George Warren was born at Hearts Content, Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, on 4 September 1856. He was the son of Captain Elias Warren and Mariah Ann (Foote] Warren. George, like his father and brother, followed the sea, and in fall of 1892, he was in command of the banking schooner Charlotte. The Charlotte was originally owned by Joseph Hopkins of Hearts Content, and was used to prosecute the fishery on the Grand Banks. The 37 ton vessel measured approximately fifty-eight feet in length, eighteen feet in width, and had a depth of seven feet. Joseph Hopkins registered sole-ownership of the Charlotte in 1879 but by 1890, the schooner had undergone major reconstruction which increased her tonnage to 44 tons, her length to fifty-nine feet, width to nineteen feet, and gave her a new draught of eight feet. The Charlotte also changed hands and was registered in 1890 at St. Johns, Newfoundland, to Sir Robert Thorburn, a successful merchant in the capital city. Captain George Warren and the crew of the Charlotte had weathered the August Gale of 1892 which had seen other banking schooners, including the E. B. Philips of Hearts Content, lost with all hands. It was a violent storm with hurricane winds and extremely high seas, but in the estimation of Captain Warren, it did not compare with the intensity and viciousness of the October Gale of 1892. The Charlotte had been fishing on the Grand Banks when the gale struck in the early hours of that October morning. Captain Warren had the Charlotte hove to, to ride out the storm, but within six hours the gale had become a hurricane with seas running so high that the vessel could not lay to them. Sea after sea would board her, making it extremely hazardous for the crew to work on deck. The cook was slightly injured when a heavy sea struck him while he was at the wheel. Another particularly large wave struck the Charlotte which put her on her beam ends and swept away the dories and everything that was not securely fastened. Then a another giant wave again put the Charlotte on her beam ends, but this time the cargo and the ballast shifted in the hole. There appeared to be little chance that the ship would right herself and weather this storm. The Charlotte was now in such a dangerous position that Captain Warren had himself lashed to the wheel, and then under bare poles, he ran the Charlotte before the storm for twenty-three hours. The ships log was lost during the storm and Captain Warren had no way to tell how far they had run before the storm abated and he was able to bring the Charlotte about into the wind. When the Charlotte finally made port at St. Johns on the night of 24 October 1892, Captain Warren and his weary crew, although lucky to have escaped with their lives, were none the worse for their dreadful experience. The Evening Herald of St. Johns later published the Captains account of the voyage: We met the gale at 2 oclock, Tuesday night. Cape St. Francis bore northwest 20 miles. The Charlotte hove to until 8: a.m. Wednesday, when the wind freshened into a storm and the seas ran so high that the schooner could not face them. She was struck by one sea and thrown on her beam ends, shifting some of the underwater casks on top and the ballast that was amidships was thrown in the wings with the salt. I saw that there was but little chance for our lives, as the seas ran so high that the vessel could not lay to them. I asked the mate if he thought she could run and he said that he was afraid she could not. Well we have got to try as there is no other chance for our lives. The crew lashed me to the wheel and I ran the vessel south by west for 23 hours when I brought her to anchor. I do not know how far the Charlotte ran, as I lost the log. On my way to land I spoke to Captain Leary of the schooner St. Bernard who gave me two boats. When the vessel docked all the crew was no worse for their trying ordeal, other than the cook who was injured slightly when a heavy sea struck him while he was at the wheel. I never experienced such a storm in all my years of fishing on the Grand Banks and I never want to go through a storm of such force and viciousness again. Had the Charlotte been of light construction she would have gone to pieces and our fate would have been sealed and shrouded in mystery for all time. © M. Elizabeth Squires
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 11:03:17 +0000
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