CAPTAIN'S EVIDENCE IN WANGANELLA INQUIRY

Chronicle (Levin), 26 February 1947, Page 5

CAPTAIN'S EVIDENCE IN WANGANELLA INQUIRY

■Press Associaiion o

By felegrarJi—

WELLI'N CrTON, 25. VaTi'atibns- between the eb-airt's' of C'o o-k Strajt m4 of Port Nichol'son wliich wonl'd' pilt a ship enfering* liafbouT a mife to the' westward' of lier proper course, were mentioned in evidence' by Ca-pt.am R. Darroch, master of the' lO'OOOdon liner Wanganell-a wliich beeame stranded at 1-1.35 p.m. on danu-ary 19', at Bam-ett's Reef. He' agreed, however, that a note on the CToolt StTait chart dmv attentinn to tlVe correetibn necessary of 50 seconds of lfongitude when entering Port N'icholson. A variation in tlie penodicity of the fl'ashin-g light on the Barret.t 's Reef bnoy was also alleged by Captain .PaiToC'h compaTed! with th-e' six-second interval mentioned. on the eliart.

Mr. A. M. G-oulclig, S.M., is presiding over tlie hearing,. which began today. With him as marine assessors are Captains J. Kankine and A. T.- Norton. Dr. N. A. Foden, with hini Oaptains Leona-rd Robertson (.Superintendent of Mercantile Marine, Well'ington), and W. Whiteford, appeai for tlie Department. iir. C. A. L. Treadwell is representing Captain Darroch, and other counsel are Dr. O. C. Mazengarb, undm instructions from the Shipping Officers G-uildy for the Wanganelia's officers; Mr. J. F*. B. Stevenson for the Welling ton Harbour Board; and Mi\ G. G. G. Watsou, for the owners, the Hud'dart ■Parker Company, Limited. The questions for investigations are: 1. What was the cause of the .casualty? 2. Was the casualty -caused or eon trib'uted to by the wrongful act of the master or any of the officers or erew: 3. Was the vessel navigated with due care on ' approaching Port Nicholson Harbour? Dr. Foden called Captain Robertson who produeed the Wanganelia's chart.--

of Cook btrait and Port Nicholson, th-. echometer sounding record, aird othe: .documents and books relevant to-thi inquiry. Evidence by Clem. C. Richardsou senior engineer-surveyor of the port was that his examination of the ship showed that between the bow and the bridge 106 plates in the hull were damag'ed, 100 of which would have to be reUewed. He then wrotc down for t*he 'Court, as is the custom. at such pro ceedings, his estimate of -the minimuiu cost of recommissioning tlie ship. CaptaiU' s EVi'aence ; Captain D'arroch said t'hat the Wan ganell'a l'eft Sydney at .12.25 p.m. on January 16 and the weather was finr througlrout the vovage. Karori Rock was passed at 10.43 p.m. on January 10 at a distance, beaiing Soutli 34 Eas, magnetic. Soon afterwards, the shi ■•Nteered E by S magnetic until Pen • earrow low light was NE nvag-netic. Easy port helm was tlien applied to bring the ship up to the leading lights towards Somes Islahd. When slve hui. been brought' round t'o the line o'i lights, witli two tfashing lights ahead her direyt'ion was N 2 W magnetic. They approached the first light in ront'ormity With the standard course eaid Captain Darroch, but it was found ont afterwards that they were not oi. a eorrec-t course. ' ' What we took to be the two lead ing lights turned out not to be them,' said the witness. . Dr. Foden: Do yott agree that yo rtiade a- mistake at that juaeture? Witness: No*. It did" not appear V be a mistake at that juneture, aecord iug to the chart and eompasses I .wa usi'ng. Tn tne result, was there a mistake ?- No. Thei'e was a definite error in. th. eharts, an error ecpial to a mile o. long'itude. To ,Mr- Goulding, the witness said that there was a variation of a mih from the Cook Strait to the Port Nieh olson Admiral ty eharts. ; Mr. oGul'ding: Is that of any navi gational signifieanee? Witness: Of direct signifieanee. It means t'hex differenc-e between safet*. and .(langefV;.; It woiild pface a shi] further west than the aetua'l positio. of tlie reef. Dr. Foden: Do* you suggest that that mistake would throw your vessel of'C b a mile? — "I was not as- much out as a mile. ' ' All the positious 011 the chart arstill relativelv correct ?■ — "No. W6teer up on the Cook fttrait chart tu the entrance of the port. You asses •uur course on that. You dou 't com into the area- of the Port Nicholson chart until you're well up. " Actually, you thought you weta- - entering the port 011 the lights? — Yes, and by my compass. Check on Charts When ha-s this ama-zing diseover\ about the chart variation taken place — Some time in the last. tWo weelcs. Wi found on ehecking that tliey did nO' correspond. The positions are traUSferred' from 'one chart to the other loy bearings and . distances ?: — Y es. i This is a very sefious thiUg. You jsay that those charts were no good?— Th ev are rather d'angerous. When Di'. Foden a'slced whether the witness meant that in all seriousness Mr. Ti'eadwell objUcfed'. Mr. (Touldinp -onsidered the question proper. Dr. Fod'en asked' wliether the wit ness had' seen the* note on the Cook , Strait chart rega-rding the error in , rpngit'ude. > j Captain Darroch read from a eliart ,a note which he said did not specify jany distanee. Dr. Fod'en pointed to ■ fehe bottom note,. which he said showed ifchafc longitude should be diminishedby 5G seconds . for tran-stferring to tlie 'Port Nicholson chart. ; Witness said' he had been awai'6 of that, feut bdd' been navigating on tlie iCook Strait chart which would place 'liim iil tbe entrance of th-e harbour 50 jeecond's of longitude west of position.He had not' actually been as far Ves* as that. He said he had been coming to New Zealand and Port Nicholson off and ■onv sometimes- for long periods, since 1904^ but had! nof b'efore experienced'

the danger in all" those years. He' did not know whether it was a- danger known to other masters. On J anU'ai'y 19 he* had relied on a cliarted course for entering the harbour. No Frevious Danger He liad also* used what ku took to be the leading lights and his compass. tn all' pfevioUs visits he ha'd: foiiowed the direetiOns laid d'own for entering harbour but they had' not previoUsly led him, into danger. Dr. Foden produeed a NaUtieal Almanac which at page 119' ga've dift'erences in Latitude and longitude of the Dominion eoast eharts, .and asked what points of lead common to ffioth the witness had used. Captain Darroch: I used Pened-rrow dight and what I took to be the first leading light.Dr. Foden: So that in the result you took the buoy right on the reef instead1* of the first leading light? — Yes. When you approached the first light ■ that you steer by, which we now know' ko be the buoy light, did you make any" remark to the fourth offieer? — Yes, 1 reiharked that there should be a buoy toThe westward. Witness added that he worked' Dy Admiralty Sailing Directions. He had not a New Zealand Nautical Almanac for the period since tlie ship was i'ast1 in New Zealand. He had refreshed his memory by looking up other information before entering the harbour. The buoy light was marked on his chart. • Dr. Foden: Did you « check on the charaeter of the lights? — The buoy light was at variance with the chart. It was flashing at tirnes every three seconds instead of every six. • Captain Darroch said that he considered the six seconds mentioned should be taken to mean six seconds between flashesv Whiie lying at the reef they had noticed' a variation from the st'ated six seconds. He had refreshed his memory in respeet of Ihe from leading light before entering. It was a two-second fiasli. This he took to mean two seconds from flash to flash— ,two seconds darkness and two seconds light. , . i Dr. Foden told the Court that he did not propose to question Captain- Dar!d'oeh regarding his- actions after the 'ship struelr. " I ari prepared to say on behalf of t-he Ruperintendent of M'ariue that everything was done wjtlv the u tmost effieiency and tlve eonduct of all concerned refl'ected' great ered'it on them." Captain Darroch said that liis last eyesight test j.n January showed that his eyesight had improved partic.Uiarly as regards long distance. He had had ;no drink that night. ■ Captain Darroch said he had never ffiothered with a pilot on entering Wellington although on one or two oeeasions during- the war a pilot had been employed to bring the ship along side. . v To his counsel (Mr. Treadwell) Captain Darroch said he had had 54 years' service at sea and' never had an accident in that time. The Barrett's Reef buoy was a whistle buoy but it remained quiet on the night of the stranding eveif with a southei'ly wind coming up. With Captain Darroch on the bridge on the night of the stranding :was the Chief offieer, he said; ■ The extra third offieer was at the forecastle head and there was also a lookout nian. To Dr. Mazengarb Captain Darroch • sai'd that navigation was his resppn , !sibilit'y. Up to about ' .11' p.m! the fourth offieer who was on the wateh was navigating under the captain 's diree(tion. After pa'ssing Karori Rock the captain took over the navigation personally. . At 11.25 he asked the fourth offieer to "standby" which took him to duties at the forecastle head. Dr. Foden interrupted to say that nothing had been discovered that would -be adverse to the interests of the officers. Captain Darroch, continuing, said had the reef buoy shown a colourcd light it would have prevented it .being mistakeh as a leading light. To Mr. Watson, Captain Darroch saiM the WaUganella had been a Well-equip ped ' ship. Thomas Fleming Gibson, who was fourth offieer on the Wanganella, sai'd that he was on tlie bridge from 8 p.m. •until 11.30 p.m.- It was a queer night. He had not entered the harbour On fhe ■ bridge' previously. It was the general practice as was done in this case for the master to take ovei going. into port.