Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

ON FIRE AT SEA.

OIL CARGO EXPLODES. STEAMER MOA ABANDONED A FIREMAN KILLED. CREW UNABLE TO- LAUNCH THE BOATS. STORY OF THE SURVIVORS. (By i Teleffraph.—Special Correspondent.) Wanganui, February 2. A sensation was caused in town short1\ after ten o'clock this morning when tho news was telephoned from the C'astlecliff {pilot station that the wellknown coaster Moa, belonging to the Wellington Steam Packet- Co., was on lire in the. roadstead, five or six miles from "the entrance. ■': It.transpired that when coming up :to the entrance about 10. o'clock this morning a terrific explosion suddenly occurred in the after-hold,, in which , was stowed a. portion of the cargo,; which' consisted of 2400 odd'cases- of ' motor spirit, kerosene, benzine, and turpentine. Tho explosion killed one of the crew, and set fire tc the vessel practically from stem-to stern. ,Tho flames spread so rapidly thatthe crow.had practically no time to do anything but save themselves, and had to jump overboard, remaining in the water lor about half an hour, till picked up by the-steamer Arapawa, which fortunately was also coming into port. Fortunately, also, tho weather was 'calm, rendering the work of rescuo easy. . ; The Whole affair happened so sudtlenly that .there wa3 no time to turn Hie steam off, and for somo time the ) boat, circled round till the engines final- :' ly stopped,.. aiuf. she drifted about on tho tide, a mass of spouting' flames, . which reached mast-high: . !

Rescuing the Crew. '■• The unusual volume of smoke quickly attracted tho notice'of the pilot. staff, which . sent tho lighter Shamrock" out to assist. The steamer Huia and Ara- V pawa soon came up with the burning Bteamer,.and the ;Arap'awa's' boat was noticed picking the Moa's crew out of the water. Shortly after, a' series of explosions took place, causing the Huia, which, had como rather close, to hastily shift her position. By this time the. Moa was blazing over her whole length, and as'nothing could be done) the three Btcamers' left her to ,her fate. When last, seen late in tho afternoon the Moa appeared to be going ashore three or four miles down the' coast. She was still burning furiously, and it was nlmost"impossible to distinguish ■ her outlines,-; which wero enwrarjped *jn a tremendous' volume of' smoke and : flame..'. .-.,.-.-, ..;.'■■.

Tho Arapawa, after'picking up the crew,, stood for the entrance, and came straight .up.,; the river to /'the town wharf,-.with" flag at half-mast, she arrived Tat-11.30. Captain. Sawyer',- his officers and crew, were soon discerned onthe. steamer's deck; dripping'wet,- and showing ; evident traces of the . severe stress of the last hour and a half.

Captain Sawyer's first caroMvas to' get his injured man seen to by the doctor, and Dr..Wilson, who was awaiting the. steamer's''arrival;.: ' 'at' once"• went on hoard. The-man in question, Robert Nelson, one of tho Moa'is firemen, was found to be. rather severely burned on ihe left arm, and hand, and on.-the shoulders; besides being.'slightly", out about the head. First aid hfld already been rendered on the Arapawa, and Dr. Wilson, after examination,-.ordered him to tho hospital. 7 Members of-the crew; when asked ahout.„tJbo;pccuiTence, ..were not in-clined:'to-talk at first, partly; perhaps, in viaw of the official inquiry, but probnbly chiefly.'. 'because • the events moved so rapidly,., as- to leave little.to tell. From what, they'did say, however, it soon' became evident that tho disaster 'must haye happened with startling,suddenness. "-'Captain Sawyers's'Story.

Though' half' a' dozen people' were c ,' aim J n .S 'M 3 '. attention at onco,' Captain Sawyer spared a! moment'to give , a "Herald''- representative "a . brief account,,of. ;the''strenuous time through which lie and his crew had,passed. "How did it happen?'-' he exclaimed in answer to a reporter's query. "Well, she just blew up. We left Wellington at 7; o'clock last night with a cargo of benzine. At about 10. o'clock this morning when coming up to the iWanganui entrance and about six miles off it, the after-hatch suddenly blew up' nud in a minute or two hall the ship was in, flames." , '

"I suppose it was then a case of every man.' for. himself,','; said -tho ■• reporter. |■; ■•'■;■'■"'.'■ -"'','■

'•Well,'wo didn't lose our heads," replied the captain, "but thero was ro time for'anything but to get overboard. iWe'could not .launch the boats, because of the heat, and becauso they were taking fire, sal got the men overboard one by one on pieces of timber, aiidv lifebuoys, and we. wero,iii tho ■■water,for. about half an hour when'tho Arapa'wa's boat picked us up. There was no time to bring off tho body of the man who was killed, whose name was Win. Kennedy, a-.nativo of Ireland, aged about 30, and. who was killed outright.

The Injures Fireman Speaks, Robert 'Nolsou,. of , Wellington, fireman, who was injured, >as seen by a reporter' iii the Arapawa's cabin. He appeared .to bo taking' his hurts very philosophically, but when asked to give an account of tho.affair said tho whole matter happened so .suddenly that there was very little to say. "Something hit mo and nearly stunned me, but I was able to climb up on deck and jump overhoard. The fire spread like lightning, and _tho< heat was terrific; Wo were afraid it L would spread to the fore hatch, and all had to jump for it."

A Rudo Awakening. 'Another fireman, Wm. Higgins, of Wanganui, who lias served on the Moa for 23 years only as ho Baid "to leave hor like',.that," also gavo his account. "I was asleep in my herth', "when I was awakened by it being blown to pieces. I went up on deck, hut was unable to get for'ard to where they wore trying to launch the boat. Thinking I might as well be blown up'as drowned I went below again and'got a lifebuoy from our quarters. Down thoro a,second small explosion occurred, and I got back to the dcck)again and jumped over." Both officers and crew lost everything but what thoy stood up in, which, in somo case 3, amounted to nothing but a pair of pants and a jorsey. What makes their loss still more severe- is that they wero paid their wages and bonuses yesterday, and these too' have gone with other belongings. Wm. Kennedy, the member of the crew who was killed, was sitting on the nf tor-hatch when the explosion blew the deck up under him, killing him instantly. A preliminary inquiry into the disaster will' be hold at the Customs Office to-morrow morning.

STATEMENT BY A PASSENCER. THE EXPLOSION AND AFTER, 11)7 'relejrrttpfe—Pr«o» AnscdaUmJ ; .''■'"Wanganul.'February 8. ■Mr. 0. E. Mackay, ex-Mayor of Waasanui, was a passenger aboard the

Arapawa,. and his narrativo of the occurrence is as uiider:—"The fire broke out about 9.30 a.m. The Arapawa had had a very good run from Wellington and arrived off the Heads at 8 o'clock. As the tide was too low to bring tho Arapawa up to the town wharf the engines were stopped and she was drifting about three miles off the bar.

"Suddenly the noise of an explosion was heard. ■ I thought it was a gun, but the mate deolared it was a signal. Captain Thomson and the > mate then took a look at the Moa, which was lying about a mile away. Nothing was noticeable for 'a minute or .two, but then smoke, coulct be seen rising, followed by a burst of flame.

Full Steam to tho Rescue, ''The order was immediately given, .'Full steam ahead 1' followed with another to lower tho lifeboat. It was a treat to see the way the crew handled tho boat. Tn a moment it was lifted off the blocks, the davits were moved out, and she was lowered into tho water. Meanwhile the Arapawa was racing at full speed towards the Moa, towing the lifeboat. "It could now be seen that the flames had spread so fast that the Moa's crew could not lower the boats. Thoy could be observed throwing bunks and pieces of wood overboard. Several jumped into the water, while the remainder clustered forward. . "By this time the Moa was all ablaze astenv, and as the engines could not be stopped she was steering in a circle. Picking up the Survivors. • "The Arapawa first reached three men clinging to a gangway. Lifebuoys were thrown to them and they were picked up. The Arapawa had now approached so close to tho burning vessel that the heat was oppressive. "The lifeboat was then cast loose ■and the men clinging to the forward /part of the Moa were told to jump. One by one they dived into the sea, and as soon as they had drifted astern of the Moa thoy were picked up. "One proved to bo rather severely burned. Three men were still afloat some half a mile .away clinging to buoys, and the Arapawa immediately raced to them, and they were soon got aboard. This accounted for all the crow except the one' who had been killed. , "It -was now seen that, the alarm had been given,on shore as tho lighter Shamrock was already across the- bar heading for the scene.. The Arapawa was headed for the entrance as soon as all the men were picked up\" Mr.MacEay says tho officers and men of both vessels behaved with greatest coolness. . . "•■':, The flames on the Moa could be,seeu from the shore rising up as high as the top of tho masts. l

The Crew, of the Moa. The crew of the Moa comprised:— W. A. Sawyers, captain.; R. Bead, mate; E. Greenwood, first engineer ;'W. Higgms and R. Nelson,, firemen; W. Kennedy (killed), A.8.; W. Bannatyne, 0.5.; J. Giffney and C. M'Alinder, seamen ; Lavin, cook; and A. Alexander, 'cabin boy. • At 2.45 the vessel was still blazing, the flames reaching above the funnel. The masts were still standing. Tho vessel is drifting in 6hore, and is now about half a mile from the beach, two miles, south of the breakwater. The; unfortunate man Kennedy, who was killed, only signed on the steamer's articles in Wellington on Friday last. ■ Higgins, who is. a fireman on the vessel, has worked on the Moa consistently.for'the past.2s years. ■■»•.-■

THE CRAND FINALE. TERRIFIC EXPLOSION. . (By '■ Telejraph.-P/oas Association.) Wanganul, February 3. So far as can bo ascertained, the hull of the Moa is still floating off the beach to the south of the entrance. During the. whole .day large volumes of smoke were 1 emitted, together with flames,' which leaped mast-high. There was a magnificent spectacle about 8 o'clock, when a terrific explosion took place, apparently amidship. This was followed by a wonderfully brilliant crimson light, which lit up,the sea and land for miles around. This, was apparently tho grand finale, for the flames seemed to die out shortly afterwards, and absolutely disappear at 10 o'clock,

MOA'S CARGO. 'A TANK OF CASE OIL. The cargo shipped in ■Wellington by the Moa was sufficiently largo and inflammable to have blown a liner up. It consisted of the following lines:— 844 cases of, kerosene, 15,000 cases of motor spirit, 75 cases of turpentine, 22 cases of benzine, and 25 tons of wire, staples ; and nails. The whole of tho case oil was shipped from Wellington bv the Vacuum Oil Company to its agents in Wiiigauui. The oil was part of a shipment brought td Wellington by the steamer "Volga. :The hardware cargo was ex the Karamea and was consigned to Thos. Thain and Co., Wanganui. ' The company carries,-its own insurance on coastwise case oil. The steamer' -Moa, which is owned by the Wellington-Wanganui Steam Packet Company (of which company Mr. Charles Seager is the principal shareholder, and Messrs. Johnston and Co., local agents) is uninsured. ".

' .».' HER EARLY DAYB. ■/•■Tho Moa was built (or put together) ■at Lyttelton in the year 1864, her dimensions being: Length, 118 ft. 9in.; beam, 18ft.; d»pth, Bft. 6in. Her gross tonnage was 185; In the 'seven-. ,ties the Moa was used in the wool trade 'at. Lyttelton.--She used to bring the .the wool from Woolston, and carry it ;nut to the Home steamers. Later, and for many years she was engaged in lightering sailing ships in conjunction with tho steamers Gazelle and Mullogh. The Gazelle was lost, it is understood, some years ago whilst engaged in an expedition for tho General Grant gold.' The Mullogh is still "alive," and is at present engaged in the trawling industry at Lyttelton. For the past twenty-fivo years the Moa'has been running in the Wellington-Wanganui and West Coast service.

The Moa is particularly well known amongst tho shipping fraternity in Wellington, though she only visits Port Nicholson when there is a particularly heavy rush of cargo for tho West Coast ports. Usup.lly she Is engaged in tho coal trade between Westport and Wanganui, Foxtop, and New Plymouth. Since she was first constructed at Lyttclton fifty years ago, by Mr. B. Phillins, tho Moa has boon lengthened. When the idea of enlarging her was first mooted, it was not taken seriously, but tho work was done, and for half a century sho has continued to do good service..

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19140204.2.89

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1975, 4 February 1914, Page 8

Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,163

ON FIRE AT SEA. Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1975, 4 February 1914, Page 8

ON FIRE AT SEA. Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1975, 4 February 1914, Page 8

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert