On the 21st October 1874, the “Chusan” was run aground at the Crinan Rock, near Horse Island in Ardrossan.
The Chusan (Choosan) was a 953 tons paddle steamship built by John Elder & Co., Glasgow for the China Steam Navigation Company of Shanghai. The ship was launched just a month before its demise on 17th September at the Fairfield yard in Govan. She was captained by George Coate Johnson, a 37-year-old American affectionately known as “Whispering” Johnson (he was supposed to have a thunderous voice that “could be heard above the wildest din of the elements when giving orders.”)
After running the measured mile at Wemyss Bay successfully, she steamed to Waterford in Ireland and was then to proceed to Shanghai via the Suez Canal. Unfortunately, one of her paddle wings was damaged and she was put in for repair on the Irish coast. However, it was deemed necessary that she return to the Clyde for further repairs, and it was on this journey that her fate was sealed.
On the morning of Wednesday 21st October, the Chusan was making her way back to the Clyde when she encountered a fierce storm and was overtaken by it. Captain Johnson not only had a crew of 48 on board but also his heavily pregnant wife Harriet, their 4-year-old son George and his wife’s sister, a Miss Helen Elliot who was travelling as a stewardess. The ship headed for the relative safety of Ardrossan Harbour but was dashed on the Crinan Rock some 50 yards from the pier head and, almost immediately, was parted in two.
The forward section of the ship stayed afloat and carried towards the pier where some of the crew leapt to safety. Unfortunately, the other half of the ship was stranded on the rocks with the Captain, his crew and family holding on to anything they could grasp to stop them from being hurled into the sea. When Mrs Johnson could hold on no longer, she was tossed overboard into the tumultuous sea. The Captain immediately jumped in after her and held her afloat until she was pulled back on board. Unfortunately, the waves were too strong for him to be rescued and the sea took him.
The Captain and 16 of the Chusan crew lost their lives that day, their bodies washing up at various points in Ardrossan in the next couple of weeks. Captain Johnson’s body was found near North Crescent and a service was conducted over his remains at the Harbour Hospital by the Rev. George Lakeman of Ardrossan Episcopal Church. He was then sent back to America where he was buried in Salem, Massachusetts.
On the 22nd of December, a couple of months after the tragedy, Mrs Johnson gave birth to twins – a boy named DeCourcey Elliot Johnson and a girl named Decosta May Johnson.
Some of the crew were never identified and their remains are buried in plots 56-63 in Ardrossan Cemetery. There is also a monument (erected by subscription) to Captain Johnson and his crew in the cemetery – the top of it is in the form of a broken ships mast with a rope entwined and shows the inscriptions “Faith”, “Hope” and “Charity.” Unfortunately, the text is now illegible on the monument but it once read:
In memory of
George G Johnstone, Master
William Miller, Second Mate
And the crew in the
Steam Ship Chusan
Who were drowned off the harbour
Of Ardrossan on
2nd October 1874