General Grant

The barque General Grant is in irons with an island in the distance. The ship departed Melbourne on 4 May 1866 bound for London via Cape Horn, under the command of Captain William H. Loughlin. At 11pm on 13 May 1866, the Auckland Islands were sighted dead ahead. With only light winds, the crew were unable to change course, and eventually collided against the cliffs and drifted into a large cave on Auckland Island's western shore. The rising tide and increasing swell caused the main mast to hit the cave roof repeatedly until the mast forced a hole through the hull; the ship sank on 14 May 1866. Although the weather remained calm, the boats were not launched immediately on the ship entering the cave as it was very dark, there was no obvious landing place, and pieces of spars and rock were falling continually.