1898, at the end of the season the SS Greenland Captain Arch Davis ordered 150 men out onto the ice even with the alarming drop in the barometer. The day was mild & balmy & most of the men went out shirtsleeves. The wind suddenly shifted & gusted out of the north west. By afternoon the temp droped to -20C & the ship became trapped in the ice. 29 sealers died frozen & 23 were never recovered.


Fast forward 16 yrs.


By 1914 the eleven wooden of the fleet were sunk & were replaced by steel ships. That had to venture futher out for the diminishing seal herd. Captain Abraham Kean was the Commodore of the fleet & commanded the Stephano, his son Joe commanded the Florizel & the younger, inexperenced & unqualified son, Wes commanded the largest of the wooden vessels, the Newfoundland which was the only vessel not equipped with a barometer or a wireless, they were removed to be placed on a new steel ship. The Newfoundland became trapped in ice from the start. On March 29 Captain Billy Winsor of the Beothic was returning with 25,000 Pelts, the Stephano had 18,000 & stayed in the hopes of bringing in more than the Beothic. The Florizel & the other vessels had between 10,000 & 15,000 pelts Wes had none. On March 23 Captain Winsor set 50+ men on the ice fearing Captain A. Kean might make off with part of his catch. A strong wind came up closing the channel. They were picked up the next morning. They informed the Captain that they had observed a large horned beast snickering at them through the dense snow, a sure sign of an upcoming disater. Billy informed the other ships of the rescue of his crew & the strange sights they saw, believing it was an evil omen, from there on he wouldn't let his men venture 1-2 miles from the ship. Meanwhile, on the night of the 29th, Wes thought he saw his father's ship about 6 miles away, which turned out to be a mirage. That morning of the 30th Wes set 176 sealers out on the ice to find the Stephano who would take them to the seals. The day was mild & reminded some of the Geenland disater 16 yrs ago almost to the day. Again the sealers set out in shirtsleeves. About 3 hrs out the men came upon a small herd of about 100 seals they slaughtered them & moved on. Suddenly a breeze came out of the south east. 50 men refused to go on. Master of the watch, George Tuff, one of the few survivors of the Greenland tragedy threatened to to dock their pay if they didn't keep going, they still refused & returned to the Newfoundland. 126 men finally reached the Stephano 6 hrs later wwhile the wind kept picking up & heavy snow started to fall. The men were treated to bowls of hot tea. The Stephano started up her engines & the men figured that they were picking up the rest of the Stephano's crew, 1/2 hr later they were all ordered back out on the ice. They thought that they were to work a small patch of seals or gather pelts left behind, until the Stephano turned & disappered into the snow. George Tuff told the men the orders were to work a large herd then return to their own ship. They were afraid to disobey orders & kept on, never finding that herd. The storm had only just begun, it turned out to be the worst storm in memory. The wooden fleet was also surprised by the storm & sought shelter in the deep bays along the southern shores of Newfoundland except for the Southern Cross who decided to ride out the storm to try to be the 1st ship to arrive back to St John's fully loaded. She was last seen passing Cape Race's Marconi station taking 176 men with her to the bottom. On the Newfoundland Wes was sure that the 126 men he had sent out were safe on the Stephano just as sure Abraham was that they were safely on the newfoundland. George Tuff, that evening after losing 5 men who passed through the ice called a halt to going any futher & the men built a shelter of ice blocks. By morning the wind came in from the east & the snow turned to rain & the wind was at gale force turning the men's clothing into shells of ice. Some of the men laid down on the ice to die others ran off into the water. About noon the next day the snow started to let up & 2 hrs later George saw the Bellaventure less than 2 mile off. The men ran towards her but she never saw them & turned direction less than a 1 mile from them. Again they saw, late that afternoon after the wind had died down, the Newfoundland headed towards the Stephano, George took a few men & went after her. The next morning Wes spotted the men now realizing what had happened & pulled George & 3 others. That same morning on April 1, Captain Randell of the Belladventure spotted 20+ men & stent out a rescue party bringing back 45 men most crippled for life & 62 corpses, 15 were never found. On April 2 Billy Winsor ordered his men onto the ice, they refused & the Beothic headed home. This mutiny spread through the fleet. The crew of the Bloodhound siezed the captain & forced him to head home. On the Nascope the men just simply refused to show up on deck. Similar acts of insubordination occured on the Florizel, the Adventure, the Diana, the Kite & the Terra Nova, only the Stephano remained her officers armed. Several days later his efforts failing he tried to negotiate with the crew, all for nought within a few more days the Stephano finially headed home. With the dwindling of the herds, the oil market shifting towards petroleum products, the war & the heavy loss of life put an end to the Newfoundland seal industry.

Sorry it's so long


The above was lifted in part from the book "The Living Ice" by Pol Chantraine


Barry