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205 HERRING COVE RD
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
B3R 1V0
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Nova Scotia Tourism Region : Halifax Metro
Description From Owner:
- First called Moolipchugeehk, “deep chasm gorge.' The name may have been given for the fish in the area or for early settler Tom Herring.
- Settled shortly after Halifax was founded in 1749. In 1797 at nearby Tribune Head, HMS Tribune was wrecked with a loss of 240 lives.
- At the mouth of Halifax Harbour in 1798, the Duke of Kent first established his telegraph system of flags and signals. It later became the site of the Marconi Wireless Station prior to the First World War.
- With permission from 'Nova Scotia Place Names' David E. Scott 2015
Address of this page:
http://ns.ruralroutes.com/HerringCove
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The Halifax Harbour Wreck Of The Tribune
Under the command of Capt. Scory Barker, the 36-gun fifth rate frigate HMS Tribune of the Royal Navy left Torbay in 1797 as part of the escort for a convoy to the Newfoundland and Quebec fleets.
The Tribune had been captured from the French the year before and commissioned into service in the navy. En route the Tribune lost sight of the convoy but carried on towards Halifax.
As the ship approached Halifax Harbour, Capt. Barker suggested waiting for a pilot, but the ship's master claimed that he had once beat a 44-gun ship into the harbour, had been there many times and there was no need for a pilot because the winds were favourable.
On entering the harbour the Tribune struck Thrum Cap Shoal. Distress signals were run up, but high winds prevented all but one boat reaching the Tribune.
In an effort to float the ship off the reef, all heavy items like the guns were thrown overboard. Eventually the Tribune was free of the shoal, but had seven feet of water in her hold and had lost her rudder.
A violent gale came up out of the SE and blew the Tribune onto the W shore. Within an hour the ship overturned and sank off Herring Cove.
Four crew members made it to shore in a jolly boat, but more than 240 men, women and children floated in the water or clung to the rigging. By morning only eight survivors were still clinging to the rigging.
Thirteen-year-old Joe Cracker went out in a small skiff and saved four men and the other four were subsequently saved.
Only 12 people survived the wreck. The location where the ship sank was named Tribune Head. A cairn and bronze plaque mark the site and mass grave of the victims.
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