Mr G W Chambers Esq, the owner of both the boatyard and the Holmes Colliery, had built the vessel at his yard. On the day of the ships launch, he made arrangements to have as many people as could fit on board beforehand to attend. It had been rumoured that the ship, which could carry up to 70 tons of cargo was a bit light, and therefore this had been necessary in order to give the ship some weight. This rumour, however was later denied by Mr Chambers himself. Nevertheless, in order to celebrate the event, flags were erected and bunting hung at the yard, which naturally drew many people. They were all eager to secure themselves a seat on the vessel for the launching.

As the yard was at a point on the River Don that was not very wide, it was judged that the launch would be a sideways one and the wooden slidings were laid accordingly. Needless to say there was much excitement as the fastening were loosened and the ship started to move down and into the water. Suddenly, instead of sliding gracefully into the river, the ship overturned casting everybody out into the river. The screams and cries were piteous and every assistance was made to rescue people both from out of the water, as well as those who had been trapped beneath the ship. Horses were procured and chains attached to the vessel, which finally lifted the boat enough for those trapped underneath to scramble out.

Then the fastenings themselves collapsed and needless to say this again sent many of the rescuers back into the water. It took another two hours before the vessel was finally lifted high enough up to rescue all of those beneath. Each time the boat was lifted, more dead bodies emerged, floating up from the waters below. By the end of the day it was estimated that out of all the people that had been rescued, at least 50 of them were dead. Because of an old tradition that having a woman aboard had been thought to bring bad luck, most of those on board were made up of men and boys. Nevertheless to lose a husband or a son in such a way must have been devastating.

The stories which became known later were heartbreaking, such as that of John Smith a boatman who perished with his two sons. When his body was brought out of the water, his children, Charles aged 8 and Henry aged 5 were locked so securely in their fathers arms that all three had to be lifted out together. Another was a young lad called John Greatorex who had died sadly perished on his twenty first birthday. Accordingly, what should have been a day of great rejoicing for his family, turned out to be one of mourning instead. A man called Samuel Heathcote was another corpse whose body was recovered. He was well known in the town, who was a joiner by trade and a bell ringer at Rotherham Church.

One local reporter commenting on the catastrophe the following day stated that:

‘The occurrence seems to have cast a gloom over the whole inhabitants of Rotherham, and in every street appears signs of mourning and affliction. The awful calamity is the general topic of conversation throughout this town and Sheffield, and the most anxious enquiries are made after the names of the sufferers. Nothing can equal the sensation it has caused among all classes. The vessel, which is considerably damaged, has been visited this morning by a great number of people.’

The bodies of many of those who drowned were taken to their respective homes and the rest were taken to the nearby Angel Inn at Masborough to await a coroners inquest. The coroner Mr Thomas Badger arranged for an inquest to be held at 2 pm on Wednesday 7 July and the jury spent the first four hours visited the various houses where the dead persons lay. Returning back to the Inn, the first witness was the owner of the vessel, Mr Edwin Cadman of Pitsmoor, Sheffield. He described how he had been in a fly boat already in the water and so could see everything as it happened. He said that as the ship began to move down the slipway, he saw many of the people on board, rush to the leeward side of the vessel in order to see it enter the water.

He therefore stated that was the reason that the boat overturned. Mr Badger asked him ‘if it was your boat, why were you not on board?’ The witness replied that he had been told by the boatmen that it was bad luck for the owner of a boat to be onboard when it is launched. However he affirmed that the men in charge of the launch were all sober and respectable, and had conducted the business in their usual professional manner. Heart rending accounts were then heard from witnesses and participants who had managed to escape from the boat, however it soon became clear that insufficient planking had added to the catastrophe.

Mr George Heywood gave evidence that the planking upon which the boat slid down, ended about 18 inches from the surface of the water. Mr Edwin Cadman stated that this was usual at launchings as the vessel picked up enough impetus to carry her safely into the water. When the coroner asked if ropes or any other means of checking the descent should have been used, Mr Cadman relied that ‘it would be futile and most dangerous to do that.’ After hearing all the evidence, the jury had no option but to declare a verdict of accidental death, as men and boys who had rushed to the leeward side of the ship were clearly to blame. Needless to say with the amount of witnesses to be heard, the inquest was naturally quite a protracted one.

Consequently it was around 11.30 pm before the jury returned their verdict. They also criticised the tradition of having people on board at the time of a boats launching and recommended that the practise be discontinued for the future. Needless to say, a subscription was put in place and by Saturday 10 July, around £200 had been collected for the relief of the families of the poor involved in the accident. However, how much consolation this was to women like Ann Straw, who was a widow living on Masborough Common, we have no information. She lost her only son Thomas, a boy of just ten years old when he died.