''Francis Spaight'' was a transport ship in the 19th century, owned by an Irish merchant from
Limerick
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
The ship was engaged in trade with North America, such as transporting Irish emigrants to North America and transporting timber on the return trip. ''Francis Spaight'' became infamous for an incident of
cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...
.
Final voyage
On December 3, 1835, the ship
broached to off the coast of Canada in a snow storm, washing away all the provisions and fouling the water stores. Of the 18 crewmen, three were thrown overboard during the accident and 15 survived, including four young crewmen in their teens.
With only rain water and bottles of wine, the crewmen endured severe cold, dehydration and hunger until December 18, when the captain suggested they sacrifice one of the four young crewmen to survive.
[Kemmy, Jim (1996) "The death of a cabin-boy"; ''The Limerick Anthology''. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan; pp. 114-115] The captain justified exclusion of other older crewmen by the fact that they had families depending on them. The four boys cast lots and Patrick O'Brien, a fifteen-year-old
cabin boy
''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film, directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for '' Late Night with Dav ...
, drew the death lot. Captain ordered the cook to kill O'Brien; the cook initially refused but was later forced to do so by the captain.
However, the cook failed in killing O'Brien. O'Brien attempted to kill himself by cutting his own wrist, but his attempt also failed. In the end, the captain resorted to cutting O'Brien's throat, at which point O'Brien resisted but was killed. The surviving crewmen cannibalised O'Brien for three days until the 20th, when an adult crewman, Michael Behane, and another cabin boy, George Burns, became deranged from dehydration and hunger.
[Simpson 1994 p.132] They were also cannibalised, in addition to another crewman who died on the same day.
When the surviving crewmen were about to draw another lot for cannibalism, they were spotted by the American vessel ''Agenoria''.
The crewmen were waving hands and feet of cannibalised victims to express their plight. After being stranded for twenty days, 11 crewmen survived out of 18. Three died due to the snow storm, and four had been cannibalised. Aboard the ''Agenoria'', the survivors were so emaciated and malnourished that they couldn't feed themselves without help.
See also
*
Custom of the sea
A custom of the sea is a custom that is said to be practiced by the officers and crew of ships and boats in the open sea, as distinguished from maritime law, which is a distinct and coherent body of law that governs maritime questions and offenses ...
References
Sources
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Citations
{{1836 shipwrecks
Incidents of cannibalism
Maritime incidents in December 1836
Age of Sail merchant ships