The German vessel ‘Ernst’ – carrying salt from Liverpool to Danzig (now known as Gdansk) – was driven ashore by terrible storms on the night of 23rd November 1898.
Captain William Wallace and 2 sailors attempted to swim ashore when their schooner came to grief and were rescued by the gallant crew of the Totland Bay lifeboat. The lifeboat crew then set out in search of a raft to which 4 other members of the crew had entrusted themselves but were unable to find the unfortunate men, who were presumed drowned. The correspondent of the Penny Illustrated Paper commented on the strength of the elements on that fateful night:
“Never within the memory of the oldest inhabitant has a gale such as raged last week resulted in equal destruction to shipping.”
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The following day, the liferaft came ashore at Mudeford in Dorset.
The 4 men – who were said to have been in a greatly exhausted condition owing to their many hours buffeting about in the Solent – were taken charge of by the Coastguard. Boatswain Franz Muller said that when their vessel had lost its mast, he and 3 others took refuge on the roof of the cook house, which they had securely lashed to the wreck. 1 man got out of the lifeboat, but he was dashed to pieces against the side of the doomed ship. The crew let off distress signals and rockets were fired in their direction, but these fell short. The Totland lifeboat endeavoured to approach the vessel but had been unable to effect a rescue. The following morning, at 05:00, the boatswain and 3 companions cast off from the wreck. After a rough passage across the Solent, they found the shore extremely rocky but managed to divert the course of the makeshift craft by shifting positions. On nearing the sandbanks near Mudeford, they were rescued by the Coastguard, who ran into the surf and drew them ashore in a state of great exhaustion. Sadly, the ship’s carpenter – whose body washed ashore – had left the ship before them, using a ladder to attempt to keep himself afloat. The Ernst had carried a crew of 9. The boatswain’s 3 companions were named: A. Bernstein, James Gavin and H. Lazinsky. Penny Illustrated Paper, 3rd December 1898
