WD3821

The destruction by gunpowder of the ship ‘Equitable’ on Fultah Sands, 14th December 1839. A huge pillar of water rises into the air, while the occupants of a jolly boat rest on their oars and cheer at the sight.

Inscribed in pencil on reverse: ‘Explosion of the “Equitable” a little above the “James & Mary” near Calcutta by Electricity in 1840.’

Water-colour; 269 by 365 mm.

Purchased 1998.

Note: The barque ‘Equitable’ on route for Sydney with a cargo of wheat, rice, rum etc., touched on the Fultah Sands on 4th October 1839, and turned beamside up, blocking the channel. It was removed by lowering a charge of gunpowder onto the wreck, and exploding it, using a timer made from a watch, with a charge of electricity delivered via a galvanic battery. The “James & Mary” is the notorious sandbank in the lower reaches of the Hooghly on which the shi of that name had been wrecked. Clearly the inscription was written some time after the event, presumably by one of the participants, and the precise date (end of 1839) mis-remembered. Dr. William B. O’Shaughnessy, then still an Assistant Surgeon, organised the destruction, being at that time preoccupied with the properties of such batteries, along with Capt. Fitzgerald of the Engineers. According to O’Shaughnessy’s account in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society,’ vol. 8, 1839, pp. 851-63, he and his assistant Mr. Siddons were present at the scene, along with the Engineers Capt. Fitzgerald, Capt. Debude and Lieut. Smith. However, there do not appear to be this number of Britons in the boat. O’Shaughnessy concludes: ‘At the thirteenth minute a slight concussion was felt in our boat, a sound like that of a very distant and heavy gun at sea was heard, and a huge hemispherical mass of discoloured water was thrown up to a height of about 30 feet. From the centre of this mass there then rose slowly and majestically a pillar of water, intermingled with foam and fragments of wreck, and preserving a cylindrical form until it reached an elevation of at least 150 feet. The column then subsided slowly, a wreath of foam and of sparkling jets of water following its descent, and rendering the spectacle one of indescribable beauty.’ Other accounts will be found in the Letters from Calcutta for 14th October 1840 (E/4/174), and relevant Consultations.