Edenmoor

The Edenmoor was a 3,107 GRT Well-Decked steam powered Cargo Ship built at John Readhead & Sons shipyard, (Yard No. 292), South Shields, Newcastle-on-Tyne,UK. One of 17 ships built a John Readhead & Sons for W.Runciman & Company, Newcastle, she was launched 06 November 1893 and completed in January 1894. The ship was steel-hulled, 98 meters in length and 12.7 meters in beam with a triple-expansion steam engine and single screw.

The Ship’s Loss: Quoted from “The British Merchant Service. Being a History of the British Mercantile Marine”  (R. J. Cornewall-Jones, 1898):

“The Edenmoor, a steel-built steamer, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, left Batoum on the 6th of November, with a cargo of refined petroleum, for Currachee. The petroleum was in tin cases of four gallons each, which were again packed in wooden cases. There were 112,480 such cases, so that there were about 450,000 gallons of petroleum on board. In addition to this there were 70 gallons of the petroleum in a tank in the engine-room, for use in the engine-room lamps.

All seems to have gone well until November 24, on which date the Edenmoor was in the Red Sea, about six miles S.S.E. of the Island of Jabel Tir. On that day the Chief Engineer, on going into the engine-room, noticed that the cock of the petroleum tank was leaking. And, as the part of the engine-room where the tank stood was dark, he took a naked lamp in his hand, and proceeded to tighten the cock to prevent the leakage. In doing this the cock broke, and the oil rushed out, and almost immediatley the whole engine-room was in flames, the oil having caught the naked light which he had placed on the floor about three feet from the tank.

All that could be done was to stop the ship by shutting off the steam from the stoke-hold, and this they managed to do. HMS Edgar, which happened to be passing, endeavoured to render assistance, but the sea was too high to enable her to get alongside in order to use her own pumps in checking the fire; she therefore took the crew off, and took the Edenmoor in tow, with the intention of taking her to the nearest harbour. During the night, however, the fire spread, the Edenmoor being then in flames from the bow to the stern, and the hawser soon after parted. Seeing that there was no possibility of saving the ship, and thinking it not unlikely that an explosion would occur, Admiral FitzGerald withdrew the HMS Edgar to a little distance, and then opened fire on the Edenmoor to sink her. 72 shots were fired at her before she ultimately went to the bottom, still burning furiously.”

References:

Miramar Single Ship Reports for 1101849

“The British Merchant Service. Being a History of the British Mercantile Marine”  (R. J. Cornewall-Jones. Sampson Low, Marston & company, Lt., 1898)