Bonin Islands  Source  Whalesite

No. 4.

Account of the loss of Lieutenant John Matthews and boat?s crew, of the United States ship Plymouth.

      In consequence of the misplacement of some of the official communications of Captain John Kelly, no particular account of the disastrous loss of Lieutenant John Matthews and the entire

crew of one of the boats of the Plymouth, at the Bonin islands, has been given in the first volume of this report. To remedy this omission as far as practicable, an extract from a duplicate despatch recently received from Captain Kelly is here inserted. And it is due to the memory of Lieutenant Matthews to state, that he was an officer of high and honorable standing, and of great professional merit; his comrades in the boat were also men of excellent character.

      Extract. "I have also the unpleasant duty to perform of reporting the loss of the second cutter, with Lieutenant Matthews and fourteen men, thirteen of whom belonged to this ship, the other was a man who had been left sick on the island by an American whale ship. The circumstances attending the melancholy event are as follows:

      "On the morning of the 25th of October last, Lieutenant Matthews requested permission to take the second cutter and proceed to North island for the purpose of fishing and shooting wild pigeons, stating that he would return by dinner time; he left about 8 A. M., and stood off under sail about two miles from the island to speak an English schooner then in the offing. The captain of the schooner reported, that while entering the harbor he saw the boat very near North island; so that I imagine she must have been returning to the ship when he encountered the typhoon.

      "The gale was terrific, commencing at the N.? and ending at the N.W. You may judge of the strength of the wind when I inform you that this ship, with four anchors down, lower yards and topmast struck, dragged completely across the harbor, with the water as smooth as a mill pond.

      "On the 27th I despatched Sailingmaster H. N. T. Arnold in search of the cutter, supposing she had been stove on landing, and that the crew were on one of the islands, and only waiting to be relieved.

      "After two days' ineffectual search, he returned. I herewith enclose you his report.

      "The whaleship Bowditch, Captain Waldron, was lying in the harbor at the time; his boats went out daily in search of the hump-back whale; he, Captain Waldron, directed his boat?s crew to examine closely all the islands; but to no effect; not a vestige of the boat or her crew could be discovered.

      "On the 29th I got underway and stood to the northward and westward, in hopes of meeting with some of the oars or masts, but without success. I then stood to the southward, fearing some accident had befallen the surveying party; but, thank God, they were all safe; though Lieutenant Balch reported they were very near being lost."

Source:

Captain John Kelly, U.S.N.
"Account of the loss of Lieutenant John Matthews and boat?s crew, of the United States ship Plymouth."
      Narrative of the expedition of an American squadron to the China seas and Japan performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854, under the command of commodore M. C. Perry, United States Navy,
Volume II.
    Washington: A.O.P. Nicholson, 1856
(33d Congress, 2d Session - House of Representatives - Ex. Doc. No. 97)
pp. 408-409.

Bonin Islands  Source  Whalesite