Launching Catalpa

On April 29, 1875, Catalpa sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts. On board was John Devoy, mastermind behind a plot to rescue a group of Irish freedom fighters from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia. A safe distance out, the ship weighed anchor and waited for morning to sail. That evening, Devoy dined with Captain George Smith Anthony aboard Catalpa - they had hard tack, salt beef and cheese. It is easy to imagine how pregnant that meal must have been with the hopes and fears of a decade of disappointment and loss. Devoy was wracked with guilt over the prosecution and sentences handed down to his brothers in arms. Anthony knew he was being trusted with Devoy’s own burden.

That evening, Devoy rowed back to New Bedford, watching Catalpa grow fainter in the evening gloom, and hoping beyond all hopes that his trust in Anthony was well-placed.