The steamship Ouse, belonging to the Goole Steam Shipping Company, Limited, arrived in the Humber on Monday afternoon, and reported having been in collision on Sunday with an unknown barque, which sank with all hands in the North Sea. The Ouse, which is a regular trader between Goole and the Continent, left Antwerp about two o'clock on Sunday afternoon, and, notwithstanding a heavy sea running, soon attained a speed of eleven knots. Between eleven and twelve o'clock, when some 70 miles from Flushing, a three masted vessel - said by a passenger, of whom there were two aboard, to be a barque - was sighted right ahead, steering an opposite course. No danger was apprehended at first, the moon being bright; but as the vessel got nearer, the contrary proved the case and the mate, who was on watch, at once apprised the master. Scarcely, however, had Captain Redford run from the chart-room (on deck) up on to the bridge, than the Ouse ran into the other vessel's port quarter, and she commenced to sink almost immediately. The Ouse rebounded from the shock, apparently little the worse, and under control again, she was steered for the barque, which was rapidly sinking, and a boat was got ready for lowering. Naturally, aboard the other vessel, panic prevailed - according to the account of some on board the steamer the women were heard to scream, signals of distress were burnt, and as the ill-fated vessel gradually sank in sight of the crew and passengers of the Ouse, the scene was a most heartrending one. Not a soul was saved; not a trace was left by which the stranger could be identified, though a boat was lowered from the steamer with all haste, and cruised for upwards of two hours in the vicinity. Not more than ten minutes elapsed between the collision and the foundering of the barque. The Ouse continued her passage to the Humber, arriving off Hull on Monday afternoon, and coming on to Goole by the evening tide.
Captain Redford, on landing at Hull, made a statement to the effect that about a quarter to midnight on Sunday night he was in the chart-house of his vessel, which was in 52.17 North, longitude 2.28 East, with Lowestoft bearing N.W. 1/2 West, 30 miles away. The mate was on watch and, noticing a strange barque approaching the Ouse in a dangerous manner, he called his (the captain's) attention to it. He at once left the chart-house, but scarcely had he reached the deck when the vessels collided with a terrific crash. The Ouse was going at the rate of eleven knots an hour, and she caught the strange vessel on her port quarter. Of course, the vessels separated some considerable distance, and, reversing her engines, the Ouse went back to the spot where the collision occurred, and the crew of the steamer saw the barque go down right before their eyes without being able to render the slightest assistance. Captain Redford immediately lowered a boat and cruised about for over two hours, but not a vestage of wreckage or anything else was to be seen. Seeing that further efforts were useless, sail was again made for home and the captain reported the terrible occurrence to the Hull Customs. The captain added that the night was bright and clear, but he is unable to say whether the ill-fated barque showed her proper lights. In his opinion the strange vessel must have been loaded with cargo of heavy character, which would account for her sinking so rapidly.
The s.s. Ouse arrived at Goole about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, and the terrible story that had preceded her caused her to be an object of curiosity. Her hull was examined carefully by numbers of people, but beyond the rubbing off of paint there was little to indicate that she had been in collision. The Ouse is a steel vessel of 432 tons registered tonnage (701 gross) with engines of 90 h.p. She was built in 1884 by Messrs Dobson and Co. of Low Walker, Newcastle, and has been of late running regularly between Goole and Antwerp, making weekly voyages.
Captain Redford, of the s.s. Ouse, is a man of wide and varied experience, having sailed out of Goole as a captain for seventeen years. His first vessel was the s.s. Londos (also belonging to the Goole Steam Shipping Company), and then followed the s.s. Killarney, the s.s. john Bladworth, the s.s. William Coulman, the s.s. Annie, the s.s. John Wells, the s.s. Ralph Creyke, and lastly, the s.s. Ouse. In making these changes, Captain Redford secured the promotion to larger and quicker vessels as additions were made to the fleet of the Goole Steam Shipping Company. Captain Redford had only served three weeks as captain of the s.s. Ouse, and this was his third voyage, but the vessels he had previously commanded were of a similar class and character.
It is supposed the vessel thus run into is a foreign owned ship, and it would seem probably that she was returning from a long sea voyage. We understand that the passengers on board were not on deck at the time the collision actually took place, and that the information they gave to the Hull press in respect to shrieks of women being heard was not based on reliable information.
(Transcription of unsourced newspaper article from Goole Book, property of Goole Local Studies Centre)
The following additional notes were handwritten on the same page:
Sunday Oct. 5th 1890
At the Board of Trade inquiry held at Hull on Sept. 8th, Mr. H. Barnard's* ticket was suspended for 6 months (*The Mate of the Ouse).
The ship proved to be the German Barque Arnold Von Rippen with coals from Grangemouth to Cape Town, she was of 446 tons Register.