A CAPTAIN who lived a life of adventure on the ocean waves lies buried far from the sea in Leominster. Joseph Jackson survived shipwreck, hurricanes and spine-chilling brushes with icebergs.

A member of the Leominster Moravian Church congregation, the captain was nearly 80 when he died in 1942 and was buried in the grounds of the historic South Street church.

His mariner father drowned at sea. It seems a great wonder that Jackson survived his own time on the briny to enjoy retirement with his family around him. Disaster struck after he first left Leominster to go to sea aged 14 in 1877.

He joined the crew of a square-rigged ship which was destroyed by fire while approaching Jakarta on Christmas day - the vessel was burnt to the water's edge and all cargo was lost.

Jackson went on to become a respected skipper in some of the world's most perilous waters. His extraordinary story is told in Ships With a Mission by Leominster author Brian Demaus.

Jackson became master of the Christian mission ship, Harmony V, a sail and steam barque, the smallest steamer of its times to regularly sail the Atlantic.

Mr Demaus is a former naval officer who served on the North Atlantic convoy escorts in WW2. He got to know the waters of Newfoundland sailed by Jackson in an earlier era - when much was uncharted.

From 1770 until 1926 the Moravians sent ships to their mission stations in Labrador and the book looks at the 12 vessels involved. Eleven relied on sail and only five were built specially for arctic service.

There is a special focus on Jackson, master of the last. He stayed at Harmony's helm for 25 years and vividly described the hazards.

In 1914, two years after Titanic sank, Harmony was heading for its own cold mountain. "At daybreak a berg was seen two miles away. It was soon evident that the ship was being carried slowly but surely for it," wrote Jackson.

"We got steam on the engines, but all to no purpose. All hands were called on deck in case it might be necessary to abandon ship. For four hours we waited. When the ice was only about 50 yards from us the ship swung round with the ice clear. We all breathed more freely. The berg was about 150 feet high and half a mile long."

Another time Jackson gripped the wheel during "a very rough journey" from Makkovik to St John's. "We encountered a hurricane, with thick snow and had great difficulty in keeping clear of icebergs. I never spent a more anxious night on the bridge."

Grateful passengers wrote in a Newfoundland newspaper of "blinding snow and sleet...and the greater danger of the hundreds of icebergs surrounding us. We concluded that the end must surely come."

Jackson and his sailors were "heroes" whose seamanship, nerve and perseverance brought their battered ship safely into port.

Ships With A Mission, £12.50, is available by post from A.B.Demaus, The Hop House, Stagbatch Farm, Leominster.