Phineas Philip Davies (31 March 1865 – 28 Dec 1885)

Phineas Philip Davies (31 March 1865 – 28 Dec 1885)

  Commemoration Day, 28 December 1885. The South Australian Colony’s only warship, HMS Protector, was sitting off the coast at Glenelg, awaiting orders to fire its guns in salute to the forty-ninth year of the settlement of the colony.

 It was the first time HMS Protector had been allowed to fire its guns in salute.
 The cannons fired five times, then suddenly, the ship’s flags were lowered, and it steamed off towards Port Adelaide.

 Onboard, the crew were in full medical mode. The cannons had fired, but something had gone wrong, and two crew members were seriously injured.

 Daniel Cann, in charge of cannon number 5, was severely maimed by an explosion of the cannon and was sent to Semaphore Hospital. He survived the explosion but lost an eye and was disfigured.

 Phineas Philip Davies, on the other hand, had received the full force of the blast from the cannon breech and died on board the ship.

An inquest was held on Tuesday, 29 December 1885, at the Largs Pier Hotel by the City Coroner, Mr T. Ward. The Coroner and Jury were taken to the warship to inspect the gun. Sitting alongside the gun were the coffin and body of Davies.

Master Gunner Haisom explained to the audience how the gun worked and then described what they believed had gone wrong. Haisom explained that Davies was positioned at gun 5, position two. Haisom had himself gone around to every gun and supplied each with a bucket of water to sponge out the excess gunpowder after each firing. He then informed the gunners that they had 50 seconds to reload after each firing.

At 12 o’clock, they began to fire the guns. The number 5 gun fired two rounds, with its crew, including Davies, preparing for shot three. Davies entered the charge, which exploded on contact. Davies had neglected to sponge the gun after the last firing, leaving lit residue in the cannon, which ignited the new 10 lb powder charge.

The remains of Protector at Heron Island in 2008 at low tide

Davies’ gun commander, Daniel Cann, was subsequently accused of not delivering the order to sponge the cannon between shots, something that was standard procedure.

The jury deliberated on the evidence for quite some time but, in the end, delivered a verdict of accidental death.

A memorial was erected to Davies at Cheltenham Cemetery and was claimed by the Royal Australian Navy in December 1986. The memorial to Davies was installed as the headpiece of the South Australian Naval Memorial Garden at HMAS Encounter until the memorial was relocated to its current position in April 1995.

Front Inscription

Sacred to the Memory

of

PHINEAS PHILIP DAVIES,

A.B. H.M.C.S. PROTECTOR. 

Killed By Premature Explosion

Of A Cartridge When Firing Salute

At Glenelg Commemoration Day 

28th DECEMBER 1885. 

Aged 20.

Erected By His Shipmates

And Naval Reserve

Plaque: 

This tombstone marked the site of the

grave of Phineas Davies in Cheltenham

Cemetery for 100 years and was claimed

by the Royal Australian Navy in December

1986. It was installed as the headpiece of

the South Australian Naval Memorial

Garden at HMAS ENCOUNTER until the

Garden was relocated to its present site

in April 1995.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2018


Bibliography

'CORONERS' INQUESTS', South Australian Register, (30 December 1885), p. 7. 

'The Fatal Accident on the Protector.', The Express and Telegraph, (30 December 1885), p. 5. 

'THE-FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE PROTECTOR.', The South Australian Advertiser, (30 December 1885), p. 6. 

Adelaide (S.A.). Corporation 2003, Historical walking trails, Adelaide, South Australia, City of Adelaide, Adelaide

Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Madeleine Ryan, History SA, ‘Naval Memorial’, SA History Hub, History Trust of South Australia, http://sahistoryhub.com.au/things/naval-memorial, accessed 2 March 2018.

Scott, Jenny, 2012, Davies, Phineas Phillip, The State Library of South Australia, 2 March 2018, https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+72767