Diving Stories

Unfortunately, at least as far as shipping is concerned, the Island of Gobal Seghir (little Gobal) lies right at the very edge of the busy shipping lane which takes its name from the Island's big brother. The Straits of Gobal are found at that point where the north west Red Sea begins to narrow as it becomes the Gulf of Suez. Approaching from the other direction, it comes right at a time when Captains - out of Suez, tend to relax, thinking that the more hazardous stretches of water are behind them - as many have discovered to their cost. Today, of course, there are radar reflectors and solar-powered lights - but over one hundred years ago things were very different indeed.

In 1887, the Suez Canal had been open for just 18 years and the Red Sea still presented new experiences and very new lessons for many a seasoned ship's Master - most of whom had never seen such things as "Coral Reefs" which always seemed to lurk menacingly below the surface. Even today, these are hazardous waters - imagine how treacherous they must have been at night without any form of warning light.

On the morning of July 15th 1887, Captain Arthur Bremner paced the decks of his beloved Ulysses only pausing to study his pocket watch one more time. Above him, the tall building proclaimed "East India Trading Company" in large letters and, although that Company had long ceased to exist, he often found himself loading at these same warehouses right in the heart of London. Once again he checked his watch and once again he studied the River. He wanted to make the best possible use of the ebb tide and, at last, the time had come to depart. He barked a succession of orders and, as the mooring lines were slipped, he duly set sail - destination Penang. The Ulysses was a sleek vessel with proud lines and, unlike many of the hybrid "sail and steam" ships of the period, she responded well to either form of power - thus giving her a definite advantage when competitors were becalmed. With a following wind to see them safely out of the Thames, none would have guessed that this would prove to be the last voyage for this brave yet ill-fated little ship which, in the 16 years since her launch, had enjoyed a somewhat chequered career.

Captain Bremner gave his personal attention to every aspect of running the ship and only when they were in the wide open stretches of the Atlantic and, later, the Mediterranean, did he allow the Officer of the Watch to exercise complete control over "his" ship. As with so many trips, it was a long and uneventful journey to Port Said where, all of a sudden, Captain Bremner was very much in demand as he attended to Customs officials, Port Authorities and Pilots as he dealt with all the rules, regulations and paperwork that went with the job. Leaving Port Said, he then remained at hand to assist the Pilot as they made the 100 mile journey to Suez.

Once the Pilot was dropped, Captain Bremner took command once again and, almost immediately, he was negotiating the narrow confines of the upper reaches of the Straits of Suez. Perhaps, if he had trusted his more senior Officers things might have turned out differently, but as the many hours passed, this ship's Master got little or no rest as he continued to study and double check every single detail of navigating his ship safely through such dangerous waters. These many hours of relentless concentration demanded the highest levels of physical strength and endurance until, at long last, the Sinai began to fall away to the east and the Egyptian mainland even further away to the west, as the Ulysses approached the wider and safer shipping lanes of the open Red Sea. Finally, satisfied with his work, Bremner eventually handed over control to the Officer of the Watch and retired to his cabin. In the early hours of August 17th the Ulysses struck Gobal Seghir and within moments, the Captain was awake and had taken control of the situation. His first duty was to conduct a thorough check - both internal and external, of every single aspect of the ship's condition and, at first it seemed that the Ulysses had sustained little damage and the pumps could easily handle the small amounts of water being taken on. Regarding the incident as nothing more than an unfortunate grounding, Captain Bremner decided to wait and seek help from any passing ship - something that was not long in coming.

It was still before daybreak when the lights of the British Steamship "Kerbela" came into view and she quickly responded to the rocket that was fired to attract her attention. Unable to render assistance himself - though he would certainly have rescued the crew had it been required, the Master of the Kerbela agreed to make all haste for Suez and send assistance - which he did.

The Times newspaper of August 18th 1887 included the following entry under the large heading WRECKS AND CASUALTIES: "Lloyd's agent at Suez telegraphs that the Kerbela, British steamer, reports that the Ulysses, British steamer, is ashore at Jubal Island, and is leaking a little. Assistance has been sent." Hardly a cause for concern should anyone with an interest in either the ship, cargo or crew have read the item. It would not be long, however, before that "leaking a little" was to become much worse. At daybreak, Captain Bremner assessed the situation once again and repeated the process at regular intervals throughout the day. The Ulysses was stuck fast on a Coral Reef close to Bluff Point. Damage assessment still indicated minor leaking and nothing much had changed - apart from a worsening in weather conditions and a slight increase in the sea state. Still convinced his ship was not lost, Bremner decided against dumping any cargo overboard in the belief that the vessel would eventually be pulled free or perhaps, even float off with the rising tide.

Of course, by the time the Kerbela had reached Suez it was already late on the 17th and the Agent's for the Ocean Steamship Company were not able to despatch that much needed assistance until the following day. Up to now, Bremner, had totally underestimated the power of a Coral Reef to inflict damage on a steel-hulled vessel and had, therefore, refused to jettison any cargo. As the ship gently pivoted on the Coral head that held her so firmly in place, the leaks slowly got worse and he had no option but to take appropriate action. He decided to jettison part of the cargo in shallow water - from where it could be recovered once assistance arrived. No sooner was this done, however, separate parties of armed Arabs and Maltese landed on the otherwise deserted island and began plundering the jettisoned cargo. Deciding that no more cargo would be removed from the ship for the time being, water levels were continually monitored. What went undetected, however, was the slow, irreversible process of the ship steadily rocking to and fro in the increased sea state. This unrelenting process was weakening the hull of the ship and, without lightening the load - it was only a matter of time.


Whether, through fatigue or simple error, Captain Bremner had made the fateful mistake - either by setting a wrong course or by issuing wrong instructions, will probably never be known. One factor that may have played a part in his thinking, however, was an instruction by the Company to make certain all cargoes reached their allotted destinations - on time and intact! In a manner not uncommon amongst a number of fleets, the Ocean Steamship Company selected a "theme" when naming their ships. Their theme was Greek Mythology and names like Achilles, Ajax, Hector and, of course Ulysses became the norm. After a period of successful trading, the Company expanded and ordered five new sister ships of approximately 2,000 tons each - all built between 1869 and 1871. The Priam was built by Scott and Co and the Hector, Menelaus, Sarpedon and Ulysses by Leslie and Co of Newcastle. The entire fleet, however, went through a period when they were clearly not as invincible as their names suggested - something that very nearly brought the Company to it's knees. In October 1875 Hector was lost outside Amoy Harbour. In March 1876 Orestes was also lost, this time off Galle and, the following September, Sarpedon met the same fate off Ushant. These combined losses to the Company - in terms of Cargo and Vessels, amounted to well over a quarter of a million pounds - and all within a year. That, however, would have been more easily managed had the rest of the fleet avoided further mishap. When cargo after cargo was lost through a succession of groundings, collisions and breakdowns, the Company suddenly found itself in the serious financial predicament of having to find additional funds for repairs and replacement ships at a time of falling income.

Within her first year afloat, Ulysses went ashore in the Red Sea and was so badly damaged, she had to return to England for extensive repairs. The Minutes of the Company's subsequent AGM recorded a heavy financial loss from that particular voyage. The following year, she let the side down once again - by losing her propeller and running aground near Singapore. Then came a succession of broken shafts with Ajax, Antenor and Agamemnon - the pride of the fleet, all having to be docked for repairs. Ulysses, however, picked the worst possible moment for such a breakdown and was very nearly lost altogether. Such catastrophes continued to plague the Company until Teucer was lost in 1885 - also off Ushant, after which, the epidemic seemed to have passed. Whilst the Company had been insured for the greater part - they had, nevertheless, endured a period of considerable financial loss. Each Captain was, therefore, well aware of Company policy which required him to deliver his entire cargo in good order and in the most reasonable time. Meanwhile, however, the rivets slowly loosened as the ship continued to be pounded by a moderately rough sea and the damage steadily increased until, on the morning of August 19th, the Ulysses was down by the stern. At about mid-morning two Lighters with labourers arrived from Suez and shortly afterwards HMS Falcon arrived to offer protection. Realising the seriousness of the condition of the Ulysses, the Captain of the Falcon also lent some of his crew to assist with unloading whilst others were landed to guard that which had been jettisoned.

It was a long, dirty and laborious task in the most testing of conditions - made even worse by the intense heat which predominates in August. With the engines engulfed and the pumps silenced, foul water was now deep in the holds. The workers had to wade deep into this unpleasantness - at least up to their armpits, but sometimes they also had to swim underneath. Without power, they then had to haul the cargo out of the hold and into the sea where it was man-handled over coral reefs to the shore before finally being carried some one third of a mile to the Lighters. Throughout these many days of toil, two other passing ships belonging to the Ocean Steamship Company, hove to and offered assistance. By now, however, the Ulysses itself was passed saving. Eventually, Captain Bremner could do nothing more than watch as his ship settled onto the seabed stern first - in an almost leisurely fashion, with her bows and bowsprit still in view and pointing upwards at a sharp angle. Satisfied, that nothing more could be done, on 6th September 1887, all parties returned to Suez. The Lighters were so fully laden that additional space had to be found on the decks of HMS Falcon for a considerable amount of the salvaged cargo. On arrival, Bremner made his official report on the loss of the Ulysses - which was then officially listed as "Abandoned." Bad weather then set in for a few days during which the crippled ship sustained considerable damage before finally disappearing below the surface forever. No specific date for the final sinking was ever recorded.

Back in England, there then followed two separate and very complicated claims for salvage - both of which were very unusual. The first was brought by the Ocean Steamship Company in respect of the services rendered by the crew of the Ulysses - unusual because ship's crews do not normally benefit from the salvage of their own vessel, and for the services rendered by their own passing ships. The second was brought by the Captain and crew of HMS Falcon - unusual for the crew of any "HM" Ship to benefit from the ordinary course of their duties. The cargo of the Ulysses was being carried under a bill of lading which exempted the Ocean Steamship Company from liability for loss caused by negligence of the Master and crew. The Company was, therefore, stating that once the Ulysses was aground and it was established she would not be refloated, the duties of the Master and crew had come to an end and they were as entitled to a share of salvage as any other party. The claim then stated that any such award to the Crew was, however, the property of the Company - in who's employ they were at the time. They also claimed expenses in connection with their other ships which had attempted to render assistance. As for the Captain and crew of HMS Falcon, their case was entirely different. All parties agreed that HMS Falcon was employed to protect the Ulysses and her cargo from plunder and that no salvage was payable in respect of such duties. At the same time, however, crew members had assisted with the salving of the cargo by getting it out of the hold and carrying it a considerable distance to the Lighters. Finally, a proportion of the salved cargo had been carried back to Suez on board HMS Falcon. They claimed that they were entitled to salvage for those acts which were outside the normal scope of Naval duties, On June 26th 1888, Sir James Hannen, advised by a board of Trinity Masters, presided over these two claims which had been combined into a single action. Dealing with the claim submitted by the Ocean Steamship Company first, it was clear that Sir James was unhappy with certain aspects. In summarising the action before him, he referred to "a valuable cargo estimated to be worth 60,000 carried under terms which exempted the Ocean Steamship Company from all liability." He went on to say "I do not know what circumstances brought about the stranding of the Ulysses but the result is that the Ocean Steamship Company treat the matter as though they were strangers who rendered a salvage service to their own ship and the cargo."

He duly referred that matter to the Registrar General of Shipping - tasking him to apportion how much of the salvage work undertaken by the crew of the Ulysses was due to the ship and how much to the cargo and how much to both activities. Turning his attention to the claim made by HMS Falcon, all parties agreed that particular elements of this claim were outside the normal duties of "HM" ships and he duly awarded the Captain and crew of HMS Falcon the princely sum of 1,000 - with the recommendation that, in view of the offensive nature of the work involved, the normal course of giving so large a proportion to the Captain should not be followed in this instance. Two months later, The Ocean Steamship Company settled their claim out of court for an undisclosed sum.