The Wreck of the Jebba

Filed under: Plymouth And Devon Wrecks    Written by:Peter Mitchell.

Sometimes you can see a photograph of a wrecked ship, and when you go to the site to dive on her, you are often surprised to find that she lies in exactly the same place as the photograph shows. The liner Jebba is one of these wrecks, and the photograph that shows her wrecked under the cliffs near Bolt Tail, also shows her exact location. Built originally as the Albertville in 1896 by Sir Robert Dixon and Company, she was later taken over by the Elder Dempster line and renamed the Jebba. 302 feet long and 3813 tons gross, the Jebba was homeward bound from Sierra Leone carrying a cargo of rubber, ivory and fresh fruit worth over ?00,000. Besides this cargo she was also carrying 155 passengers and crew, and the Royal Mail.

The Jebba aground near Bolt Tail

In the early hours of 18 March 1907 the Jebba overshot the Eddystone in dense fog and ran aground under the steep cliffs at Whitchurch, just a few yards away from Bolt Tail. The ship immediately started to take in water, and after sending up distress rockets, the Captain ordered all the boiler fires to be doused to prevent the risk of an explosion. Being broadside onto the rocks, waves soon started breaking over the liner’s decks, but instead of the usual panic, the passengers and crew remained exceptionally calm, and all went dutifully to their lifeboat stations to await the Captains orders. Very quickly the Hope Cove lifeboat, which was literally around the corner, came upon the scene and because it could not get into the comparatively sheltered water between the Jebba and the shore, it was considered too dangerous to attempt to take people off from the weather side as it would mean cragging all 155 people through the rough seas. However, with the aid of a rocket apparatus and the extraordinary bravery of two local men all the passengers and crew were eventually saved.

At the boiler of the Jebba

In order to get the rescue started, Issac Jarvis and John Argeat climbed down the treacherous 200 foot cliffs in complete darkness to set up a bosun’s chair, with which they rescued over a hundred persons. So impressed was everybody by their selfless bravery that King Edward VII personally presented them both with the Albert Medal. Mind you it was not only people that were saved. At least one chimpanzee and three small monkeys were hoisted ashore, and many homes around Hope Cove suddenly found themselves in possession of a brightly coloured parrot. Soon after the rescue the Jebba filled with water, and although most of the cargo was eventually salvaged, it was obvious that the liner was a complete write off. Once again Bolt Tail had claimed another victim.

Chipping a valve off the Jebba

Today the remains of the Jebba lie in less than thirty feet, exactly where she it, which is as close into the rocks as you dare take your boat. As you look at the shore from the sea, her stern lies to your left and her bows to the right. The bottom consists of rock and sand, and in the summer there is quite a bit of kelp. The wreckage lies all around you and so does the brass and copper. Most of it is well crudded into the wreck but the odd valve is still available if you look hard enough for it. Where the stern is, two rocks break the surface, and in between these lies the rudder, still more or less complete. As you fin from the stern along the ribs and decking of the Jebba, you come to a stretch of sand upon which lie two boilers, one stuck up on it’s end. Further out from these are rocky gullies with all sorts of bits of wreckage, broken pottery, and pieces of brass nametags crudded into the rock. I have not found any pottery artifacts myself, but I do know that in 1971 a diver found a whole dinner plate with her old name of Albertville on it, so there must be some of it still left around.

Fitting the lifting bag

Because it is such a shallow wreck you can spend a lot of time on it, and in between you can gaze at the truly magnificent scenery provided by the huge cliffs and caves. It is a very impressive place, and how those two local lads managed to scramble down the cliffs in total darkness beats me. Opposite the upended boiler, close into the shore, is a part of the hull that seems to have been compressed. There are pieces of brass and copper sticking out all over the place, although most of it is only a few inches long, and firmly welded to the rest of the iron plating. The action of the sand and waves has burnished it all shiny bright, and in the sunlight it all sparkles like jewels set into a rusty crown. And that is what this little wrecksite is, a real gem. On a sunny day, the diving and the spectacular scenery should keep you amused for hours, and long after you have returned home the memory of that day, I am sure, will linger on.

Other Submerged posts of interest:

• Cantabria
• The Dragon
• The Blesk
• The Wrecker’s Guide To South West Devon - Volume One
• HMS Ramillies

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