Portrait Of Leo XIII - XXth School

Léon XIII – Square three-master in steel launched on June 22, 1902 in Chantenay-sur-Loire by the company A. Dubigeon et fils on behalf of the Société anonyme des shipowners of Nantes. Oil on canvas signed lower right 62.5 x 83.5 cm The Léon-XIII had sailed from Portland (Oregon) on April 20, 1907 with a load of wheat, being commanded by the long-distance captain Émile LUCAS. Delayed by bad weather at Cape Horn, she did not reach Queenstown until September 25, after 158 days at sea. Immediately leaving under orders for Limerick, she approached her destination on September 29, but the next day a gale from Sud-Est prevented him from landing and dragged him north of the mouth of the Shannon. On the evening of October 1, a violent storm arose from the west; at dawn on October 2, distraught, most of her sails in tatters, she could not tack, finding herself too close to the coast. At 8 o'clock. 15, it touched rocks within 300 yards of land, a mile from Quilty, Co. Claire. The stormy sea, sweeping the ship apart from the forecastle, forbade any rescue attempt that day; the position of the crew then became tragic. On October 3, 13 men were saved with great difficulty. The next day, finally, the British cruiser HMS Arrogant managed to save the 9 exhausted men who remained on board. As soon as the weather permitted, two salvage vessels attempted to refloat the sailboat, but successive storms prevented them from succeeding. Finally, on December 4, 1907, the Léon-XIII broke in two and became a total loss. [• Henri PICARD: “The end of the Cape Horners. The latest adventures of French long-haul aircraft. », ed. Edita, Lausanne, 1976. – Especially p. 108.] For this last trip, the three-master had been fitted out for the long-haul on May 18, 1905 in Nantes, n° 359. After her sinking, she was laid up on October 22, 1907 in this district, n° 658. [• Maritime registration ― Nantes district ― Role of merchant ships — Disarmament (1907): Departmental Archives of Loire-Atlantique, n° 658, Cote 7 R 4 / 748.] On October 2, 1907, when the ship had just running aground, a wave boarding from the stern carried Captain Émile LUCAS and six crewmen onto the poop deck. The men were safe, but the captain's left leg was broken, after being thrown violently over the skylight of the room and falling on a hawser turning cock (Testimonies of the chief mate Louis BOUTIN and the carpenter Marcel CHIRON). He was unable to receive first aid until 4 October, aboard the British cruiser HMS Arrogant. He was admitted the next day to Haulbowline Island Hospital. (ibid.).