The damaged lifeboat was dragged up on The Scar and abandoned. Within a very short time the sea battered it to driftwood.

With the rising tide towards Friday noon, the separated stern section sank lower into the water allowing the waves to sweep over the decks with full force. One by one the men were washed overboard. Some tied themselves to the railings and others got inside the Poop Cabin. Hundreds on the shore and clifftop watched helplessly as the group of thirty was reduced to just a few. Then the cabin itself was torn from the deck and swept over the side. The sea poured into the gaping hole and the remaining portion turned over and sank, with some of the men still tied to the railings. None of the thirty survived.

Lifeboat & Rohilla Wreckage

By a curious quirk of the tide, the Poop Cabin was subsequently washed up alongside the abandoned John Fielden.

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Copyright © Ken Wilson 1981