This account was posted in the London Illustrated of 1878
Though such an appalling accident as that which happened last Friday morning to the German fleet is happily of rare occurrence, yet the magnitude of the calamity, not to speak of the wide-spread suffering and misery which it must cause, cannot but attract the sympathy of all people. A collision between two gigantic war-ships, manned by capable officers and experienced crews, in bad and foggy weather, is not by any means an impossibility, as witness the loss of our own Vanguard; but such a thing happening in broad daylight and on smooth sea points either to mismanagement on the part of those working the ships, or to some defect in the rules under which the vessels were sailing. As far as can be gathered, it would seem that the loss of the Grosser Kurfürst was caused by both.
The German squadron consisting of three vessels was, at the time of the accident, between nine and ten o’clock on Friday morning, May 31st, sailing in two columns, the König Wilhelm, with the flag of Admiral Von Batsch, and the Preussen forming the port or left division, and the Grosser Kurfürst the starboard or right-hand division, the König Wilhelm and Grosser Kurfürst leading, the former being slightly in advance. In this position they passed Folkestone, with the sea calm and smiling in the sunshine, and scarcely conscious of the light wind that blew down Channel. When about three miles off Sandgate, they encountered a Norwegian barque standing out from the land, and consequently across the bows of both divisions. The Grosser Kurfürst, being nearer the coast, had to give way first, which she did at the right time, porting her helm, passing under the stern of the sailing vessel. But the König Wilhelm, which was very near-too near, in fact-to her consort, and steering a parallel course, endeavoured to pass in front of the barque. Discovering there was insufficient room for the manoeuvre, she suddenly changed her mind, and, following the example of the Grosser Kurfürst, also passed under the stern of the merchant-man.
The officer in command of the König Wilhelm the gave the order to starboard the helm, so as to range up alongside the Grosser Kurfürst; but the helmsman, somehow or other, losing his presence of mind, or misinterpreting the command, put the helm still more to port. At this point the Grosser Kurfürst, having resumed her original course was right across the bows of the König Wilhelm, which was at right angles to the direction in which it had at first been steering. It must be born in mind that, at this critical moment, the relative distance of the ironclads from each other was not altered, and it was almost impossible for either to get out of the way of the other. The captain of the Grosser Kurfürst, seeing the danger, at once put his ship at full speed, hoping to clear the bows of the König; but in vain.
As a last alternative he ordered his helm hard-a-port, hoping to lay his ship parallel to the König Wilhelm. Unfortunately neither time nor space would permit the performance of this operation, which doubtless would have saved the vessel. The crash came. The Grosser Kurfürst lurched heavily to the opposite side, as the stern of the König Wilhelm, with a crushing, rending sound, tore away everything to the stern, the quarter-boats being swept clean away, and the armour plating ripped off as if it had been orange-peel. The maintop gallant mast came down with a crash, and the ship, staggering from the force of the blow, reeled over, and the sea rushed through the chasm in her side. There was no time for anything. The boats on one side were crushed or carried away; the others could not be got into the water on account of the position of the ship, which had swung round, and now lay on her beam ends, with the deck towards the shore, whence the sailors could be seen swarming on the upper side of the vessel. The water poured in everywhere, the steam escaped from the condenser, driving away the stokers, and in from six to ten minutes from the time the ship was struck she had completely disappeared, drawing down with her in the vortex many of the crew who have since been saved.
Meanwhile the sea rushed into the rent in the bows of the König Wilhelm, and for a few moments the excitement was very great; but the doors of the compartments were shut, and thus the inlet of water was confined to the fore part of the ship. There was scarcely any shock felt on board, which is not remarkable considering the weight of the vessel [9,000 tons]. Their boats were soon in the water, with those of the Preussen, picking up the crowds of struggling sailors, and most valuable assistance was rendered by many of the fishingboats belonging to Folkestone, which fortunately enough happened to be on their way home; one of them, the Emily Richard, picking up no less than twenty-seven. As it was, however, it was impossible to save all, and 284 men were drowned out of a crew of 497, all told. In the course of the afternoon the König Wilhelm, having stretched a sail across the hole in the stem to relieve the pressure of water, proceeded with the Preussen to Portsmouth, where they arrived at 4 A.M. on Saturday, the flag-ship not having required any assistance on the way.
She was floated into the Deep Dock about twelve o’clock,and by six o’clock all the water was pumped off, and the ship left dry. Though serious, the whole of her injuries are confined to the stem, which is hopelessly ruined, the broadest and deepest part, or ram, being bent over at an angle of about 40 degrees, as shown in our illustration. The damage sustained will take some four to five months to make good; but it is only intended that such repairs shall be made at Portsmouth as will enable the ship to return to Wilhelmshaven, where she will undergo a thorough refit.
The Grosser Kurfürst was a full-rigged turret-ship of about 6,6000 tons displacement, and 300ft. long,and she was armed with four 10-inch and two 6.5-inch Krupp guns, with an armour plating of six inches. She was constructed at Wilhelmshaven Dockyard, and launched in 1875, and was designed after our Monarch. The König Wilhelm was designed by Mr.E.J.Reed.M.P..for the Turkish Government, but was sold during construction to Prussia. She is a broadside vessel of 352ft. 8in.in length, and 60ft.broad, with a displacement of 9,425 tons. She is armed with twenty-six 8.25-inch Krupp guns, her armour being 8in. at the water-line. She was built at the Thames Iron Works, where she was launched April 25th, 1868.
Our illustrations explain themselves. We are indebted to Dr.Fitzgerald, of Folkestone, for the sketch , “The Last of the Grosser Kurfürst,” and to Messrs.Daniel Baker and Edward Warren, 149, Dover Road, Folkestone, for that of “The Sinking of the Grosser Kurfürst,” who being on the shore at the
time, were eye-witnesses of the catastrophe.
