The iron steamship Inflexible was launched from the yard of Short Brothers of Sunderland (Yard No.123) on 4th February 1882 for Anderson, Horan & Company of Sunderland and remained in their ownership until her loss. She measured 281.0′ x 38.2′ x 27.4′ and her tonnage was 2300 gross tons, 1489 net tons. She was powered by a 2 cylinder compound steam engine by J Dickinson of Sunderland delivering 200 registered horse power. The vessel’s official number was 85001.
Extract Lloyd’s Register 1893
Builders drawing – Long section of Inflexible Lloyd’s Register
The Inflexible left New York on 3rd August 1893 bound for Newcastle with a valuable general cargo of 2,700 tons comprising flour, maize, cheese and potatoes. Observations of their position were taken on 13th and 15th August and a course set to make sight of St Kilda around 08.00 on 16th August. Her master, Joseph Taylor who had twenty four crewmen aboard, was on the bridge around 07.00 hrs. The weather conditions were patchy with light winds and changeable visibility. As a result they still could not sight St Kilda. The master continued on his course at full speed believing that St Kilda would come into view fairly soon. By 08.30 visibility began to reduce further and, by 09.15, a lookout was posted on the bow. Shortly after this the chief officer saw rocks ahead. He immediately ordered the helm hard to port and reversed the engines, but the vessel ran aground and remained fast. Soundings were taken around the ship and they established they had around 5 fathoms depth at the stern, shelving towards the bow. She was holed in No.1 hold and also forward ballast tanks.
A similar sized /design of vessel launched by Short’s in 1883
The chief mate was sent ashore for assistance and he established from the islanders that the Inflexible had run aground on a reef off the west side of the Monach Isles, North Uist, known as Heisker. A telegram was sent from the local post office at Locheport on North Uist advising the owners of the situation and requesting assistance. The master was aware that the damage was serious and cargo would need to jettisoned prior to any visit by a tug and diver. By the 18th August the weather began to break and there did not seem much hope of assistance reaching the stricken vessel soon enough and by Sunday 20th August the crew were instructed to take the next steamer south. The SS Staffa took them as far as Oban where they arrived on the Tuesday, and travelled to Glasgow on the SS Claymore arriving late evening. The master, two mates, and the chief engineer remained with their vessel in the hope that help would arrive. Unfortunately none was forthcoming and a gale later in the week broke up the Inflexible causing a good deal of her cargo to be washed a shore on Heisker and surround coast of North Uist.
We have not been able to establish if there was any formal salvage carried out on the wreck. Her cargo would likely have been spoilt by seawater and there was probably limited scrap value in the vessel itself. The wreck was advertised for sale in early October 1893, and again we have not been able to establish if this attracted any interest. From local sources the wreck is reported to lie off Sgeir Mhor, Skivinish, which would put it an approximate position of 57° 31.069’N, 07° 38.423’W, probably lying between 5 and 12 metres on a rocky seabed. It will be heavily degraded. Local sources, that is northuist.net also note the existence of an anchor from the wreck on the shore nearby.
Wreck sale advert
A Board of Trade inquiry was held in Sunderland on 12th and 13th September 1893 to establish the cause of the stranding of the Inflexible. The Court found her master, Joseph Taylor, to be in default for the stranding by a) not reducing speed in the poor visibility and b) not checking the depth by lead line when they were unsure of their exact location. The Court suspended his masters certificate for 3 months.
We would like to thank Lloyd’s Register Foundation – Heritage & Education Centre for allowing us to reproduce documents from their archive in this article.
