A GOOD 19TH CENTURY CARPENTER'S SHIP MODEL FOR THE ILL-FATED...

Estimate

£1,200 - £1,800

A GOOD 19TH CENTURY CARPENTER'S SHIP MODEL FOR THE ILL-FATED CADET SHIP H.M.S. EURYDICE [1842] LOST OFF THE ISLE OF WIGHT, 1878

the 20in. hull carved from the solid with carved polychrome figurehead, carved hammocks in racks, scored wooden deck with detailed carved wood and metal fittings as appropriate, including 3 longboats, and helm with binnacle, bound masts with standing running rigging, box and tackle, mounted on cradle stand with plush-lined base within glazed wooden case -- 31½ x 40 x 19½in. (80 x 102 x 49.5cm.)

H.M.S. Eurydice was one of those 26-gun sixth rates affectionately nicknamed the ‘Jackass Frigates’ which were built towards the end of the age of sail. Laid down at Portsmouth in April 1842 and launched on 16^th May 1843, Eurydice was measured at 911 tons and carried a crew of 190 officers and men. After eighteen years of naval service, which included anti-slavery operations off West Africa and patrolling the White Sea during the Crimean War, she was withdrawn from the fleet in 1861 to become a harbour training ship. Sixteen years later she was refitted for sail-training and put to sea on 13^th November 1877, bound for the West Indies. On 6^th March 1878, she left Bermuda with an estimated 368 persons aboard and on the afternoon of 24^th March was sighted off Bonchurch, Isle of Wight. The weather had been good but, just before 4 o’clock, a sudden change of wind and a blinding snowstorm appeared as if from nowhere and Eurydice foundered within sight of Ventnor. A passing schooner, the Emma, picked up the only five survivors – three of whom died soon afterwards – and only two men escaped the wreck to tell what had occurred. They stated that their ship had been struck by the freak wind and, with her yards already top-heavy with snow, she had capsized very quickly whilst most of those aboard were still below decks. It was one of the greatest peacetime tragedies in the history of the Royal Navy, the moreso as so many of those who died were young cadets or boy sailors, and the whole nation felt the loss keenly judging by the contemporary newspaper reports. An operation to salvage the wreck was begun immediately and, once raised, it was towed into Portsmouth on 1^st September [1878] where it was broken up shortly afterwards.