The Loss of the Carnatic

In the days long before the title "P & O" was coined, the company which owned the Carnatic was known as the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company and, for most of her working life, they employed this ship between Suez, Bombay and China. Prior to the opening of the Suez Canal, passengers would sail from the UK as far as Alexandria where they would endure a 200 mile overland journey to Suez, by camel train, before joining another vessel and resuming their voyage to the Far East.

In September 1869 Captain Jones supervised the loading of the Carnatic at Suez. Eventually he would become responsible for 34 passengers and 176 crew in addition to a cargo of cotton bales, copper sheeting, Royal Mail, and £40,000 in specie - destined for the Indian Mint. On 12th September 1869, they sailed for Bombay.

At 1.18am on the following morning, however, the Carnatic struck Sha'ab Abu Nuhas Reef and became firmly fixed. Expecting the "Sumatra" to arrive inbound for Suez at any time, Jones decided everyone would stay put and the ship remained aground for two days when she very suddenly broke in two and quickly sank. Tragically, 5 passengers and 26 crew were lost at the very moment when the ship was lost. Having rowed across to Shadwan Island, the surviving passengers and crew were rescued the following morning by the overdue Sumatra.

What? No Treasure.

Whilst the Carnatic was carrying a valuable cargo, it did not include any gold bullion. The ship was actually carry specie which are unfinished coins containing the right amount of precious metals (i.e. silver) which had been prepared for delivery to the Indian Mint. Once finished, these coins would then become Indian Rupees. Despite false rumours to the contrary, there never was any gold on board this ship. Furthermore, none of the specie is missing because every single case was recovered by a British diver called Stephen Saffrey in the weeks immediately after the ship sank.

As much as I would like to tell a true story of missing treasure and intrigue, sadly, there is none to be found here.

Diving the Carnatic

Visiting this wreck reveals one of the most incredible postscripts to any shipwreck story. Having pivoted on the reef for over 2 days, the reef worked the ship's hull causing it to become greatly weakened. Perhaps mindful of his valuable cargo or perhaps mindful of the perils of being adrift in a life boat, it is not known why the Captain waited so long before ordering the lifeboats made ready. It was just as the first passengers had taken their seats that the ship - suddenly and without warning broke into two separate pieces. The aft section sank immediately and the fore section rocked forward onto the reef before it too fell back and sank beneath the waves. Remarkably, those two halves fell to the seabed as though they went down as one piece.

Today the wreck is found at the base of the reef on which she foundered, parallel to the reef, lying on her port side - bows facing east, stern west and keel towards the reef. The wreck is a fairly constant 25-27m to the seabed throughout. The wooden superstructure and planking have rotted away leaving a steel hull held together by iron cross-members which allows the Diver to explore within the wreck itself.

Being such a shallow wreck, no specialist diving equipment is required and most divers will be able to swim from one end of the wreck to the other and back again on a single 12L cylinder with plenty of air to spare.

Right at the bows is a large copper ring fully encrusted with over 130 years of coral growth which once held the bowsprit in place. Immediately below this is the curved metal support which once held the figurehead. The main body of the wreck has lifeboat davits on both sides. Quite often divers swim over the wreck taking in the view from the outside and swim back deep within the wreck itself. With the wooden deck plank gone, there are plenty of access points to allow the diver to enter and leave the wreck at any time. Both of the ship's two masts are found in their rightful place lying along the seabed.

Separating the front and rear sections is a pile of debris that was once the engine room. Most divers regard this as the least exciting part of the wreck but any thorough inspection will reveal some very interesting artefacts and a very, VERY large Moray Eel in residence. The stern section is also extremely interesting. Deep inside the holds we found some very old barrels. Here we exited from the wreck and swam around the stern.

Positioned a little away from the wreck we were able to appreciate the entire stern which has a row of seven square windows and is very reminiscent of any ship from Nelsonian times. Below these is a magnificent large rudder and something that would certainly have confused nelson - a very large propeller resting on the sand.

Postscript

Captain Philip Jones was born in Liverpool in 1830 and gained his Master's Certificate in London in 1858. He commanded 4 vessels prior to the Carnatic gaining a reputation as a most able Master Mariner. The Board of Trade enquiry decided the stranding of the Carnatic was "due to a grave default of the Master" and consequently suspended his Master's certificate for 9 months. After their finding, Captain Jones never returned to the sea.