Butter and Herrings

One of my favourite activities is to walk along the shoreline of the River Humber at low tide and see what's been washed up or revealed. 

My best find has been a worn but identifiable Silver Groat from the reign of Edward III and most useful, a large cast metal tool which I use to lift up drain covers for work. The former will have fallen out of the upholstered pocket in the tunic or greatcoat of a well to do traveller making the crossing of the River some 600 years ago  and the latter. well, it probably belonged to a worker from the 1900's on the mainline railway which from Hessle westwards runs close to the river bank. 

I have been fortunate in what was my daily dog walking route for 15 years not to have come across anything tragic or gruesome such as, by all accounts, the body of many a tormented soul taking their own lives by jumping from the Humber Bridge into the muddy waters below. 

I have written in previous blogs about the dodgy dealings along the Humber corridor from smuggling to Press Gangs as well as the strategic importance of the watercourse for the Romans and for trade and commerce over the ages. 

In any previous existence I will certainly have been one of the first to make my way to the river to witness living history and other momentous events. 

That would certainly have been the case in the Spring of 1912 when, along the Humber, flotsam, jetsam and bits of cargo began to be washed up from the unfortunate wreck of the Bayardo. 

I could have expected to have come across large barrels containing  butter and or Herrings which were the most buoyant items amongst a very varied manifest on the ill fated 13th voyage of Bayardo returning to its home port of Hull from Gothenburg in Sweden on 21st January 1912. 

She was at that time the finest and indeed the newest of the fleet of the illustrious Wilson Line who at one time had the largest merchant fleet in the world. 

Launched only in 1911 Bayardo was a combined liner and freighter with luxuriously appointed passenger accommodation for 30 First and Second Class travellers and some 30 emigrants on the lower deck as well as a displacement of 3500 tons. 

Her cost on the slipway had been some £100000 or in todays money, £11.5 million. 

On that crossing the freight holds also contained dense and bulky items including 201 tons of pig iron, 60 packages of steel , 300 castings, 2660 pieces of bar iron, wire rods, 500 doors, 3345 wooden rails, 2280 boxes of laths, 492 boxes of nails and rolls of wood pulp and paper. 

The ship was therefore heavy laden on rounding Spurn Point before heading towards Hull Docks. 

In command was Captain Soulsby, a very experienced seafarer on the North Sea routes and known as "The Jockey of the Humber" because of his skill and dexterity in negotiating the perilous estuary. 

However, in the early hours of Sunday January 28th there was the added impedance to navigation of thick fog. 

Bayardo strayed from the deep water channel and ran aground on the infamous Middle Sand Bar. 

She had been tantalisingly close to home. 

Middle Sand was broadly opposite the entrance to Hull's Alexandra Dock, some 600 feet from the edge of the channel and midway between the Anson Light Buoy 9 and number 10 BWVS light buoy. 

Although a static sandbank there were shifting sands which meant that the height of the bank changed irratically. 

At first, upon grounding on Middle Sand there was every expectation of simply floating clear and three tugs were sent for from Hull to assist. There was no panic on board and the passengers enjoyed their breakfast at 7am. It was not for another four hours that the true magnitude of the situation became apparent and the order to abandon ship was given. 

The damage was much worse than had been previously been thought. 

This was apparent with the death-knell sounds of popping rivets, the collapse of the stoke-hold and, as witnessed by those on board, the dramatic snapping of the Marconigram wireless cable over head on deck. 

Bayardo was splitting in half. The dead weight of the heavy duty cargo contributed to this.

The forward end began to tumble and the propellors showed above water. The lower holds were waterlogged and becoming clogged up with silt and mud. There were no injuries although a Customs Officer fell into the river when attempting to board but was rescued with a boathook. 

Captain Soulsby faithfully stayed with his ship and the salvage operation began immediately. 

Dockers arrived by tug and began to unload into towed lighters. This proved difficult as water was already swamping the saloon deck leaving only the promenade and bridge clear. 

Bayardo was done for. 

Although not a hazard to navigation to other vessels in the Humber it was not possible to safely mark the position with the usual lights and warning vessels and the decision was made in June 1912 to employ demolition contractors to blow up what was left of the ship. 

I'm not sure for how long during and after the grounding that bits of the fittings and cargo reached the shores of the North Bank and on the Lincolnshire side. A newspaper notice announced a salvage reward of 10 shillings for each butter cask returned in good condition to the offices of the Wilson Line or the Receiver of Wrecks. Even though the contents will have long since spoiled there was still the sanction of prosecution for anyone found to be selling the goods that were subject to the laws of salvage. 

In the following months there were regular entries of salvaged Bayardo chattels in local Auction Houses in an attempt to mitigate the very large insurance loss which had hit Lloyds of London.