3-053-542 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

A ship on fire in Kingstown Harbour, Dublin Bay, 1873. 'The ship Nagpore, a very fine iron-built vessel of 1500 tons burden, on her voyage home from Calcutta to Liverpool with a cargo of jute, cotton, hempseed, and fifty tons of saltpetre,...had been discovered to be on fire, when off the Isle of Man...the pumps were worked to extinguish the fire, if possible, by throwing water into the hold and between decks. The crew were greatly alarmed lest the saltpetre should explode and blow them all up; the decks, too, became so hot that they could hardly keep their footing...the Dublin City fire brigade...arrived with three hand-engines, one of which was placed in a boat and laid alongside the ship; but it was found impossible to work it, so rough was the water...If the fire had reached the saltpetre and an explosion had taken place, considerable damage might have been done, not only to the shipping in the harbour, but to Kingstown itself...She had settled on the bottom at about one o'clock, and, as the water was a foot or two above her deck, all danger was over. The Nagpore is the property of Messrs. M'Kinnon and Co., Liverpool. The ship and cargo were estimated at £75,000...Our Illustration is from a sketch by Mr. T. N. Deane'. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.