Governor General Loudon (ship)

History
Netherlands
Name: Gouverneur Generaal Loudon
Owner:
Builder: Caird & Company, Greenock, Scotland,
Yard number: 198[1]
Launched: 1875
Fate: Wrecked, 1898
General characteristics
Type: Steam packet
Tonnage: 1,436 tons[2]

Governor General Loudon (Dutch: Gouverneur Generaal Loudon) was a mail steamer and excursion vessel which survived the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.[3]

Ship history

The ship was built by Caird & Company of Greenock, Scotland, in 1875[1] and operated by the Nederlandsch Indische Stoomboot Maatschappij ("Netherlands Indies Steamship Company") until 1891, when the assets and business of the company was taken over by the Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij ("Royal Packet Navigation Company").[2] She was named after James Loudon (1824–1900), a Dutch politician and governor of the Dutch East Indies (1872-1875).

In 1883, while captained by Johan Lindeman, the ship was present at the eruption of Krakatoa and survived the subsequent tsunami when the captain steered the ship head on into the wave.[4] After the wave passed, pyroclastic airfall was the ship's biggest enemy. A foot of ash could have made the ship capsize, but everyone on board all survived because the combination of the crew keeping the decks clear of ash and Captain Lindeman's decision to move the passengers into the ship's hold to maintain stability kept them alive long enough to ride out the effects of the eruption.

After surviving the tsunami caused by the eruption of Krakatoa, the ship was stranded and lost off the Tengga Batoe reef south of Saleier in 1898.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "Governor General Loudon". Clydebuilt Ships Database. 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij 1888-1967". theshipslist.com. 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "The eruption of Krakatoa : Report from Captain T. H. Lindemann, of the ship Governor General Loudon, anchored at Telok Betong". vansandick.com. 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "How Volcanoes Work - Krakatau, Indonesia". San Diego State University. 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
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