Lyman D. Foster

Initially a four-masted schooner for the West Coast lumber trade, she was dismasted in April 1913 in a hurricane, and abandoned.

Her recovered hull was sold to the Government of Fiji and fitted out with machinery becoming the suction dredge, Lady Escott.

The Lyman D. Foster was last seen leaving Nukuʻalofa, Tonga on 26 March 1919 bound for San Francisco, with cargo of copra.

Lyman D. Foster was built at the Hall Brother's shipyard at Port Blakely, Washington (state), U.S.A. in 1892 as a four-masted schooner.

When the crew returned on deck, they found the cook had untied the rope with which he had been secured and, before anyone could catch him, he said "Goodbye," and committed suicide by jumping overboard.

[6] This version of events was also reported by the Truth (Sydney), with an implicit anti-Chinese bias[9] consistent with the sensationalist and xenophobic nature of that newspaper and its proprietor, John Norton.

[10][11][12] However, there was a subsequent case at the U.S. Consular Court in Shanghai (United States v. Linn and Gertzen, 1896) and—from the report in the San Francisco Call of 21 March 1896—it is apparent that there is another, less sensational, version of events surrounding Captain Dreyer's murder.

Leaving Puget Sound on a voyage to Sydney in 1904, the schooner was towed out from Whatcom—her loading port—and was abreast of Cape Flattery, when there was a terrific explosion.

The schooner immediately put back to Seattle, where the injured man was landed, and the necessary repairs made, before continuing the voyage.

[16] Bound from Puget Sound to Suva with a cargo of a million feet of lumber, Lyman D. Foster was caught in a hurricane off Turtle Island (Vatoa), in the Lau Group, on 15 April 1913.

[17] The second account is that of Captain Killman, as reported in the Tacoma Daily Ledger of 3 August 1913—and so written just over four months after the event—which is quoted in the notes accompanying his autobiography.

The hurricane struck Lyman D. Foster between noon on 15 April 1913, when the wind began steadily increasing in force, and the following early morning.

[17] With no land in sight and no life-boats, the crew had no immediate choice but to stay with the floating hulk of the Lyman D. Foster, despite the risk that swelling of the wet lumber cargo would damage the hull.

Captain D. O. Killman and the other ten members of the crew built two makeshift scows, using wood from the cargo and nails and other materials that they retrieved from the ship.

[17] The crew sighted a steamer but that ship did not see them, possibly because, without masts and low in the water, Lyman D. Foster would not be visible at a distance.

[23] The tow had been difficult as Lyman D. Foster handled badly, due to her missing rudder, and was carrying water as well as the remaining part of her cargo of lumber.

This was disputed by the master of Lyman D. Foster on the grounds that the recovery had taken place inside territorial waters, and so the Ripple's owners were only entitled to a reasonable towage fee.

In the meantime, the Receiver of Wrecks under a colonial ordinance, sold the salvaged cargo but retained the proceeds until the interested parties arrived at an understanding or obtained a decision from the Court.

[25] The hull of Lyman D. Foster was bought by the Government of Fiji, for a bargain price of £240 at auction, with the remaining cargo sold for £4,244.

[29] The hull was docked on the slip in Suva, found to be in good condition, repaired, and fitted out with machinery, to become the suction dredge known as the Lady Escott.

[30] The Union Company steamer Karori towed the hulk 1200 miles from Suva to Auckland,[31] arriving in August 1917.

[32] While under tow, the hulk was in the charge of Captain John Francis Place, an early European settler of Fiji.

She was fitted with the four masts from the American schooner E. B. Jackson, which went ashore at the entrance to Apia Harbour and became a total wreck.

As sailing ships relied upon the prevailing weather and could not reliably maintain a set speed, initially, it was thought that Lyman D. Foster had been becalmed.

Evidence was given by Captain Charles Fleming, Superintendent of Marine, that there had been very bad weather subsequent to the ship leaving Nukuʻalofa.