In a law case from 1884 − Regina v. Dudley and Stephens − the accused were found guilty of murdering their ship mate Richard Parker in a lifeboat.
It was decided by five judges in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, “that one must not kill one’s shipmate in order to eat them no matter how hungry one might be”.
It may come as a surprise that right up until 1884 stories of cannibalism in lifeboats were not uncommon. The drawing of lots was often used to decide matters − noble sacrifice or murder, either way there was a level of consent to the unfortunates’ departure. By now many will have seen the feature film “In the Heart of the Sea” about the fate of the survivors of the Essex, a Nantucket whaling ship lost in 1820.
In the case of Dudley and Stephens the vessel lost was the Mignonette and in the varying and confused later accounts of the killing, the 17 year old cabin boy, Parker was said to murmured, “Why me?” as he was slain.
Across the Atlantic another case of survival has been tested in the US courts. The US ship “William Brown” sank in 1841, after hitting an iceberg. Alexander Holmes, one of the crew believed the lifeboat itself was in danger of sinking as it was overcrowded so put 14 passengers over the side to their deaths to increase his chances of survival.
On his return to Philadelphia, Holmes was arrested and charged with murder. The judge in the US Circuit Court for the eastern district of Pennsylvania instructed the jury that acting under “necessity” might be a defence to murder but a case of necessity must exist. It didn’t, and Holmes was convicted.
Who should go and who should stay in the lifeboat?
Staff lay-offs and redundancy in the overcrowded offices remain on every horizon in the troubles waters of Aberdeen. Metaphorically the office is now the lifeboat and cannibalism or sacrificing of others to survive, thinking only to oneself using the comforting mental defense of “necessity” is prevalent.
Who should stay?
One of the most famous lifeboat journeys ever was that of Sir Ernest Shacklton when he sailed in the tiny 21 foot lifeboat the “James Caird” over 800 miles from Elephant island in the south Atlantic to South Georgia, a voyage many regard as one of the most impressive feats of seamship ever undertaken. Their parent ship, the Endurance, was lost when it became trapped and crushed in pack ice, leading to the evacuation of the ship onto the ice shelf to camp for two months. The ship’s company then dragged its small lifeboats over ice and sailed 340 miles to Elephant Island. Any hope of rescue now lay 800 miles away on South Georgia across the mountainous winter seas of the south Atlantic. Shackleton new only too well that who should be chosen for the 800 mile journey mattered if success was to be achieved.
Frank Worsley was chosen as the captain and navigator. Sailing a 21 foot boat in a storm is fraught with complications; sun and star fixing in the south Atlantic winter in an open lifeboat is not for the novice. Literally one small error in navigation with such rudimentary equipment would be to miss South Georgia, and certain death for those in the lifeboat and no rescue for the others left behind.
Also chosen was Tom Crean, an Irishman originally from County Kerry and already a holder of the Albert Medal (now the George Cross the civilian equivalent of the Victrola cross) from a previous solo Polar rescue. Crean, a Royal Navy petty officer, was a man who knew nothing of defeat or failure, though each of the other crew had equally impressive credentials. These examples represent the difficulty and the importance of the sacrifice or contribution individuals can make to increase the chances of group survival.
In Shackleton’s case, success required sailing 800 miles for both the lifeboat crew to survive and to summon rescue for the men left behind on a remote, rocky out-crop of Elephant Island, which would never see a passing ship. It took 16 days to reach South Georgia to summon help and over three months to acquire a suitable icebreaker to return to pick-up the remaining 22 survivor left behind. All lived to tell the extraordinary tale.
Today, such truly demanding circumstances, decisions that required critical appraisal about individual people upon which future success or failure rests, are present, however, less visible.
Today, not who will be killed in the lifeboat, but, as with Holmes on the US ship, William Brown, who will be shoved over the side, sacrificed to allow others to survive, in the overcrowded Aberdeen office.
In the cosmopolite jungle of the oil major and contractor’s offices alike, there is no Birkenhead muster lifeboat drill of those whose time has come to gallantly step back and allow the young to survive. Prey now not for a passing ship to hail rescue but rather the Bloomberg screen to signal an upturn in oil price.
There is no one thinking of others, trying to save comrades who if thrown overboard would be beset by hardships. No one is uttering as they leave the office “I am just going outside and may be some time” as did the young late Captain Oates.
No. Today the process of who wins a place in the lifeboat and survives is as cruel as was the case for cabin boy Parker. The criterion for a place is unclear, and seldom explained, unlike the case of investing in people for success as Shackleton did with Worsley and Crean.
As with Holmes, does one jettison anyone randomly in order to secure personal survival? What about friends and colleagues? Are the last words of cabin boy Parker echoing in Aberdeen today?
There is no consent to their unfortunate departures, no lots to be drawn, well not by those whose fate is being decided. One can see the number in the boat is now noticeably fewer. As was often reported in cases involving cannibalism, as the situation continues with no immediate sight of rescue, so too does the need for further sacrifice.
For those left there are deep and troubling doubts. Why was I spared? Am I the hostage to be kept and sacrificed when needed? Why are all those hungry co-worker looking at me? What do they know?
Every letter from the company is received with a quickening of the heart. It may not be from Billy Bones but could contain the contemporary Aberdeen equivalent of the “black spot”. When the letter arrives it will be from the teenage faced young person recently taken on in the human resources department. Well, they have been rather busy of late.
Dudley, Stephens and Holmes were all called to account for their actions and explanations of their decisions were deeply scrutinized. Shackleton had his decisions reviewed by the world’s best mariners and scholars and applauded for his management, judgment, leadership and ultimate success. Not so today. Places in the lifeboat must be guarded, but who will guard the guards?
To finish a poem:
My sails are split my masts are gone
My sole is fled the deck
Now, underneath the cold grey stone
My body lies a wreck
Yet still the promise stands secure
It shall refitted be
And sail the sea of endless bliss
To all eternity
Gerard Laden is managing director of Mimir Marine, a deep sea diving systems firm based in Hull.