Lark

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Lark

Post by shipstamps » Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:23 pm


In 1909 Republic of Liberia issued a very attractive pictorial set of stamps. The 5 cents stamp of this issue showed the R.L.S. Lark, which constituted the entire Liberian Navy for many years. This stamp is not common in Liberia itself for it never achieved any wide circulation since almost all the issue was bought by an Englishman who sold it to collectors, at a considerable profit to himself.
The Lark was built in 1885 by Shuttleworth and Chapman, to the designs of Mr. A. H. Brown, at Erith, on the Thames, her original name being Eros. She was the second yacht of this name built for Baron A. de Rothschild ; an earlier vessel with the same name had been built for the Baron at Renfrew in 1876, remaining under his ownership until 1882. These two yachts were confused by the "Naval Pocket Book" and "Jane's Fighting Ships" for both list the first yacht's year of building with the second vessel's tonnage-770, on dimensions 228 ft. x 26 ft. x 15 ft., the second yacht's dimensions. This, however, is not the only error to be printed about the Lark.
For many years now the principal American stamp catalogue has listed the name of the vessel as the "President Daniel E. Howard". Another quaint story about the ship, which has been told a number of times, is that she was presented to Liberia by Queen Victoria. On inquiry, the Admiralty said that "there was no Lark on the Navy List in Queen Victoria's reign which could possibly have found its way into the hands of the Liberians."
The Lark shown on the stamp was bought by Liberia in 1908.
She was a schooner-rigged vessel with two raked single pole masts, on which auxiliary sail could be set. Her engines and boilers were built by Day and Summers of Southampton, and gave the vessel a speed of 18 knots. Baron de Rothschild sold the vessel in 1899 and she appears in the yacht register as the Taurus until 1907 under the ownership of Hugh Andrews, D.L., J.P., of London, She was then acquired by Mr.R. P. Houston, M.P. for West Toxteth, Liverpool, who renamed her Eros. While under his ownership she was sunk in Southampton Water about midnight on Tuesday, September 3, 1907, in a collision with the steam collier Knightsgarth, and sank in a few minutes. According to the report of the Liverpool Daily Post for Thursday, September 5 ; "The Eros was riding at anchor about a quarter of a mile off Hythe Pier. Mr. Houston, M.P., left the yacht for the shore about 11.30 p.m. About half-an-hour afterwards a number of the crew saw the heavy bulk of a steamer coming through the mist and shouted an alarm. The warning came too late, however, and the steamer, the collier Knightsgarth, owned by the Rea Shipping Company (Liverpool), cut a great hole in the side of the yacht, which immediately began to settle down. Fortunately the collision was observed from the decks of other yachts at anchor nearby.
"The Rose Belle steamed alongside and at once put out boats to the rescue. All the members of the crew, numbering 18, were ultimately rescued, but there were some exciting scenes. The Eros was sinking so rapidly that five of the crew actually jumped into the water and were rescued swimming. In less than 20 minutes the Eros disappeared. "Mr. Houston, who had arrived in London, returned to Southampton in the morning". "Our Southampton Correspondent telegraphs that the Eros will be salved. The Knightsgarth was not much injured, and though at present at anchor, may be able to proceed on her voyage. The collier, built in 1905, is of 2,635 tons register."
The Hampshire Advertiser for May 23, 1908 records "The steel screw yacht Eros, which, it will be remembered, was sunk through a collision with the Knightsgarth in Southampton Water and has been lying in the Inner Dock since being raised in September last, has now been sold to the British representative of the Liberian Government."
She was placed in the hands of Summer and Payne for alterations converting her into a gunboat, intended for use primarily against smugglers and for transporting troops along the Liberian coast. The vessel left Southampton for Portsmouth early in September 1908, where she was fitted with her armament of two 6- pdr., two 3-pdr., and several machine guns. She left Southampton on October 7, 1908, manned by a British crew under Lieut. J M. Bugge. On arrival at Freetown, Sierra Leone, for coal and water, she performed her first naval duty, firing a salute of 21 guns, which was responded to by the West African Regiment. Next day she reached Monrovia.
The vessel saw a great deal of service before the First World War, and conducted several successful expeditions along the Liberian coast, particularly in quelling riots. She put a stop to a great deal of slave trading on the coast, and on one occasion forced a ship of Belgian registry, loaded with Liberian boys who had been illegally recruited for service in Spanish West African territories, to return to port and disembark the Africans, Within five years of her arrival on the coast she had doubled the Liberian revenue, proving a good bargain to the republic.
SG252 Sea Breezes June 1959

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