the launcher to be moved further down the rocks, and a second rocket went into the jibstays. A third flashed over the waves, but Francesconi, aided by able seaman Francisco Frontebello, who had left the cabin, secured the original line. Whip and hawser were hauled out, and all seemed ready for a routine breeches-buoy rescue, but nobody would leave the cabin, and the two sailors lost control of the lines, which fouled solid.
'No spare lines were available...at 4pm Eduardo Francesconi looped a bowline around his waist and set out hand over hand along the useless hawser. Its wild swaying and the bitter cold made his progress agonisingly slow...Forty-five long minutes later Francesconi reached the breakwater, and from him the coastguards were appalled to learn that the survivors were waiting for low tide when they hoped the CAPRICORNO would ebb dry. But already she had dug herself deep into the sands far beyond low water mark, and the Bude coastguards and sailors knew that the flooding tide would carry her no closer inshore.
'This view was evidently not shared by Chief Boatman Fisher of the Boscastle rocket brigade, who did not order his men down to the breakwater until 7pm...
'By then the CAPRICORNO had wallowed slightly more westwards, but not a yard nearer the breakwater. The Boscastle brigade had to operate much further back than the Bude men's original position, and all eight rockets fired...fell short. On board, heavy seas had driven Captain Perovich and the others from the cabin, while high up in the shrouds Frontebello watched the flash of the rockets...Yards and blocks rained down, and knowing the end was near he jumped overboard. An hour later the CAPRICORNO had gone; search parties spread out over the haven rocks, and Francisco Frontebello, the only other survivor, was dragged bleeding and insensible from a rocky gully by two coastguards.
'...one of her yards remained afloat for many more years as the mizzen mast of the last sailing ship launched at Bude, the ketch AGNES...' (5)
(2) gives the name of the vessel as CAPRICORN, 1,000 tons and the destination as "San Paulo de Loango, Bilbao". Presumably this is intended to convey that Bilbao was a calling point en route to Sao Paulo do Luanda [now Luanda]. Another ship was lost on the same day elsewhere in the Bristol Channel, carrying the same cargo to the same ultimate destination, which may indicate that they were in company. See the TORDENSKJOLD, ST 48 SE 7.
NB: The port of Trieste was incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time of loss, but now lies in the modern state of Italy. The nationality of the vessel has therefore been double-indexed as Austrian and Italian.
Built: 1883 (1)(3)
Owner: L de Cosulich and Co., Fiume (3)
Master: Eduardo Perovick (1)(4); Eduardo Perovich (5)
Crew: 14 (1)(4)
Crew Lost: 12 (1)(4); all but 2 (5)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss |