On October 24, 1886, Normanton Incident occurred that all the 25 Japanese passengers on board of the ship were drowned; although Drake was accused of drowning the passengers, he was found not guilty by the British consul Troup of the consulate of Kobe, under the judgement of the consular jurisdiction.
1886年10月24日、ノルマントン号事件が発生、日本人乗客25名全員を溺死させた罪に問われたが、領事裁判権により在日神戸英国領事ツループから無罪判決を下された。