'Conan Doyle' Sea Mystery Ends - Master Was Right
'Conan Doyle' Sea Mystery Ends - Master Was Right is an article published in The Newcastle Daily Journal on 10 january 1959.
The Bosworth case was called the "Conan Doyle Sea Mystery" related to the Arthur Conan Doyle story J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement (inspired by the Mary Celeste mystery).
'Conan Doyle' Sea Mystery Ends - Master Was Right
The "Conan Doyle mystery" of the abandoning of the coaster Bosworth, a regular visitor to the Tyne, ended yesterday. The master of the coaster. Captain Gilbert Robertson, acted "in the interests of the safety of his crew."
This was said in the findings of a Ministry of Transport inquiry, announced in London yesterday.
The Bosworth was abandoned in rough weather in the North Sea in December, 1957.
Mr. Reginald Parrish, of Holmeside, Willington, was the captain of the Glasgow freighter Narva, which foundered while on her way to assist the Bosworth.
Twenty-eight of the Narva's crew were killed.
SEVERE
The Bosworth incident had been described as a "Conan Doyle mystery" by Mr. Knox Cunningham, counsel for the Ministry of Transport at the end of the inquiry in London.
Mr. Waldo Porges, Q.C., the Wreck Commissioner, who sat with three assessors, announcing the unanimous report of the inquiry, said that they were satisfied that the master of the Bosworth was justified in deciding to abandon the vessel.
"The weather conditions were at that time severe, and showed no signs of improvement, and the vessel's condition was such that the danger of foundering with consequent loss of life was apparently imminent.
"She had a permanent list of about 15 degrees and was rolling about 25 to 30 degrees.
COURAGEOUS
"The Master was convinced that water had entered the hold and suspected a leak in the hull," he said.
After the Bosworth's crew had been taken on board the trawler Wolverhampton Wanderers, a salvage party from the trawler Faraday, courageously managed to board the Bosworth and tow her to Aberdeen, Mr. Porges said.
There it was found she had 160 tons of water in her cargo hold.
"The cause of the entry of the water into the hold could not be established with certainty," the court decided.
The 865-ton Bosworth was bound from Granton, Edinburgh, to Norway with a cargo of coke.
