|
For the following three weeks 'Constance'
did some cruising off Lisbon, interspersed with gun practice. This was the
essential time to train the ship's company, test the rigging and make any
other adjustments to trim the ship. On those days the ships log listed a
succession of heading changes and sail adjustments, all part of the
process of running up the efficiency of the ship. In addition, since the
ship was part of a small flotilla, 'Constance' had the opportunity to
undertake trials against another 50-gun frigate H.M.S.'Raleigh'.
'Constance' did not do so well probably because it was not yet well
trimmed and the captain believed the masts should be re-set. Much of the
reports of these activities came from the letters sent by Captain Sir
Baldwin Walker from the Pacific Station to Symonds, the designer, at the
Admiralty.
|
|
The ship passed near Madeira and then on to
Tenerife where they anchored off Santa Cruz on the 2nd of September. That
day, sadly, 46 year old able-seaman John Shea died of concussion of the
brain and was buried at Santa Cruz the following day. On the 5th they made
sail and headed for Port William in the Falkland Isles. Within a month
they had passed the equator and were well down in the South Atlantic.
On
the 1st of October another of the crew died. Jo Hearn, 21, seaman, was
'Killed on the spot when he fell from aloft'. Not a common problem perhaps
but one that every one of the crew would dread. The log shows force 8 and
9 winds a few days before Port William was reached on the 16th of October.
Having supplied the islanders with 1422 pounds of flour and loaded 3105
lbs of beef in return, 'Constance' left Port William on the 21st of
October.
|
|
|
Whatever Port William
looked like in 1846, the penguins - rockhoppers - have the same ageless
look now. |
|
As the ship sailed further south to round
Cape Horn against the prevailing wind direction, the winds picked up. On
the 29th October there were force 6,7and 8 winds and on the 1st of
November 'Constance' took on a Hurricane: force 11 winds at 8 in the
morning. The ships' complement experienced, with concern, the thunderous
howling roar of the sea with the ship mounting huge waves, but they
survived with little damage except for some lost sails.
The barometer showed 28.39 inches at 61.49.30 latitude and
although the winds abated slightly by the 4th of November there was force
10 weather at Midnight. That day they were at latitude 62.17.23, the same
as Elephant Island in the South Shetlands - part of the Antarctic
archipelago. Sir Baldwin Walker, when they had arrived at their Pacific
Station, Valparaiso, reported to Symonds that '..the
'Constance' behaved beautifully during our passage round Cape Horn...I
think her a good sea boat and a fine man-of-war. It is impossible for any
ship to have behaved better'.
|
|
BACK
HOME NEXT |