Nature of Casualty
The Bringhampton Republican publishes the following private letter from Capt. William H. Kelley, of the that city, who was
Captain of one the fleet of whalers deserted in the ice Point Belcher a year ago, and is again in the Arctic in command of a
vessel: The bark Minerva lies at the entrance of Wainwright inlet, as good as when abandond, in hull, but her cabin is
marred considerably. She lay on the edge of the beach, and she swung in shore clear of the heavy ice which grounded
outside of her, and she received no damage.... Lots of things were wantonly destroyed, and the Minerva was a sight to
behold. They [natives] cut into the flour cask, and rolled out and stewed the contents all over. there was nothing but the
wanton wretches cut into that they could get at. The debris in the cabin was knee deep, with articles off all kinds, dirt, &c.
Everything in the run was broken open and the contents strewn all over. New York Times 10-31-1872
Captain Ravens (schooner Urania) thinks the Minerva will be the only vessel saved of the fleet, as the rest are aground and
badly stove by the ice. Boston Daily Globe 09-30-1872
1872: They [salvors] first came to the Mary she had been pushed ashore and crushed. Then they found the Minerva over on
her beam ends in shallow water near the inlet. Apart from some chafing from the floes and a hold full of solid ice, she was
sound..... Ned Herendeen set to work at once on the best ship, the Minerva. They chopped the ice out of her hold, took out
what remained of her cargo, thus lightened, they got her afloat and at anchor. They refitted her with some new gear and
sails, bought all the baleen they could from the natives, and collected the oil that had washed ashore in casks from the
Reindeer and Champion. The other ships took some gear and cargo from the wrecks. No records remain of the Eustace's
and Francis Palmer's salvage. Captain Williams put Herendeen charge of the Minerva and then moved on to the Seneca,
just as the ice surrounding her was beginning to break up. He took the Seneca in tow and was heading south when a strong
northwesterly came up. Williams had to cut the Seneca loose to save his own ship. The Seneca went ashore and was lost;
nevertheless, the Florence and the Minerva arrived in San Francisco in October with a combined cargo of 1,300 barrels of
whale oil and $10,000 worth of baleen -- as well as walrus oil and ivory. Thus the Minerva had been twice lucky: she had
escaped the Shenandoah and she had escaped the season of 1871, the only one of thirty-two that were abandoned.
Bockstoce, John R., Whales, Ice, and Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic, University of Washington Press,
Seattle Washington, 1986:163-165
|