It was in the rising night of December 14, 1907. Over 110 years ago, the Swedish three-masted" Padosa "was breaking its hull on the rocks off the Great Beach in Biarritz. the story of Biarritz, but also that of the sailing navy President François Doyhamboure, President of the historical seabed research association, keeps the memory of this tragic episode that cost the lives of four sailors.
A memory preserved thanks to a research work of Biarrots passionate about their city and its history. François Doyhamboure and Eric Dupré-Moretti, explorers of the seabed of the Basque Coast, were fascinated by these mysterious underwater wrecks of ships stranded off Biarritz. In a book, "Naufrages de Biarritz and surroundings, from the sixteenth to the twentieth century" - which should be reissued - the two biarrot researchers have retraced the terrible history of Padosa. In 1978, they moved two anchors from the waters of the Grande Plage, now installed at Atalaye and Port-des-Pêcheurs. A research project carried out with the Biarritz Aquatique Scaphandrier Club, the USB and notably Narkiez Diez, Henri Chevrat, Gérard Foubert, François Bergon and the adjutant of the firefighters Minvielle. The anchor set on the plateau of Atalaye, monument in tribute to Swedish sailors John Johansson, Harald Persson, Alferd Wander and Carl Gustaf Eriksson resting in the cemetery of Sabaou. This is the story written by the two local divers and historians.
The "Padosa" was a magnificent 60-meter-long, 860-ton, 860-ton wooden hull built in the Austrian fashion at Fiume on the Adriatic Sea in 1880. Its home port was Raa in Sweden and owner owner Captain Lars-Erik Nilsson, from the same port. In early December 1907, the ship, under the command of Captain Milson, loaded a load of logs into Skelleftea, Sweden. He then stops at Raa where Captain Milson leaves the command to Captain Martin Björk. The ship then takes the direction of the Atlantic to reach the coast of Biscay and disembark her goods at Portugalete, near Bilbao.
Before the unloading, while the ship was in the port of Portugalete and moored, it capsized very strongly on a sandbar during the low tide. Unbalanced, the cargo of wood slid violently on the side and the hull of wood was tested. At the next tide, the ship was securely moored and unloading logs could be done. Of course the ship did not sail until after a hull inspection and the issue of a certificate of navigation, but there was still doubt as to the possible deterioration of the hull. This serious incident may have counted later, when he resumed the ocean. Anyway, the "Padosa" was blocked for eight days at the port of Portugalete, because of a storm that prevented any attempt to go to sea.
Finally, the ocean calmed down and on December 11, the "Padosa" left the port of Portugalete towed by a pilot boat. He was able to set sail and depart towards the port of Setubal, Portugal, to load a cargo of salt. Its crew was eleven people and included Captain Martin Björk, assisted by a pilot, with a subrecargue representing the loaders and eight crewmen. Shortly after the departure, the wind began to blow more and more strongly to turn into one of those terrible storms of west, towards 19 h. The sailors reduced the sails and the pilot tried to cope, but the ship was abnormally taking the water and the bilge pumps were not working. Handicapped by the mass of water that filled his holds and consequently poorly windward, the ship was drifting eastward in the Bay of Biscay. The accident at the port of Portugalete had disjoined the members. However, the wind calmed down and the crew was able to drain all the water from the ship. All sails out, the "Padosa" tried to leave the Bay of Biscay.
But after a few hours of calm, the westerly wind regained strength and, again, blew into a storm that quickly turned into a hurricane. The "Padosa" started to take the water again. Soon he was half-filled with water, threatening to capsize at any moment. Captain Björk concluded that the ship was lost and that the life of the seamen was in danger. He met the crew and calmly explained the situation. It only remained for them to save their lives by fleeing under the wind to reach the earth and try to beach the ship without much harm. Driven by the hurricane, the "Padosa" drifted east for three days, with the winds very violent, a very strong swell and breaking waves, fear in the stomach.
On the evening of December 14th, when night had already fallen, a fire appeared in the distance indicating the proximity of the coast. As soon as they were on board, fires were lit, and the crew sounded the siren of distress. Very close to the coast, the "Padosa" was now facing the Grande Plage Biarritz, when suddenly, around 19 pm, in the night, the ship hit a rock. It was the Roche Plate, about 600 m from the mainland. Immediately the ship was surrounded by the ferment of the terrible breakers. On the shore, the Biarrots had lit large fires and set up rocket engines to launch moorings, but these fired in the direction of the ship did not reach their objective in time. The seventh shot finally reached the ship, but it was already too late to hope to save the sailors from this means. The rescuers were helpless and did not have a lifeboat, besides the strength of the waves and breakers, would that have been possible?
While the ship broke up under the blows of the Ocean, without receiving the order of her captain, the subrecargue threw herself into the water with a rope. He tried to swim to shore, but soon he drowned, submerged and engulfed by the waves. The captain gave the order to put a boat at sea, with two men on board, but a wave furiously crushed the boat against the hull of the ship. The rest of the crew had difficulty hoisting the two sailors on board. In his turn the captain dived with a rope, but the stronger waves exhausted him immediately. He was painfully tanned by his crew. "
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