History’s Great Escapes: The Catalpa Rescue of 1876

Thomas Darragh, one of six Fenians to escape during the Catalpa rescue

This incredibly impressive escape happened more than a 140 years ago, back when Australia was still considered one big giant jail for the British Empire’s undesireables. As much as we’d like to see an escape game made out of the Catalpa’s story, there are far too many moving parts and unbelievable scheming needed to make this a room anyone could break in 45 minutes or less.

Let us elaborate.

In the 1860s, the British sent dozens of members of the Irish Republic Brotherhood—otherwise known as Fenians, who were fighting for Ireland’s independence—to what was then the penal colony of Western Australia. A few of the Fenians managed to escape from Australia and several others were eventually granted pardons. Yet by 1876, there were still six men imprisoned—but they were not going to let their story end there.

One of the prisoners, James Wilson, managed to smuggle a letter out of Australia and to one of his escaped brothers who now was living exiled in New York. Upon receiving the letter, John Devoy and his fellow Fenians masterminded a rescue plan that would go down in history as one of the greatest prison escapes ever.

Escape of Fenian convicts from Fremantle, Western Australia, engraving

They bought a three-masted whaling vessel called the Catalpa, and, on April 29, 1875, they left New Bedford, Massachusetts, with 22 sailors onboard—who were none the wiser of their true mission. There would be no whaling done on this ship.

Instead, they pointed themselves toward Australia—relying on their own navigational skills to get them there, since they learned too late that their navigational tools were broken.

After dropping anchor in international waters, the rescuers assumed fake identities, managing to: 1) become chums with the Governor of Western Australia; 2) get an official tour of the prison where their friends were; and 3) organize the destruction of all the telegraph lines in the area that would otherwise spread word of their daring escape.

Not bad, right?

Nearly one year after they had left the USA, the day of the escape arrived: April 17, 1876. One rowboat chase and several cannon shots later, the six remaining Fenians were aboard the Catalpa. Though the authorities gave chase, the Fenians informed them that any attack would be considered a hostile action against the entire country of America, since they were in international waters.

Beaten by their own rules, the police backed off and the Catalpa headed for the Indian Ocean.

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