Elfin was a screw driven auxiliary yacht, wooden 50.7 x 10.5 x 5.7 ft, 13nt, 19gt, 6hp engine, ON 63460. She was first registered at Greenock in 1871 and was built by Adamson & Co. in Grangemouth in 1870. After several owners, in 1879 and 1880 she was listed in MNL as owned by John R. Shaw of Arrowe Park (Birkenhead) and in 1881 by Rev. George W Garrett of Manchester. She is no longer listed in 1882. See also.
In 1807, Liverpool mayor, shipowner and slave trader, John Shaw, first bought Arrowe House Farm and subsequently more and more of the surrounding land. On his death in 1829 it came into the ownership of his nephew, John Ralph Nicholson Shaw, who built Arrowe Hall in 1835 and had the grounds landscaped to form a country estate, with parkland, a lake and workers' cottages. On his death in 1885, his eldest son, Otho Shaw inherited the estate.
[from The Scotsman - Monday 20 May 1872]:
Clyde: The steam yacht Elfin, Mr Blair, has completed her fittings and
will leave Greenock for Largs.
[from Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, Monday, November 19, 1877]:
Weymouth. Arrived, 18th. The Elfin steam yacht, Sir K. Palmer, from Southampton and
Portland for Dublin.
[from Isle of Man Times - Saturday 20 July 1878]:
Isle of Man Regatta. ...
The committee desire to express their thanks to Mr Shaw, of the steam
yacht Elfin, for his offer to tow out the nickies. Mr Shaw also
contributed two guineas towards the fund.
[From Wrecks of Liverpool Bay] The yacht was obtained to tow
the prototype steam-powered submarine Resurgam from Rhyl to Portsmouth,
where her inventor, the Reverend George Garrett was to demonstrate her
to the Royal Navy. Both vessels left Rhyl at 10 pm on 24 February 1880,
but off Great Ormes Head, the Captain of the Elfin had to ask the crew
of the submarine to help him due to heavy seas. A boat was sent to
bring them aboard, and George Price, the engineer of the submarine, went
below to assist in mending the bilge pumps. The tow resumed, but the
gale got worse through the night. The hatch of the Resurgam could not
be closed from outside and she took on water. At about 10 am next day,
the hawser parted, and the Resurgam sank. The Elfin turned back for the
River Dee and anchored off Mostyn, but then the wind changed and she
parted her anchor cables and went adrift. The tug Fire King went to the
yacht's rescue but in difficult conditions rammed the yacht. The crew
of four on the Elfin were taken aboard the Fire King. The yacht soon
sank (on 25 February 1880) after being rammed and became a total loss.
I found an account of the sinking of the Elfin on the
web-site Coflein: Welsh
Antiquities. This record reinforced my own records which was nice.
I then checked that Coflein took their information from the Shipwreck
Index which in turn took its information from my book: from the account
contained in the chapter about the Resurgam in Wrecks of Liverpool Bay. So no new
source.
Court case about the sinking of the Elfin. Report from Shipping and Mercantile Gazette of Friday 16 July 1880.
COLLISION: THE ELFIN V. THE FIRE KING. (Before Sir R. J. Phillimore and Captains Drew and Lambert). This was an action brought by Mr. Garrett, of Manchester, the Owner of the Elfin, a screw steam yacht of 25 tons register, against Messrs. Coppack, Cotter and Co., of Connah's Quay, Chester, the Owners of the Fire King, a steamtug of 78 tons register.
The plaintiff's case was, that shortly after 8 a.m. Feb. 28 last, the Elfin, with a crew of four hands, was at anchor in the River Dee, off Mostyn. The wind at the time was about N.W. blowing a gale, the weather clear and the tide about half flood. The Elfin was riding at her anchor, and heading N.W. At this time, owing to the force of the gale, she parted her cable and commenced to drive up the river. Her staysail was immediately set to cant her head off before the wind, but, her engines being out of gear, no steam was got up, and she made a signal for the Fire King, which was off Mostyn, to take her in tow. The Fire King answered the signal, and an agreement was made for the Fire King to tow the Elfin to Mostyn for 10s. The Fire King then endeavoured to pass a line to take hold of the Elfin, but instead of doing so, she came against and with her starboard sponson and paddle blades struck the Elfin on her port side, and did her so much damage that she began to fill with water, and after drifting some distance sank.
The defendants' case was, that at the time of the collision, the Fire King, with a crew of five hands, was at anchor in the River Dee, off Mostyn, with her fires banked up, and no pressure of steam on, the wind at the time blowing a full gale from W.N.W. On seeing the signal of distress put up by the Elfin, the Fire King proceeded to her, and found that she was unmanageable and drifting on to the Salisbury Bank, and, owing to the shallowness of the water, the Fire King had to keep the lead constantly forward, and, in consequence of the Elfin being so close to the bank, it was impossible to get to the leeward of her, so that the Fire King was compelled to go half speed in order to get within a sufficient distance to throw a line. When the Fire King had got to about 20 or 30 yards off the Elfin to the windward of her, the wind and tide gradually drove her down upon the Elfin, and as there was danger of a collision, the engines were disconnected, and the Fire King endeavoured to get clear by going astern with the port paddle-wheel, but, in spite of this manoeuvre, the wind and tide were so strong that the collision took place.
Mr. Butt, Q.C., M.P., with Mr. Clarkson, appeared for the plaintiff; and Mr. Milward, Q.C., with Mr. Stewart, for the defendants. His Lordship, having consulted the Trinity Masters, said: This is a case in which the assistance of the Trinity Masters is extremely valuable, and I entirely agree with the counsel they have given me. Taking all the circumstances into consideration, especially as there was a gale of wind blowing and a strong flood tide running, at least five knots an hour, and having regard to the shifting nature of the sands in the neighbourhood, the Elder Brethren do not think that the manoeuvres of the Fire King in endeavouring to get a line on board the Elfin were unskilful. The Master of the Fire King seems to us to have been a person of great experience and perfectly cognizant of the dangerous character of the place, and the call for assistance appears to us to have been answered with great promptitude. On the whole we are of opinion that the collision was inevitable.