3-011-989 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Explosion on board the barque Lottie Sleigh, laden with gunpowder, in the Mersey, as seen from the Cheshire side, 1864. Engraving from a sketch by Mr. Wood. '...the Lottie Sleigh, with 11½ tons of gunpowder on board, blew up...This vessel...was taking in powder from the magazine-boats off Tranmere, and had stowed away eleven tons, when, about six p.m., as the steward was engaged in the cabin trimming the lamps with paraffin oil, some of it exploded and ignited the captain's bed-curtains...the crew...were taken off by the passing Rock Ferry - boat Wasp...the flames had spread all over the vessel, and the news was circulated on the pier-heads that the vessel would soon blow up. Hundreds of persons awaited the event...When the explosion took place the spectators were panic-stricken...Suddenly a deafening sound burst upon the ear, and the black hull belched forth a volume of flames, which illumined the heavens, and cast its lurid light over both sides of the Mersey. The masts and yards were pitched high in the air, and, after a few fantastic evolutions, fell hissing into the water...The shock at Liverpool and Birkenhead, and for nearly five miles round, was severely felt, and created indescribable terror'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.