THE VOLTURNO.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1924, 5 December 1913, Page 5

THE VOLTURNO.

WIRELESS AND SEAMANSHIP,

STORY OF PLUCK AND DISCIPLINE. Out of the mass of detail in the messages from correspondents and stories of eye-witnesses it has now become possible (says the "Spectator") to construct something like a connected account of tho burning of the emigrant ship Volturno, a- disaster of mid-Atlan-tic which lias been surpassed in horror in recent times only by tho sinking of the Titanic. The Volturno is u ship belonging to Iho Canadian Northern Steamship Company, which was leased t) the Uranium Company, and she left llotterdam on Thursday", October 2, carrying 057 passengers and crew. On tho morning of October 9 Captain Barr, of tho Cunard liner Carmania, received a wireless messago from tho Volturno sa\iug that she was on fire and asking for assistance, and giving her position as latitudo 48.25 and longitude 3-1.33 west. On receiving tho call Captain Barr put on extra stokers, Increased his speed from eighteen to twenty knots, and in the teeth of a gale from the south-west reached the Volturno a little before neon. But having done so he found himself almost helpless. Tho seas \!erc running so high that tho Volturno's propellers were again and again 'lifted clear from tho water, and to launch boats in tho ordinary way was impossible. Captain Barr mado tho attempt; ho launched a lifeboat in charge of his first officer,' Mr. Gardner, with a crow of six able seamen and three stewards, but though they did their best their boat was swept away by the seas, five out of their eight oars were broken, and they could do no more than strugglo back to the Carmania — in itself a wonderful feat of seamanship—and it was only with difficulty that they were got on deck again.

| The Carmania's Part. | The Volturno, for her part, had already tried what could be done with her boats, and before tho Carmania arrived had launched six, of which four had been broken up at onco by the waves and two had got away',-but these two were never found, and evidently shared tho fato of the others. Unablo to pick up tho missing boats, and prevented by tho heavy seas from taking off passengers from tho Volturno in boats of his own, it must have seemed to Captain Ban- at this stage that tho fato of tho burning vessel was only a matter of time. But he had done more than merely go to tho assistance of the Volturno himself. As soon as he got the Volturno's summons he sent out wireless messages to all ships in tho neighbourhood, informing them of the Volturno's plight and giving her position, and ho had also sent out a general messago inquiring if there was a tank steamer carrying oil anywhere in tlio radius. It was these messages which wero eventually tho means of saving tho men and women remaining on the Volturno. Tho first ship to come up in answer to the Carmania's call was the, Seydlitz, which arrived at halfpast threo in tho afternoon, and soon afterwards came tin; Grosser Kiirfurst. At six o'clock tho Kroouland came up, and sho was followed at intervals during the Thursday night and early Friday morning by tho Minneapolis, La Touraiue, the Knppahaunock, the Devonian, and tho Czar. But tho arrival of tlieso steamers meantf no moro immediate help for tho Volturno than had been or could bo afforded by tho Carmania. Tho Carmania, splendidly manoeuvred in the driving seas by Captain Barr,"had backed herself to within a hundred feet of tho Volturno's stern, where the passengers stood huddled together, too frightened, according to ono of the oye-witnesscs, even to notice what was happening. But he could do no more; it was impossible 1o pass a lino or for tho line to ha -o held if it had been passed, and there was imminent danger of tho sea hearing him against tho other ship. He had to stand off again, and from a position to windward suggested to tho.captain of tho Volturno that ho should fasten lifelines and life-buoys together, so that if he had to abandon his ship tho Carmania could drift down upon them and so have the best chance of picking up those adrift. It must have been a hard message to send, but the other steamers as" they camo up found themselves equally helpless. Tho Grosser Kurfurst tried iicr boats, and so did the Minneapolis; each attempt was beaten back, and tho ships were fortunate to savo their boats' crews. Eventually tho situation becamo simply ono of waiting; and there in tho night, in mid-Atlantic, was to bo seen tho grimmest and most wonderful spectacle in the whole history of our mci-cantilo marine—the doomed Volturno blazing from her fore part, with her five hundred passengers crowded to her storn, rolling helpless in tho seas of a south-west gale, and round her in a ring the lighted hulls of nine steamers, large and small, which had boon driven at their highest pressure by their captains from hundreds of miles away in answer to tho searching, wandering call of "wireless" ; all nine of them with the best will to givo any help ono ship can givo another, and all of them powerless.

Oil on the Waters. It was by weans of "wireless" and through the seamanliko forethought of Captain Barr that help came at last. Soon after Captain Barr had sent out his general message inquiring if an oil-tank steamer was in .the radius, he was answered by tho Narragansett, whose .captain replied that ho would arrive at eight a.m. tho next morning. He was better than his word; ho carno at lull steam, and soon after seven o'clock' on Friday morning was pouring ton after ton of oil on tho waves rag-' ing past tho Volttirno. The effect must have been extraordinary, for all the ships we:'o able to lowc" their boats and to row up to tho Volturno's stern, from which tho passengers wero lowered by baskets and life-lines. Captain Inch of tho Volturno, having satisfied hinisell that no one was left on tho shiphe knew the watch below had been burned alivo some hours before—came over tho side with the ship's papers, and by eight o'clock in tho . morning ,321 out of the 647 who had sailed in the Volturno eight days before had been transferred to the steamers waiting by. Tho Cannania alone took over no"passengers, for a good and sufficient reason. She alone had a full searchlight apparatus, and Captain Barr had stood off in order to give bis searchlight full play, and to direct the operations of the other ships. Moro than olio episode among the attempts at rescue, or rescues achioved, islands out from the full story of perseverance, plunk, and discipline. The management of the lifeboat by Mr. Gardner lias already been mentioned. Another fine performance was the work of the crew of ono of tho boats of the Minneapolis. . Captain Haskor, of tlio Minneapolis, gave orders about midnight that a boat should bo launched, ami JFirst-Olficcr Bobison was put in' charge of volunteers. whole crew volunteered; Mr. Robison chose six, and rowed towards tho burning ship. When they got to within thirty yards of tho stern thoy called to tho passengers to jump, but nono would do so." Tho boat's crew,'half blinded bv the smoke, lay to, and, finding that they sou Id do nothing, tried to make tho* Minneapolis again, but after their Iniirr struggle seemed unlikely to do so. Captain Barr, with his searchlight, Inwovcr. saw what was happening, and drifted down to them with life-lines;

meanwhile the seas had taken away the boat's rudder. Tho crew were one be one hauled up, completely exhausted; last of all, -Mr. Hobison, with ttie lif<(-li;ne cwl.y just placed under Ms arms, was hurled by a heavy sea into tho water, while at tho same iirae the boat was smashed to pieces against the t'armnnia's. side;_ the first oliicer was pulled in unconscious.

A Gallant Seaman. Another gallant achievement was that of two seamen named Hoighway and Garvev, who went into the water after a 'Herman passenger named 'J'rintepohl, ami who were a quarter of an hour trying to get hold ot the drifting man. 'J'ho wireless operator of tho'Voltwiio, again, appears to have .sent out liir. messages (hiring the whole time that the ship was burning "as it lie had liceu on a shore station." But it is perhaps better to look at the rescue as a whole, rather than to single out individuals when there were so many volunteers and so much was done by ,-.il. The disaster is one of the greatest of recent calamities at sea. But it would have been far more terrible if it had not been for tho possibilities of "wireless" aided by seamanship; and tho consolation remains that though tho sufferings of the. survivors may have been and may still lie great, and though the, list of tho dead must be long, the rescuo of the Volturiio has added one more record of courage, endurance, and comradeship to the annals of our own marine and tho skips of other nations who worked with them.