The ''Lennie'' was a Canadian-built
barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...
whose crew mutinied in 1875, en route to New York for orders.
Crew
*Captain - Stanley Hatfield, 25, Riverdale,
Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth County is a rural county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It has both traditional Anglo- Scottish and Acadian French culture as well as significant inland wilderness areas, including over 365 lakes and several major rivers. It co ...
*First Mate - Joseph Wortley, Belfast
*Second Mate - Richard Macdonald, St. John
*Steward - Constant Van Hoydonck, 25, Belgium
*
Steward's assistant
A steward's assistant (SA) is an unlicensed, entry-level crewmember in the Steward's department of a merchant ship. This position can also be referred to as steward (the usual term on British ships), galley utilityman, messman, supply, waiter or ...
- Henri Trousselot, 16, Rotterdam
*
Able seamen
An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...
- 11 men, late of the ''Dolphin''
:4 Greeks - Matteo Cargalis, 36; Parosios Leosis, 30; Pascales Caludis, 33; Giovanni Saros Moros, 31
:3 Turks - Giovanni Carcaris, 21; George Kaida, 22; Georgeios Angelos, 19
:Giuseppe Lettes, 22, Austrian
:
Boatswain
A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...
- Giovanni Canesso, 34, Italian
:Peter Petersen, 26, Dane
:Charles Renken, English
Sources:
Voyage
The crew signed on in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, on October 23, 1875. That day, the ship departed for
Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.
The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...
. During the first week, the crew ran out of tobacco. The captain had only enough for himself and did not share. By the 31st, The ship was at , going down the Channel against the headwinds, when the captain came on deck and ordered the ship about. The new crew fouled the braces, likely deliberately. The captain called out that the men were "not sailors, but soldiers".
Mutiny
At that point, Caladis stabbed the captain in the face and slashed his belly. Though wounded, the captain hit back with his fists and Caladis stabbed him again. Cargalis and the rest of the new crew arrived, and he stabbed the captain twice in the neck. Macdonald begged Canesso to spare him, but he was pushed away, and Caladis stabbed him twice. Wortley climbed the fore-rigging in an attempt to escape, but Cacaris, a Turk, shot at him from below and Kaida climbed above and also shot at him. They both fired a total of five times, causing Wortley to fall to the deck, where Cargalis nearly severed his head. Van Hoydonck attempted to give aid, but realised it was futile and stayed in his cabin. The crew weighted the three corpses and pitched them overboard.
The boatswain then confronted Van Hoydonck and Trousselot. They told them that they wished to get to Greece via
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
. One of the crew had a rich uncle there, and they would scuttle the ship. Van Hoydonck agreed and came up on deck, which was liberally splashed with blood. He made two watches, with himself and Canesso. The crew scrubbed the deck and removed the ship's name. Van Hoydonck tried to set course for
Lundy's Island, but Renken was wise. Being clever, he steered south and east, in the general direction of Gibraltar, but also of France.
A
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
was sighted the next day, but he was made to veer away. On November 4, he brought the ship into the bay of
Sables d'Olonne
Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside town in Western France, on the Atlantic Ocean. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loire, it has the administra ...
. Caladis was suspicious, but agreed to a night's anchorage. He wrote a note in French and English about their situation, asking for help. They secretly dropped them overboard, hoping they would be found. Three were and one was produced at trial. At 5 the next morning, they set sail, despite a headwind. Then Van Hoydonck refused to navigate further. Petersen tried, but was incompetent. For the next two days they wandered lost. Then Van Hoydonck was called back on the evening of the 6th, but under condition that they would anchor at the next port he found. This was the
Roads of La Flotte, where they anchored on the evening of November 7, telling the Greeks they were at
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
. In the night he made 20 copies of the previous note and put them overboard. He also hoisted the ensign, union down, a signal of distress.
A Frenchman, Réde, who had earlier steered the ship in, noticed the flag and came close to inquire. The flag was hauled down and Van Hoydonck was forced below. Cargalis acted as captain and made excuses. Their manner was suspicious, and he reported the ship to the Prefect of Marine.
On November 9, they asked Van Hoydonck what country it was and he told them it was a free republic with no police. Six went ashore in the longboat, with the clothing and effects of the murdered men. They said that they were shipwrecked sailors, but this was revealed as false and they were arrested. Angelos cracked and told the truth.
On the morning of November 10, a
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-steam ...
came alongside and told Van Hoydonck to send off his boat. He was resisted and drove the men in at the point of a pistol. After hearing Van Hoydonck's story, he sent him ashore to talk with the police and later gave him 10 armed sailors to arrest the remaining mutineers.
Trial
After 6 weeks deliberations, the French courts surrendered jurisdiction and the crew was returned to London for trial at the Old Bailey.
They were tried first by
Sir Thomas Henry, but later by
Mr Justice Brett (
Lord Esher
Viscount Esher, of Esher in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 November 1897 for the prominent lawyer and judge William Brett, 1st Baron Esher, upon his retirement as Master of the Rolls ...
). During the trial, the remains of the corpses of the murdered men washed up on the French coast. Van Hoydonck was sent to view them. They consisted of three heads, and one headless body. The fishermen who found the heads had buried them, and were unable to locate them again. The body was badly decomposed, and had been stabbed 16 times. It is supposed to be that of Stanley Hatfield.
Cargalis, Caladis, Cacaris, and Kaida were found guilty and hanged at Newgate on May 23, 1876. The rest were released.
Aftermath
The ''Lennie'' was taken to
La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
and then to
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
from which she sailed with a new crew.
Justice Brett praised the actions of Van Hoydonck and ordered £50 paid to him for his conduct.
The
Aristocratic Order of St. John of Jerusalem awarded him a silver medal and Trousselot a bronze one. He later wrote a book about his experiences and worked as a gate-man at the Antwerp docks. Van Hoydonck owned a pub in Middlesex for a time, but was bankrupt by 1892.
Trousselot received the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
from France and later moved to New Zealand, where he and others are remembered for aiding a double shipwreck in
Timaru
Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...
in May 1882.
The ''Lennie'' ran aground on
Digby Neck
Digby Neck is a Canadian peninsula extending into the Bay of Fundy in Digby County, Nova Scotia.
Digby Neck is the western extension of the North Mountain range from the Annapolis Valley and is made of two thick lava flows. It is separated from ...
in 1889.
Lennie (+1889)
Wrecksite
See also
*Saladin (barque)
''Saladin'' was a British barque that made voyages between Britain and the coast of Peru, carrying shipments of guano. The ship is best known for its demise in an act of mutiny, murder and piracy which began with the murder of its captain and ...
References
External links
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{{1889 shipwrecks
Full-rigged ships
Ships built in Nova Scotia
Victorian-era merchant ships of Canada
Mutinies
1871 ships
Shipwrecks of Canada
Maritime incidents in December 1889