HE tied around his waist the rope which the Dutton’s officers had used to get to safety, signalled to the ship, and then was hauled towards the wreck through the heaving surf, receiving bruising blows as he passed through the fallen rigging. Once aboard, he announced that they would all be saved, that he would not leave until they were ashore, and that he would run his sword through anyone who disobeyed him. For this speech he received three hearty cheers.
Meanwhile sixteen-year-old Jeremiah Coghlan,* the mate of a small merchant vessel, who had already plucked as many as fifty souls from the sea, had dared to get a boat alongside the rolling wreck. With his help, Pellew rigged up a cradle of ropes for winching the passengers ashore. Emboldened by their example, others now defied the storm and brought more boats from the dockyard. Twitching his sword, barking out orders, Sir Edward held the drunken troops in check until the sick, the women and the children were safe. The Queen’s Regiment followed, and true to his word Captain Pellew was the last to leave the ship. It broke up soon afterwards.*
* Jeremiah Coghlan (?1776-1844). His actions so impressed Sir Edward that the two became friends. Pellew brought him into the crew of HMS Indefatigable as a midshipman, and promoted him to lieutenant after just a four years’ service, a record to this day. He cut a dashing figure in the Navy, showing initiative and courage in equal measure, and has been picked out as one the inspirations for the Hornblower series of novels.
* For another tale of courage at sea, see Grace Darling.