Sinking
On 15 March 1912 Oceana finished loading for her next trip to Bombay in the Port of Tilbury, under the command of Captain Thomas H. Hyde, RNR. Aboard were 41 passengers, a complement of 220 crew and a pilot.[5] She was also carrying £747,110 worth of gold and silver ingots: £3 million at 2010 values.
The next day she was proceeding west through the Strait of Dover at nearly full speed. The sea was calm although there was a strong headwind. In the opposite direction approached the Pisagua, a 2,850-ton German-registered four-masted steel-hulled barque.[6] Commissioned, owned and operated by F. Laeisz of Hamburg, she was on her way from Mejillones, Chile to Hamburg with a cargo of nitrate, sailing under full sail at a speed of almost 20 kn.
The two ships sighted each other when they were about a 1/2 nmi apart. The captain of Pisagua burnt a warning flare, which was seen by the crew and senior officer on duty on the bridge of Oceana, who then gave the order to turn to port. The pilot from Tilbury and for the Strait of Dover, Mr Penny, who was board Oceana in the charthouse, came to the bridge and realized that this manoeuvre would not be enough to avert a collision. He called "hard to port", but before Oceana could get out of the course, Pisagua struck Oceana amidships, making a 40 ft gash in her side.[6] The collision was 4 nmi off of Beachy Head.[7]
The pilot ordered the immediate closure of all the watertight bulkhead doors on Oceana, whilst the captain ordered all crew and passengers to their boat stations to stand by to abandon ship.[7] Sending out an immediate distress signal, the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway passenger ferry SS Sussex attended the scene, while two other paddle steamers and RMS Ruahine stood by.[8] While awaiting rescue, the crew tried to lower one of the lifeboats, but it crashed into the sea and capsized, resulting in the loss of seven passengers and ten crew.[5] Sussex managed to take on board 241 of the remaining passengers and crew.[9]
Although listing, Oceana was taken in tow by the Newhaven tug Alert, stern first, at 08:00.[7] But by 10:00 she had developed an adverse list, enough to raise her propeller out of the water. Captain Hyde and the crew who had stayed aboard to help the tow now abandoned ship to the Alert, and watched from the tug as she sank in less than 20 minutes.[5] Oceana sank close to the seaside resort town of Eastbourne in shallow water, settling on the sea bed with her masts and the tops of her funnels showing out of the sea at low tide.[7]
Pisagua drifted off leeward after the collision, but managed to survive with severe damage to the bow and foremast.[7] Towed to Dover for immediate sea-going repairs, she was then towed to Hamburg where she was condemned.[6] She was rebuilt as a whale factory ship and operated by Søren L. Christensen,. On 12 February 1913, Pisagua was stranded at Low Island, South Shetland Islands.[6] Although insured for NOK 318,000, she was subsequently condemned and written off at a loss to her owners.[6]
After the sinking, P&O sued Laeisz, claiming damages for the loss of Oceana. Judgement was given that Pisagua was not at fault, due to a combination of factors, including that Oceana was obliged to give way to Pisagua under the "steam gives way to sail" rule.[10] The subsequent Board of Trade Inquiry, which reported on 13 July 1912, reached similar conclusions, suspended the chief officer's certificate of competency for six months and censured the master.[5]
