GIANT WAVE STRIKES WAHINE

Chronicle (Levin), 6 May 1947, Page 5

GIANT WAVE STRIKES WAHINE

-Press Association

PASSENGERS THROWN ABOUT IN UNUSUAL EXPERIENCE BURING EARTHQUAKE

By Telegraph-

WELLINGTON, May 6. Shortly aftfer 2 o'cloek yesterday afternoon,-when Wel1 lington was shaken by a mild earthquake, the Wahine, which „ was approaching the New Zealand coast from Sydney, was ' struck by a wave of such giant size that it put the promenade deck under water on the port side. Passengers were flung about in helpless confusion and six were treated by the ship's doctor for cuts and abrasions. Many cabins on the port side were swamped in two feet of water. ■ Beds and luggage were drenched and the occupants of the flooded cabins were accommodated last night in spare berths in other- parts of the ship or on shakedowns in the r.r\f?aa vnnm x

One woman left the ship this' morning with a wide plaster strip over her forehead, and another with plaster over her temple. A middle-aged woman had her legs taandaged in four places and a man was hobbling on a sprained ankle. There was no warning of the, wave. It struck suddenly when a medium sea was running. Was A Mighty Crash [ Mrs. Milburn, of the Bluff, who was returning from a holiday trip, said: "It was fairly rough, but suddenly there was a mighty crash and I was thrown off a settee in the coffee room right across the roonU on to people on the other side. A coffee table was smashed. We were] all in a helpless jumble and I hadl a bad fall. Several women were cut and badly bruised." Miss Priscilla Duff-Fife, of Rose Bay, Sydney, who was travelling with an aunt on holiday, said she was on deck. When the wave hit| she was thrown down, but managed to catch hold of something and hung on until the ship righted itself. Terrifying Ordeal Mrs. H. L. Edwar&s, formerly of Memourne, was on deck with her three children. All were flung right across the deck to the rails and back again. "Men grabbed , and held me, and then We collected the children," she said. "We were all wet from the water that flooded the

deck. It was terrifying." Mrs Edwards was travelling with he husband, a former Melbourn. policeman, who did traffic duty o. Princes Bridge over the Yarra, b~ Flinders Street station. He is ti ioin the force in New Zealand. Mr. H. J. Eatwell, of Paraparaumu, one of the New Zealanc "Diggers" who went to AustraliE. for the Anzac Day ceremonies, wa: seasick in his bunk when suddenly he was drenched by the wavi bursting through an open portholi on the port side. He was flung oi. to the floor in water up to his kneei and chased his shoes, which went floating down the passage. Captain's Story The master of the Wahine, Captain W. A. Grey, said: "We had an exceptionally heavy lurch, the heaviest ever experienced in thit "ship. Some passengers were throwr. out of their chairs and some acros, the deck. They say she put hei promenade deck under water. Captain Gray was in his roon abaft the bridge .when the wav struck. It was quite possible, h said, that the earthquake felt n , Wellington yesterday afternoon ex plained it. Years ago, off Gisborne he said he passed in a ship over th centre of an earthquake disturbance. The sensation was of heav bumps and he thought for the j moment that the ship had run 1 aground.