TOA'S DAMAGE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 35, 12 July 1939, Page 6

TOA'S DAMAGE

— O I BILGES SCARRED BADLY PLANKING TORN AWAY Badly scarred along the bilges, on which she apparently rolled heavily when strandod in the shallow water covering the bar of the Whakatane 1 liver, the Northern Steamship Company's motor vessel Toa towed by another vessel of the company's fleet the motor vessel Ranginui, limped up the Auckland Harbour in the early hours of Friday and was moored at the Northern, wharf until dawn when she was taken around to the shipbuilding yards in Freeman's Bay. There the vessel was hauled up on the slipway of Shipbuilders, Limited fore xamination. On Friday afternoon workmen started the work of pulling away the inner lining of the holds. Until this has been completed it is impossible to ascertain the exact damage suffered by the hull. .From the outside, damage on the starboard side appeared negligible, for the planking had been torn away only in three areas about two yards long. On the port bilge, however, the outer skin was torn away for practically the whole length of the hull. Weighing about 210 tons, the Toa is fairly flat.bottomed aficl this probably accounted for the points of dan age. Stranded on the Whakatam bar at 6.15 a.m. last Friday, the vessel was not floated off until tli£ afternoon tide, and during that time she must have rolled hea\ ily on th> bilges, particularly on the port side which showed much greater evidence of damage than the starboard. One blade of the two propellerwas broken off while the vessel wa* on the bar.