2-981-754 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Burning of the training-ship Goliath, 1876. 'The Goliath was a vessel of the Royal Navy, lent by the Admiralty to the Forest-gate district board of managers for the training of pauper boys [from London]...She was moored in the estuary of the Thames, off the village of Grays, having on board more than 400 boys...a fire broke out in the lamp-room...though the firebell was rung immediately, and the boys rushed to their stations and pumps on the lower deck without confusion or delay, yet the fire had spread all over the main deck even before the bell had ceased ringing...the boys stuck to their work on the lower deck till the fire began to reach them...The boys had to save themselves by jumping into the water...Happily, nearly all the boys had been taught to swim, and...many managed to reach the land unaided...but fifteen...are missing, though only five are...known to be dead'. From "Illustrated London News", 1876.