That Tragic Day

December 22, 1875 was a tragic and memorable day in Grays as the training ship Goliath, moored off the town, was destroyed by fire.

One officer and about 19 boys are believed to have died in the disaster.

The wooden sailing ship, built 40 years earlier for the navy, was lent to Forest Gate School Board in 1870 for use as a training ship for boys and was moored off Grays in November of that year.

The disaster was widely reported in the national press including The Illustrated London News. This resulted in medals being issued to those people, including several local waterman, who had shown outstanding bravery in rescuing men and boys from the ship.

This tragic accident however, did not destroy the idea of training ships on the Thames as the Goliath was followed in succeeding years by others including: HMS Exmouth, HMS Shaftsbury, HMS Warspite, HMS Worcester and HMS Joseph Hertz.

There were two training ships named 'Exmouth'; one in service from 1876 to 1905, and one from 1905 to 1939. The first was loaned to The Metropolitan Asylums Board by the Admiralty and had been named after Viscount Exmouth, Admiral Edward Pellow.

The first Exmouth was laid down in 1840 and was a screw ship of 91 guns. She was commissioned in 1855 and served with the Baltic Fleet. Her first commander as a training ship was Staff Commander Bouchier formally of the Goliath, and she was crewed by some 500 boys. The Exmouth was replaced in 1905 with Exmouth number two until 1939, the outbreak of World War 2, from then it was commissioned for other purposes.

On April 10th, 1915  a royal naval airship broke loose from it's moorings and the pilot fell out into the river mud at West Thurrock. Fortunately, the crew of The Exmouth threw out grappling hooks and managed to take it in tow.

HMS Shaftsbury was moored off Grays in 1878 and was used by the London School Board as an Industrial training school at the same period as the Exmouth. She was sold off in 1906.

HMS Warspite was moored off Grays in 1929 but closed as a training ship in 1939.

HMS Worcester was moored off Grays in 1946 but she was never used for her original purpose as a training ship whilst in Grays. In 1948 she capsized and sank; it took five years to remove her wreck from The Thames.

In 1947 HMS Joseph Hertz was moored off Grays as a training ship for Jewish orphans some of whom had come from the Belsen concentration camp. She was removed after a year.

The era of training ships off the shores of Grays end there.

Now only one ship remains as a reminder of our maritime past; The Gull Lightship which has been moored off Grays since 1947 - however that is another story.......