La Tribune

La Tribune was a French warship of 48 guns captured by the British frigate HMS Unicorn in 1796. It was taken back to England, refitted, and relaunched as the HMS Tribune.

While approaching Halifax Harbour in 1797 with over 240 sailors and officers aboard, as well as many family members, the Captain of the ship, Story Barker, decided that a local pilot was not needed to help navigate the harbour entrance. The wrong decision, as in no time the vessel grounded on Thrumcap Shoal. To lighten the load, many of the cannons were tossed into the sea; however, the wind kept the vessel pinned on the rocks. Despite visits by local boats throughout the day to the stranded vessel, the Captain, fearing a ruined reputation, would not abandon ship or allow passengers to be taken off.

When the tide rose, Tribune floated off Thrumcap but, being already half full of seawater and having no operational rudder, she drifted toward the Herring Cove shore. When she eventually reached the shore, La Tribune broke up and sank adjacent to what is now Tribune Head. Crew and passengers tried to get off the sinking vessel, but with little success. She sank to the bottom, but the bow of the vessel and tops of her two masts remained above water with dozens of people hanging on for dear life. As night came and the winds increased, many could not hold on and dropped to their deaths.

It is here that the story turns to heroism.

By mid-morning the next day, there were only a few passengers still hanging on to what remained of the ship above water.

Because of the wind and high waves, nobody would risk venturing out to try to save them. That is, until a 13-year-old boy, Joe Cracker, ventured out in a rowboat by himself and was able to bring in a couple of those left hanging on. He went out again to get more, and perhaps out of embarrassment, others on the shore started to do the same thing. Eventually, only eight of the over 300 crew and passengers of La Tribune were saved.

Joe Cracker was not the boy’s real name, but a name given to him by others who extolled his heroism. There is now a plaque in his memory installed at Tribune Head and a street named after him in Herring Cove. And, of course, much folklore of the stubborn Captain who was too embarrassed to try to save the lives of his crew and passengers, and the heroism of the 13-year-old boy who saved as many as he could.

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References

• “Age of Heroes. A Boy, a Prince and the 1797 Wreck of La Tribune” by John R. Dickie
• Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia, Volume 1, by Jack Zinck