The unique Crimean War Naval Transport Divisional Commander’s Sebastopol Black Sea Gale of 14th to 15th November 1854 Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society Gold Medal and previous Hove Sussex Coast Guard Chief Officer’s 29 October 1838 Royal National Lifeboat Institution Medal in Silver group awarded to Commander later Rear Admiral Edward Franklin, Royal Navy. Franklin from Portsea, Hampshire, was a veteran of both the Napoleonic War and the War of 1812, he having been present in the latter at the attack on New Orleans and in the capture of Fort Bowyer during 1814. Having then received his commission in January 1817, he went on to have a most active period between 1825 and 1830 when aboard the frigate H.M.S. Maidstone under Commodore Charles Bullen during the Royal Navy’s commitment to combatting the slave trade of the coast of West Africa, a period that soon saw him promoted. In 1831 he was appointed to the Coast Guard and would remain so employed through into 1839 as a chief officer at Newhaven and later Hove in Sussex. Whilst at Hove, he was honoured by the Royal Humane Society with the Certificate of Thanks of the Society on Vellum and also with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Medal in Silver for his exertions during the rescue of there cargo and crew of the coal brig Friends which had run ashore in a severe storm at Copperas Gap, now known as Portslade-by-Sea, on 29 October 1838. In the following year whilst apprehending a smugglers boat in a storm he suffered the loss of an eye. After more work afloat combatting slavery with the frigate H.M.S Conway during 1844 to 1855, he was promoted to Commander in November 1846. Returned to full-pay with the onset of the Anglo-Russian War, he was appointed an “Agent for Transports” and then saw service in the Crimea as a Naval Transport Divisional Commander. It was during the famous gale of 14th to 15th November 1854, when in command of the transport vessels at Katcha Bay off Sebastopol that he won a unique lifesaving decoration for the Crimean War, namely the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society Gold Medal, this being one of only 40 ever awarded. Having direct command of Naval Transport No.37 the ‘Rodesley’, his vessel was used for horse transport, but was fortunately empty at the time of the gale that measured force 11 on the Beaufort scale. The British lost 21 ships, many of which were transport/store ships, and additional ones were dismasted, and the French allies lost 16 ships, including the battleship Henri IV, which was described as “the pride of the French Navy”. Some 300 British and French sailors lost their lives, some to the fire of the Russian Cossacks whilst endeavouring to escape on shore from their wrecked vessels. Franklin’s own vessel was one of those wrecked on shore at Katcha Bay, five vessels in all being lost at this location, and Franklin was the senior transport officer in the bay. His vessel parted from its anchor cables. and in less than 20 minutes had drifted ashore, broke her back, and immediately filled up to the lower deck. The sea breaking over the ship every minute obliged all hands to go aft, for fear the bow would part from the stern and he and his crew remained in this dreadful state of suspense for nearly 30 hours, expecting the vessel every time she stuck to part, and for all to be thrown into the breakers, to either be drowned, or dreadfully mangled by the masts and yards. The Times published an article on 14 December 1854, this based on Franklin’s personal account and titled ‘The Gale in the Black Sea’. About 3 p.m. on the 15th, the gale moderated, and Franklin, with the assistance of four gallant volunteers, succeeded in rowing his gig through the breakers, and after a severe and barbarous pull of some four miles, in getting on board Her Majesty’s ship ‘Britannia’; when Admiral Dundas made signal for all boats to go to the assistance of the transports on shore, which was immediately done. In Franklin having done what he did, ‘at great hazard and personal risk’, he became the recipient of the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society Gold Medal, as voted to him with support of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Dundas, on 6 July 1855. In addition he was promoted to Captain in ordinary of the gaurdship at Devonport and later Portsmouth. Having latterly been the Captain Superintendent of the training ship H.M.S Conway from 1871 to September 1881, he died in his post, having been promoted to Rear-Admiral on the Retired List that same year.
Group of 4: Crimea Medal 1854-1856, 1 Clasp: Sebastopol, named in engraved style in upright capitals; (COMMANDER EDWARD FRANKLIN. R.N); Turkish Crimea Medal 1855, Sardinian issue, fitted with modified straight bar looped suspension, named in an similar style to the first; (COMMANDER EDWARD FRANKLIN. R.N.); Royal National Lifeboat Institution Medal in Silver, George IV bust, with first type ring suspension; (LIEUT. EDWD. FRANKLIN. RN. VOTED. 12. DECR. 1838.); Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society Medal in Gold, with first type straight bar suspension; (COMMANDER EDWARD FRANKLIN. R.N. 6TH: JULY. 1855.)
Condition: Good Very Fine or better.
Edward Franklin was born in November 1798 in Portsea, Hampshire, and entered the Royal Navy on 26 March 1810 as a Volunteer. As such he saw service aboard the warship Norge. This vessel had been captured from Denmark at the second battle of Copenhagen in 1807, and had been commissioned into the Royal Navy in April 1808. It had been intended to rename her as Nonsuch in 1809 but the order was rescinded. From 1810 she was commanded by Captain John Sprat Rainier and was in the vicinity of Cadiz. In 1811 she was under the command of Temporary Captain William Waller, deployed in the Mediterranean. From 1812 to 1814, she was under the command of Captain Samuel Jackson, and sailed the North Sea.
Franklin was aboard her when in August 1814 she came under the command of Captain Charles Dashwood. In September 1814, she set sail for North America, in convoy with transport ships carrying Major General John Keane and reinforcements to North America. Embarked aboard the Norge were Major Munro's company of the Royal Artillery and Lieutenant Hill. The crew of the Norge participated in the Battle of Lake Borgne where her quartermaster was killed. The British lost 17 men killed and 77 wounded. In 1821 the survivors of the flotilla shared in the distribution of head-money arising from the capture of the American gun-boats and sundry bales of cotton. During Norge’s service in the War of 1812, Franklin is confirmed as having been present at the attack on New Orleans and in the capture of Fort Bowyer. Having not however participated in the Boat Service action of 14 December 1814, he therefore was not eligible to claim a Naval General Service Medal when it was belatedly issued in 1847.
Having passed his examination, he was appointed a Midshipman aboard the 74 gun warship H.M.S Bulwark from 1 January 1817, but then transferred on appointment as Master’s Mate aboard the 10 gun brig-sloop H.M.S Shearwater from 16 February 1817. In June of that year, Shearwater was one of a small number of vessels, that having crossed the Atlantic, arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, as the naval response to problems being experienced by commercial shipping from so-called Spanish privateers and piracy, initially at least, supposedly supporting one side or the other in the problems relating to Carthagena etc., a problem that the US Navy was also attempting to resolve, but would take a few more years to actually solve. During his time aboard H.M.S Shearwater, Franklin served under Commander Edward Rowley until July 1817, and then Commander Douglas Cox
Franklin was then appointed as an Acting Master aboard the 16 gun sloop H.M.S Confiance from 25 November 1819. She was also operating alongside Shearwater in the waters of the Caribbean. He was still in the West Indies when he then transferred to the 38 gun frigate H.M.S Sybille as her 2nd Master on 12 April 1821, and this fortuitous transfer mean that he avoid the loss of Compliance when she was wrecked off Mizen Head on 21 April 1822 with all hands lost. In the meantime was paid off her on 13 April 1821 whilst still at Jamaica.
Franklin next joined the 16 gun brig-sloop H.M.S Raleigh from 14 October 1821 as Master, and then saw service at Jamaica through to 15 January 1822 when he transferred as a Midshipman to the 20 gun frigate H.M.S Bann. This vessel was also similarly operating in the Caribbean and h remained with her until 25 March 1828 when, possibly owing to ill health from the climate, he took passage home aboard a vessel by the name of Mistley (?) being listed as an Able Seaman aboard her for the passage. On his arrival he was invalided from her.
Franklin joined the 74 gun warship H.M.S Ramilies from 24 May 1823 as an Able Seaman, she being the guard ship at Portsmouth, and in a similar rank he transferred to the 84 gun warship H.M.S Ganges from 4 June 1823. The reason for his being shown on the books as an Able Seaman was probably in order to keep himself employed, as officers positions were few an far between in the peacetime navy, however his posting to Ganges was fortunate in that he was appointed to Masters Mate aboard her on 21 October 1823, when stationed at Portsmouth. Franklin was next posted as a Mate aboard the 104 gun warship H.M.S. Victory from 17 August 1824, she being the flagship at Portsmouth.
Franklin joined the 36 gun frigate H.M.S Maidstone from 13 January 1825 and as such then found himself on anti-slavery duty off the coast of West Africa, this vessel being the flagship of Commodore Charles Bullen, who had command of the squadron on the west coast of Africa and as such Frsnklin saw service aboard Maidstone at the time of the First Anglo-Ashanti War. This war, had mostly come to an end by the time that Franklin joined Maidstone, and 1825 mostly saw this vessel cruising for slave ships in the Bight of Benin. Maidstone’s commodore, who would later become Admiral Sir Charles Bullen, G.C.B., K.C.H., was a distinguished veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, who had fought in the Glorious First of June, the battle of Camperdown and the battle of Trafalgar. He had been appointed Commodore of the West Africa Station in December 1823 and whilst involved in anti slave trade operations, Bullen was responsible for freeing almost 10,000 would be slaves before his return home in September 1827
On 31 July 1825 Maidstone detained off the River Andony or Sombrero the Netherlands slave brig Z, late Pauline and Amanda, Denis Kere Derne, Master, which was sent for adjudication to the British and Netherlands Mixed Court of Justice, Sierra Leone, and sentenced to be condemned.
It was whilst he was aboard Maidstone that Franklin finally received his commission with appointment to Acting Lieutenant on 9 June 1825 and promotion to Lieutenant on 14 September 1825. The following day, Maidstone departed for the River Gabon, where she arrived on the 18th, and found only a Portuguese and French vessel, doubtless waiting for their cargoes.
On 29 September 1825 in the Bight of Benin, she sighted a suspicious vessel at 3 p.m. and gave chase. The vessel using every exertion and manoeuvre to escape, but was eventually detained, she being found to be the Spanish slave schooner Segunda Gallego, 51 tons, Agustin Capera, Master, with 285 slaves on board. She was caught at midnight, bound from Lagos to Havanna. The next morning, she was sent, in charge of Lieutenant Gray, to Sierra Leone, for adjudication and sentenced to be condemned. On 3 January 1826 she detained 20 miles off shore with the use of a ship's boat, between River Gallinas and Manna the Dutch slave schooner Hoop, Jacob Walters, Master, which was sent for adjudication, and sentenced to be condemned. On 1 March 1826 Maidstone departed Ascension for West Bay, Prince's Island, where she arrived on the 15th and then stored ship with wood and water. She was then en route to Whydah. Then on 18 April 1826 Maidstone detained off the island of Anna Bona, whilst en route from Molembo to Rio de Janeiro south of the Equator the Brazilian slave brig Perpetuo Defensor, Antonio Mauricio de Mendonca, Master, with 424 slaves on board when detained, 49 of whom died on the passage up to Sierra Leone. The captured vessel was sent for adjudication to the British and Portuguese Court of Mixed Commission, Sierra Leone, and on 23 May 1826 sentenced to be restored to her master by her captors, i.e. in accordance with the Treaty the vessel should not have been detained south of the Equator, but the slaves were emancipated.
On 20 May 1826 the boats of the Hope, tender to the Maidstone, detained, following a chase of some hours, the slave schooner Nicanor, Joze Le Grand, master, with 174 slaves on board, when bound from Little Popoe to Havannah. This vessel was successfully condemned and the slaves emancipated. The Hope arrived with only 173 slaves, 1 having jumped overboard and drowned whilst en route to Sierra Leone. By the beginning of August 1826 the Maidstone was off the Sierra Leone River, and on 6 August the Hope, when tender to the Maidstone, detained after a chase of 28 hours and desperate action of 2 hours and 40 minutes, and taking into account she was much better armed and had a crew of 72 against the 32 of the Hope, the Brazilian slave Brig Prince of Guinea / Principe de Guianï, 280 tons, Manoel Joachim de Almeida, Master, which was sent for adjudication and condemned. Then on 17 October 1826 the Maidstone detained off Lagos, bound from Molembo to Bahia the Brazilian slave brigantine Heroina / Hiroina, 224 tons, M. A. Netto, Master, with 221 slaves on board when detained, which was sent for adjudication and condemned. By November 1826 the Maidstone was in the Bight of Biafra. On 6 December off Cape Formosa, Lagos, the boats of the Maidstone in the charge of Lieutenant Tucker, detained the Spanish slave schooner Paulita, 79 tons, Antonio Ferrera, Master, with 221 slaves on board when detained, which was sent for adjudication and condemned. On 13 March 1827 the Maidstone detained off Whydah the Brazilian slave brigantine Trajano, 218 tons, Joze da Silva Rios, Master, which was sent for adjudication and condemned. On 14 March, Maidstone detained off Ajudo, aka Judo, the Brazilian slave Tentadora / Tenterdora, 207 tons, Inncencio dos Santos Lopez, Master, which was sent for adjudication and condemned for being in breach of her imperial passport. Later that same day she detained off Badagry, the Brazilian slave brig Venturoso, 203 tons, J. P. de Susa, Master, and the Brazilian slave schooner Carlota / Carlotta, 176 tons, Joze Francisco de Costa, Master, both vessels being also sent for adjudication and condemned. Then on 16 March she detained whilst at anchor off Lagos, the Brazilian slave vessel Providencia, 147 tons, Joao Pedro de Souza, Master, which was sent for adjudication and condemned for being in breach of her Imperial Passport. On 22 March she detained off the mouth of the River Benin, otherwise Formosa, the Brazilian slave cutter or sloop Conceicao Paquete do Rio, 77 tons, Manoel F. de Silva Araujo, Master, which was sent for adjudication and also condemned for a passport breach.
Bullen’s tenure as Commodore was coming to an end, and at the beginning of April he departed Prince's Island with the "intention of examining the rivers in the Bight of Biafra, before the expiration of my command" as he reported to the Admiralty. On 10 April he sent the pinnace and cutter, manned and armed, under command of Lieutenant Lyall to search the Old Calabar. That afternoon a suspicious vessel was seen from the mast-head between the ship and the Island of Fernando Po. They lost sight of her in the dark, but about 10 p.m. by aid of the moon, she was seen about seven or eight miles distant, but the wind being light there was little chance of coming up with her and Lieutenant Morton, first of the ship, volunteered to take the cutter and gig, to intercept her, and by midnight had detained the Brazilian slave brigantine Creola, 85 tons, M. J. de Suza Guimareas, Master, with 308 slaves on board, two days out from the Old Calabar River, which was sent for adjudication and condemned for illicitly trading in slaves. On 6 May Maidstone departed Port Antonio, Prince's Island for Sierra Leone, with the last prize in tow, and on 29 August 1827 Maidstone arrived at Portsmouth from the coast of Africa.
Whilst Bullen may have handed over his Commodore’s pennant and removed himself from Maidstone, this was not the case for Lieutenant Edward Franklin who was destined to spend another commission aboard her, she being appointed the Commodore’s vessel for Commodore Francis Augustus Collier. As such Franklin was aboard Maidstone when she departed Plymouth for the Cape of Good Hope in February 1828 and sailed via Teneriffe. She was at the Cape and located at Simon’s Town as of May 1828. It was whilst he was in South Africa that Franklin got married to Charlotte, the eldest daughter of Captain White of the 80th Regiment of Foot. Having rounded the Cape of Good Hope, Maidstone then sailed into the Indian Ocean and was at Mauritius in October 1829 where she would remain through into the following year.
It was whilst Maidstone was located at Mauritius that Franklin transferred off her and was appointed to the 32 gun frigate H.M.S Hyperion which was then on home service with the Coast Blockade Western Service at Newhaven. Franklin joined her as a Lieutenant and Supernumerary Officer on 15 November 1830, and he remained with her until 27 March 1831, in which month Hyperion’s service with the Coast Blockade was terminated. Franklin would not see further service afloat until July 1843, and instead on 5 April 1831 was appointed to the Coast Guard. He was subsequently appointed Chief Officer with the Newhaven Station of the Coast Guard for the next six years, when serving in East Sussex.
Franklin’s name came to public attention first in the Brighton Gazette of 29 December 1836 when he assisted in the safe passage of some travellers who had suffered a carriage accident during a snow storm. He assisted in their safe passage, and the account they gave in the local papers mentions him by name.
Then in the Brighton Gazette for 21June 1838 his name was again mentioned, this time in relation to a claim for salvage made in both his name and that of a Lieutenant Caswell, also of the Coast Guard. On 16 June the Admiralty Court had heard that both officers were then with the Newhaven Station and the claim was made in respect of ‘services rendered to the Ocean, a vessel of 150 tons, from the river Gambia to London, with a cargo of gum, ivory, and other articles, valued with the ship and freight at £4,000. It appeared that on the 13th of March, the wind being fresh from the south-west, the vessel under top-gallant sails, and going at the rate of six or seven knots, in a fog, about 2 a.m., went directly on shore off Bareside cliff, near Newhaven, a perpendicular rock, the ground or rock being on each side of the vessel two feet above the keel. One of the coast-guard boatmen named Banks, being on duty on the cliff, heard the crash, and gave immediate notice to his officer, Lieutenant Franklin, who sent information to Lieutenant Caswell, his superior officer, and to Mr. Cole, the agent for Lloyd’s at Newhaven. Lieutenant Franklin also went on board the vessel, placing some of his men there, and, by lightening her with the aid of labourers provided by Mr. Cole, and carrying out anchors, she was got off. For this service £21 had been offered - namely £7 7 shillings for each of the officers, and 6 shillings to each of the men, which was refused…’ After deliberation in Court, it was successfully argued that ‘owners and underwriters would do well, from motives of policy, to encourage such persons by liberal awards, since they were often able to render more efficient service than other salvors.’ As a result each of the Lieutenants were to be awarded 50 guineas, and each of the boatmen, 20 in all, the sum of two guineas.
That same year Franklin took up the position of the Coast Guard Chief Officer at Hove, and shortly afterwards his name once again appeared in the local papers.
The newspaper the Brighton Patriot reported on Tuesday, 30 October 1838 that: ‘On Sunday afternoon last we experienced a sudden change in the weather. The morning and early part of the afternoon had been fine, when about four o’clock rain began to fall heavily and continued to do so throughout the evening. As night came on the wind got up and continued until the next morning to blow a perfect hurricane, the rain falling in torrents in the mean time. We have not heard of any serious damage done to property in the town or neighbourhood, though in many places buildings have experienced slight damage. A coal brig was driven ashore near Copperas Gap, (now known as Portslade-by-Sea, and has been since 1898 when it was granted urban district status after being built up on) and has sustained considerable injury. She proves to be The Friends, of London, Captain Henderson, and was laden with coals. She received off Shoreham on Saturday last, and having taken a pilot on board, attempted to make the harbour. There was not however sufficient water at the time, and she afterwards beat to windward. The gale on Saturday night, which has, we hear, done considerable damage to the shipping in the channel, was too much for her, and dragging her anchors, she ran ashore near Copperas Gap about one o’clock on Monday morning. At daylight on Monday she was observed, the captain, crew of six men, and the Shoreham pilot lasted to her rigging. In this perilous situation they remained till 10 o’clock yesterday morning, the sea beating over her and the poor fellows with great fury during the whole of that time. The tide having at that hour left her, they were relieved, and active exertions were immediately made to secure a portion of her cargo. She was merely a new craft, the present being her sixth trip.’
It was for his bravery when performing his duty as the Coast Guard Chief Officer at Hove during the above mentioned storm and incident with the brig Friends on 29 October 1838, that resulted in Franklin being awarded the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Medal in Silver, as voted to him on 12 December 1838. The citation reads as follows: ‘During stormy weather, the coal-laden brig Friends was wrecked near Hove, Sussex, her crew taking to the rigging. Lieutenant Franklin and two men waded into the sea, threw ropes on board and took off the Master and seven men.’
In addition the Brighton Gazette for 20 December 1838 recorded that Franklin was also honoured by the Royal Humane Society with the Certificate of Thanks of the Society on Vellum, this award being confirmed for his actions during the securing of the crew and cargo of the brig Friends, and reported as such in the Sussex Advertiser on 13 January 1839.
Franklin was then involved in another incident that occurred in 1839 when involved in capturing a smuggler during another gale. On this occasion, whilst no medallic recognition appears to have been forthcoming, he nevertheless lost an eye, and developed a severe cold. This combined with acute rheumatism, resulted in him being obliged to relinquished his appointment in the Coast Guard.
This however did not prevent him from recovering enough to rejoin the service. He was brought back into service with the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant aboard the 32 gun frigate H.M.S Conway on 15 July 1843 but was then invalided from her on 6 March 1844. On his joining Conway she had only recently returned from service in China during the First Opium War, having carried back the ransom paid by the Chinese government. He then sailed with her for the Cape of Good Hope via Brazil, and once again found himself involved in work in connection with combating the slave trade in the Atlantic. On 26 October 1843 Conway arrived Simon's Town, from Rio de Janeiro, with the crew of 24, as prisoners, of the slave schooner Vencedora, of unknown nationality, originally detained by the Frolic, with 348 slaves on board, who were landed on board the Crescent receiving ship at Rio de Janeiro, for adjudication by the Vice Admiralty Court at the Cape of Good Hope. Then on 12 February 1844 Conway detained a slave brigantine, name unknown, which was sent for adjudication to the Vice-Admiralty Court at St. Helena and condemned. He was however invalided from her shortly after this.
The reason for his being invalided is not given, however he was next posted aboard the 74 gun warship H.M.S Vindictive from 12 February 1845, and saw service with her whilst she was the flagship on the West Indies and North America Station. He was aboard Vindictive when he was promoted to Commander on 9 November 1846 and he went on half pay at the time of his promotion.
As of 1851 he was living with his wife, Charlotte, there daughter Elisabeth in a house at 15 Norfolk Square, Portsea, Hampshire. He being shown in the Census as a Commander in the Royal Navy and on half-pay.
Franklin next returned to full pay around the time of the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian War when he returned to service on 5 May 1854 having been appointed as a Commander and “Agent for Naval Transports”. In doing so he was also given command of the naval transport vessels No.37 the ‘Rodesley’, and found himself employed as a Divisional Commander of Transports taking supplies out to the Crimea in the Black Sea when the Allied armies landed there.
It was whilst he was in Katcha Bay off Sebastopol on the 14th to 15th November 1854 that Franklin won his Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society Medal in Gold. This was occasioned during a terrific gale of wind that reached force 11 on the Beaufort scale, therefore 103-120 km/h. The British lost 21 ships, many of which were transport/store ships, and additional ones were dismasted. The French allies lost 16 ships, including the battleship Henri IV, which was described as “the pride of the French Navy”. In comparison the Russian losses were light. The great losses of the Allies included ammunition, warm clothing, food, fodder, etc, all of which went down with the ships, and this caused great suffering to their land forces and resulted in a notable reduction in the fighting abilities of the Allies for several weeks to come.
The Times published an article on 14 December 1854 titled ‘The Gale in the Black Sea’, this being taken from a letter that was written to the Editor by Commander Franklin.
It reads as follows: “I regret to state the total loss of five British transports - the ‘Pyrenees’, ‘Ganges’, ‘Tyrone’, ‘Lord Raglan’, and ‘Rodsley’ (onboard of which last I was at the time she was wrecked) - with nine others, French and Turkish, in one of the heaviest gales and seas in the memory of the oldest sailor in the fleet.
All parted from their anchors cables breaking, although some had cut away their masts before. In less than 20 minutes after the ‘Rodsley’ struck, which she did at 11 a.m. on the 14th, she broke her back, and immediately filled up to the lower deck. The sea breaking over the ship every minute obliged all hands to come aft, for fear the bow would part from the stern; and we remained in this dreadful state of suspense for nearly 30 hours, expecting the vessel every time she stuck to part, and all of us thrown into the breakers, to either be drowned, or dreadfully mangled by our masts and yards under the stern, and other masts coming in from the sea belonging to His Majesty’s ship ‘Sampson’ and a Turkish line of battleship, which had cut them away.
About 3 p.m. on the 15th, the gale moderated, with the assistance of four gallant volunteers, I succeeded in my gig in getting through the breakers, and after a severe and barbarous pull, in getting on board Her Majesty’s ship ‘Britannia’; when Admiral Dundas made signal for all boats to go to the assistance of the transports on shore, which was immediately done, and when in the act of getting the soldier’s wives and the crews the brutal Cossacks fired on us, putting a ball through the bonnet of one of the women, without doing her any harm, but killing a fine young man belonging to Her Majesty’s ship ‘Queen’, who had come to our assistance.
To give “the gentlemen of England who sit at home at ease” some idea of the risks and perils run by transport sailors, I may state that after one of the transports a Frenchman had grounded, the Cossacks fired upon and killed or wounded all on board, while hanging to the wreck. Some idea of the strength of the gale and sea may be formed from this, that a French transport brig, which went on shore about 500 yards from us, in ten minutes was all to pieces-not a piece let as large as a door, and all hands drowned, with the exception of two, who by some extraordinary means got up the cliff, but were immediately secured by the Cossacks, either to be shot, or die on the road from cold and exhaustion in being taken prisoners to Sebastopol. Everything was lost, Government as well as private property; but the utmost kindness was shown us every where, from Admiral to the foremast men, when we got on board Her Majesty’s ships.
I have to apologise for this long article, trusting you will insert it, to relieve the minds of those who have friends and connections on board these unfortunate transports, as it may be six or eight weeks before officers and crews arrive in England, and glad enough their friends will be to hear all saved.
I remain, Sir you obedient servant, EDWARD FRANKLIN, Commander R.N. Divisional Commander of Transports. Her Majesty’s ship ‘Britannia’, Katcha-bay Nov. 16th.
P.S. All the transport officers and crews left this evening in Her Majesty’s steamer ‘Simoom’ for Constantinople, for a passage thence to England.”
The Times also published a casualty list on the same day that Franklin’s letter was published. This shows the British ships lost of Balaklava, Katcha, and Eupatoria. At Katcha where Franklin was the Divisional Commander of Transports, the loss was Transport No.1 the ‘Pyrenees’, and empty horse transport which was wrecked; Transport No.53 the ‘Asia’, an empty horse transport which was wrecked; Transport No.37 the ‘Rodesley’ of which Franklin had direct command, and which was also an empty horse transport and which was wrecked; with Transports No.57 the ‘Tyrone’ and No.89 the ‘Lord Raglan’ being also empty horse transports that were also wrecked. It appears that no British sailors were lost at Katcha.
It appears that not everyone agreed with Franklin that it was to the men of the Royal Navy that credit was due. Another account was written by an unknown author of the mercantile marine and published in the Hull Advertiser on 16 December 1854. It in the person wrote: “… in another hour the storm had ceased, and assistance could be rendered to the fortunate few who had survived the disasters of the day. These were clinging with desperation to the sharp rocks, vainly attempting to scale the heights. The officers and crews of the merchant steamers and vessels rendered most effective assistance, and succeeded in saving about fifty persons. Th credit of having rescued these survivors has been given at head-quarters to the officers and crews of the ships of war stationed in the harbour. For the sake of truth, I must deny this statement. The whole credit of the act lies with the crews of the transport ships, and with them alone. Not that for one moment I wish to deny the will on the part of the Sans-pareil and other men-of-war to render every assistance possible.; but, owing to their crews being actively engaged in the naval batteries, no hands could be spared from the vessels in question. As it is, all the merit lies with the mercantile navy. The Avon steamer manned a lifeboat, which was, however, unable to approach the wrecks. The officers and men of the Gertrude and Tonning displayed much humanity and courage in their exertions on the heights. Captains Roberts and Franklin (not to be confused with Commander Edward Franklin, R.N.) of the above vessels, were on the ground the whole day directing their men. Mr. Rivers, mate of the Tanning, was chiefly instrumental in rescuing the unhappy sufferers and alleviating their distress. He was swung down by a rope as far as its length would permit, and found himself on a ledge of rock. He then tied a small keg of rum to a rope with which he was provided, and let it down to a cave into which the wrecked mariners had taken refuge. The keg was emptied with avidity. The greater number of these men were rescued the same day - the remainder on the morrow. All were more of less bruised and exhausted.’
For his part however Commander Franklin had done his duty in raising awareness within the Royal Navy to the desperate situation that the transports found themselves. Having rowed some for miles in rough seas to get notice of the situation, he apparently suffered from exposure as a result and came down with a sickness, which necessitated his being invalided from the Crimea for a brief period, nevertheless he again features in the newspapers when he was in command of the Naval Transport No.42 the ‘Mary Ann’, and present at Genoa on 10 April 1855, his being one of the vessels employed with taken out the Piedmontese Army of 1700 officers and men, and 3000 horses. Franklin was the Commander of Transports taking the Piedmontese out to the Crimea.
As mentioned, Commander Edward Franklin was awarded the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society Medal in Gold for this incident off Sebastopol on the 14th to 15th November 1854, the medal being awarded to him on 6th July 1855. The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society had been founded back in 1839 to raise funds for shipwrecked fishermen and mariners and the families of those lost at sea. The first medals were awarded in 1851. It would appear that Franklin’s award, the only Gold Medal made for the year 1854 to 1855, is also a unique award for the Crimean War. In all only 40 Gold Medals were awarded, the last award being made in 1965.
According to the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society, a letter was read from Vice-Admiral Sir J Deans Dundas, KCB., late Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, and from Captain Carter, RN., of his flag ship Britannia, and others, detailing the most gallant and praiseworthy conduct of Commander Edward Franklin, RN, who, at great hazard and personal risk pulled upwards of 4 miles in a small gig through a heavy surf, for the purpose of procuring assistance from the Admiral, (which was obtained after the gale abated, so as to make it possible to send boats with safety), and proceeding to the succour of nearly 300 French as well as English sailors, in the transports wrecked in the terrific gale of the 14th November, off the coast of the Crimea, when the Prince Resolute and Capt. Franklin’s own transport the Rodesley were lost, and in her, all his clothes etc.
It appeared that the exposure to which he was subjected brought on an attack of sickness, which obliged him to be invalided; and it having been reported that his gallantry on a previous occasion of shipwreck, in 1835, off Hove, near Brighton, had won for him the Silver Medal of the Life Boat lnstitution, the Committee, feeling that such conduct was deserving of the highest honour, unanimously conferred upon him the Gold Medal of the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, and it is to the credit of the Board of Admiralty, that they have since appointed him to a command in the ordinary at Portsmouth.
The specific citation for his award was then announced: ‘Awarded the Society’s Gold Medal, for his having during a terrific gale of wind, off Sebastopol, on the 14th November, at great hazard and personal risk, pulled upwards of four miles in a small gig, through a heavy surf, to the flag-ship of the Commander-in-Chief, to seek succour for the ships on shore, by which a number of lives were saved.” In addition for his services during the Crimean War he was award the Crimea Medal with clasp Sebastopol and the Turkish Crimea Medal.
As already mentioned, on his return from the Crimea, and in respect of his distinguished service there, he was also appointed to a command in the ordinary at Devonport, being appointed to the 120 gun warship H.M.S St. Vincent on 27 July 1855. This was his final naval posting, she being the flagship of Rear-Admiral James Hanway Plumridge and later Rear-Admiral W.F. Martin, and employed as a guard ship at Devonport. Franklin was promoted to Captain aboard her on 18 July 1857 whilst she was still in ordinary and having briefly served as her second captain, and served in this capacity until he found his name placed on the Reserve List, before being transferred to the Retired List on 20 February 1868. Franklin was appointed the Captain Superintendent of the training ship H.M.S Conway in 1871 and held this position through to his death on 30 September 1881. Having latterly lived in Southsea, it was in 1881 that he was promoted to Rear-Admiral on the Retired List.
Franklin’s medals, a unique set of awards, later formed part of the famous Gascoigne Collection when it was displayed in the Leeds City Museum in 1934.
