The Mignonette, 1884 (Queen v. Dudley)  A wealthy Australian
barrister purchased a yacht, the Mignonette, in Essex. Although
the ship was not the sturdiest, the owner decided to have a crew
sail it to Sydney for him rather than send it as deck cargo. He
hired Thomas Dudley as captain, and Dudley recruited Edwin
Stephens as mate, Edmund Brooks as able seaman, and a sveneteen
old boy, Richard Parker, as ordinary seaman. They left in late
May and experienced several weeks of smooth sailing. Later the
weather turned foul, and Dudley decided to turn off the main
trade route. The winds, howvever, dogged them. Then suddenly, in
the late afternoon of the 5th of July, a heavy wave smashed
against the stern of the ship and sprang loose its timbers. The
Mignonette sank in less than five minutes. The four seaman just
barely managed to get into their lifeboat, a 13 foot open
dinghy. Unfortunately, the emergency supply of water that they
had hastily thrown overboard next to the dinghy was swept away
by the waves. Only Dudl