Edwin Fox - Crimean War (Transport 109)

Transport 109

Immediately following the sale of the Edwin Fox to Duncan Dunbar she was chartered to the British Government and would spend the next 15 months as a military cargo and troop carrier under the name of Transport 109.

On June 14 1854 she left London, under the command of Captain Jospeh Ferguson, destined for Calais where, on arrival, she would anchor in the 'Calais Roads' with the rest of the fleet. Here she would embark 12 officers and 477 men of the French 51st Infantry Regiment (French 51e régiment d'infanterie de ligne). 

In late July they departed for the Baltic where the fleet would be under the command of Captain Henry Chads, son of the Rear Admiral Henry Chads, who was on board the steamer HMS Prince.

The ship is reported by London Daily News 04 August 1854 as arriving into Elisnore (Helsingør) under tow by an English Steamship with transport number 108 and then sailing onto Bomarsund. The ship arrived back into London around October 4, 1854.

It was while the vessel was in London that the Crimean Fleet was hit by a terrible storm known later as 'The Great Storm of 1854'. During the height of the storm on 14th November 1854, hurricane force winds battered the Black Sea causing severe damage and major disruption to naval forces who were anchored in the area.

At the time of the storm, the British and allied supply fleet were in the Black Sea with all of the supplies for the winter campaign. At least 60 ships were either damaged or wrecked including the Royal Navy store ship HMS Prince which was carrying 500,00 British Pounds worth of winter stores for the siege at Sevastopol.  Commander Bayntoun, her commanding officer and 144 out of her crew of 150 died. As ships were driven ashore those crew who did survive were taken prisoner by Russian Forces.

Most of the winter supplies were lost, including food, fuel, and winter uniforms and as a result, many men died from hypothermia and disease.

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale notes in her diary embarking onboard the Edwin Fox (Transport 109) the personal belongings of one of her nurses who had died in the Crimea. These were the personal belongings and St. Johns property of a Mrs. Drake who had requested that all her belongings be given to her sister in Birmingham on her death. 

Although there was one female passenger recorded as being on board this voyage there is no record of this being Florence Nightingale. 

Return to London

On 7 September 1855 Transport 109 arrived in Malta carrying Assistant Surgeon George Bell Popplewell (13th Regiment), Lieutenant James Scott (55th Regiment) and 157 non-commissioned officers and privates.

After a stop in Gibraltar the ship arrived at Spithead on 3 October 1855 carrying 149 invalids, 1 woman, 1 deserter, one civil servant and one convict.

The deserter on board was Private Joseph Murphy a 23 year old soldier from Ireland who was serving in the 12th Royal Lancers. He was court martialed for desertion from the camp of the 12th Royal Lancers near Karani on the 7th of August 1855 with the intent of going over to the enemy. He was brought back to camp under escort. When he was presented to his commanding officer, he was also charged with using 'highly insubordinate and mutinous language' declaring he could not and would not soldier anymore and would rather be shot than go back. He was found guilty and sentenced to be transported for 14 years.

After spending time in Millbank and Portland prisons he was transported to Australia on board the Clara on the 3rd of July 1857.

At the end of the charter the ships name returned to Edwin Fox and between 12 October 1855 and 11 February 1856 the ship was refitted to carry civilian passengers and general cargo.