A Voyage across the world in a lifeboat – in 1889-90
The passage from England to Australia was in no way a crank voyage but a serious attempt to show the shipping establishment of the day that such vessels, replacing a ship’s conventional open boats, could be eminently seaworthy and save many lives.
I’ve added this book to The Aegre Voyage website because it’s not only a remarkable and little-known ocean voyage in a small vessel but also tells of an ocean sailing experience similar in some ways to that which Julie and I experienced aboard The Aegre. Of course, they sailed from South America to Australia via the Southern Ocean, a much colder and rougher course than we sailed in the tropics, but nevertheless, there are similarities in terms of the basic simplicity of our boats, and I think small boat sailors everywhere will be able to relate to their tale.
Shore-based lifeboats, were developed in England in the 1790s, unsinkable. with a curved keel, the use of cork blocks and banding, and double-ended construction allowing rowing in either direction. Over 32 such lifeboats were built, and the model was exported overseas, though by the 1840s, they began to be replaced by lighter designs that were easier to launch. These were shore-based.
Meanwhile, ships still carried open boats as lifeboats, a last resort when the ship foundered or went ashore. It was these open boats that Jörgensen wanted to see replaced.
Interestingly, Jörgensen and Nielsen’s passage from England to Australia in this 30-ft steel tank boat in 1889-90 preceded Johua Slocum‘s well-known 1895-98 solo circumnavigation.
Jörgensen was an experienced seaman, he’d gone to sea at 14, gained his first command at 21 and was soon captain of the sailing ship Ragna, co-owned with his brother, trading between Europe, South America, USA, Cape Town and Australia.
It was on a passage to Australia, sailing through the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean with icebergs in sight, that Jörgensen came up with the idea for such a lifeboat.
He was contemplating nearby icebergs, and the horror of colliding with one at night and the likely loss of all aboard due to exposure even if they successfully took to the boats. But then, making the sort of connection that underlie many great inventions, he saw on the ship’s deck an empty 400-gallon water tank. it suddenly occurred to him that water tight vessels of this sort could be designed and constructed so as to not only serve as water tanks, but also to be readily converted into buoyant, manageable safe and comfortable lifeboats in the event of the ship itself going down. He imagined a series of them being quickly bolted together to form a near indestructible and protective lifeboat. He drew it up and on reaching Australia applied for a patent for his idea. His drawings show six independent tanks, each with manhole access, being bolted together.
But it was the 1880s, and this was an idea long ahead of its time. Jörgensen’s drawings evinced no interest from ship owners; only criticism that such a boat would be impractical, take up too much room on deck, be unsafe, unseaworthy and expensive.
Still convinced of the value of his idea, he sold his share in the Ragna and had a prototype built comprising three steel tanks secured together, which he declared he’d sail from London to Australia to prove its seaworthiness. His wife coming from Melbourne may have had something to do with it.
Recruiting another Norwegian, Johannes Nielsen, they set sail from Victoria Dock, London, on September 12th 1889, heading firstly for Madeira, then the Cape Verde Islands, Pernambuco, Brazil, then Cape Town and on to Australia by way of the Southern Ocean.
They survived the inevitable fierce storms, running out of pipe tobacco, and a an apparent night-time collision with a liner in the Great Australian Bight that capsized them, and eventually arrived in Glenelg, near Adelaide in South Australia, a year after leaving England.
The arrival of the Storm King created great excitement in Adelaide with newspaper articles, the vessel displayed, a formal banquet and more, then on to Melbourne and an official reception. The future of such a lifeboat seemed assured.
But disappointingly, officialdom was unimpressed. The Sydney Marine Board contemptuously dismissed his claims, and eventually, the Board of Trade refused to sanction the use of such a boat until its inventor gave better proof of its seaworthiness… What more could Jörgensen do?
Jörgensen returned to the UK to promote his lifeboat there, to no avail. He eventually gave the Storm King to a Norwegian society for saving life at sea and surrendered all rights to his invention. He died in Melbourne in 1926. Meanwhile, the shipping industry continued to use open ship’s boats for another fifty years.
The whole story of Jörgensen’s idea, the voyage and his attempts to have the idea adopted was first put together in the early 1890s by John Warde, and published by Wm. Marshall & Co, printers. A digital copy of this is held by the National Library of Australia and can be freely viewed here: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-753184412/view?partId=nla.obj-753193808
In 2004, a more comprehensive book about Jörgensen and Storm King was put together by one of S.J.E Jörgensen’s grandsons in Melbourne, Michael Jörgensen. He drew together his grandfather’s journal, being an account of the voyage which had survived and subsequently been handed down through the family, together with photographs and letters from the time.
It’s a wonderful story of inspiration, passion, bravery, single-mindedness, great fortitude, institutional conservativeness, and ultimately disappointment.
Unfortunately, the 2004 book appears to be out of print and hard to find, though I did see a copy on eBay for AU$150. I bought my copy in 2005 from Eric, Michael Jörgensen’s nephew, for AU$24.95
You could try writing to the publisher details below, but I can’t find any trace online of this publisher in Melbourne.
The Storm King: Journey across the world in a lifeboat. by Captain S.J.E Jörgensen. Edited by Michael Jörgensen. ISBN 0958078548. Published in 2004 by Black Jack Press, 392 Station Street, Carlton North, Victoria 3054, Australia
But you can still read John Warde’s 1890 version online at not cost.
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