WRECK OF THE DUNDONALD.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1691, 6 March 1913, Page 6

WRECK OF THE DUNDONALD.

MEMORIAL TABLET AT SEAMEN'S INSTITUTE. At the weekly sorv'co In the Seamen's Institute the opportunity was taken to inspect a memorial tablet recently erected in memory of Captain Thornburn, tho mate, and eleven members of the crew who perished in the wreck of tho fourmasted British barque Dundonald.

The story of the wreck ,is a thrilling one. The ship went ashore in a howling gale 011 the night of March •7, 1907, the crew 'numbering .28 all told, Fifteen men survived the terrible ordeal, and eventually reached the land on Disappointment Island, where' for nine months they existed in the face of great hardship and suffering before being finally rescued. The canvas boat which the men put together and in which they eventually reached an island where therp was a food dejiot, is an interesting -rclic now in the, Christchurch Museum.

The tablet is erected as. an expression of gratitude by Mr. Albert ltoberts, ono of the crew who survived. # It was designed by the seamen's missioner (Sir. W. E. Cocks) and placed' in the church with the sanction of the hon. chaplain, the Rev. A, M. Johnson, M.A. The design is essentially a nautical one, and is a replica of the ship's life-buoy, bearin,? tile name of the ship and its port of registration, with the o.wner's house ling 011 cither side. The buoy' is designed to form a frame surrounding a handsome circular brass tablet, on which arc ■ inscribed the references to the disaster, together with the captain's name, dale, and particulars, of the wreck. It forms a striking addition to the already interesting mementos which occupy places on the walls of the Missions to.Spamcn Clnirch, where visitors can see them at any time.