The Catalpa Adventure: Escape to Freedom

In April 1875 the whaler Catalpa sailed from New Bedford, USA, on a daring mission: to rescue six Fenian prisoners from the toughest prison in Western Australia. The Irishmen had been convicted of treason against the British Queen and were considered traitors. Fearing for their lives, they wrote to comrades in America, pleading to be rescued. On Easter Monday 1876, the prisoners made their bid for freedom. After a hair-raising dash to the coast, they scrambled into a rowing boat which would take them to the waiting Catalpa. But the prisoners’ ordeal wasn’t over - the alarm had been raised. A race against time ensued. Would the prisoners reach sanctuary before they were captured? Was the escape doomed to failure? This is the story of that rescue attempt, a story of courage, endurance and daring, an exciting and thrilling sea story.