WRECK OF THE STRATHCONA

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2524, 27 July 1915, Page 6

WRECK OF THE STRATHCONA

' FURTHER DETAILS OF THE : MISHAP. (By Tclerrflpl—Special Correspondent.! Auckland, July 26. Further particulars of tho wreck of the Strathcona, the> Pacific Cable Board's schooner, came by mail from Suva to-day. . Before the marine inquiry in Suva, the captain of tho Strathcona stated that the weather for a day or two after leaving Auckland was bad, but he did not ascribe Ills mishap to that, , but to his compasses. At 7.20 o'clock on the evening of Juno 10 he had just worked out his position as 29 miles from Minerva Reef, when tho' mate gave a sudden alarm, and the vessel struck on what afterwards .prpved to be Minerva Reef. They remained aboard the ship on top of the reef that night, and next morning dragged, tho boats a considerable distanco over the .reef into the lagoon. Afterwards they built a''largo raft,' on which they placed a stove, and erected a tent, and eight men took up quarters there, while tho captain and four mon undertook tho perilous voyage of somo hundreds of miles to Ono in a launch. They were picked uo by tho search steamer , as already described, when returning fr<6n Ono with.' a cutter. Tho eight other men spent an unenviable time on the reef, where they had plenty of supplies and fish. When tho search steamer left, the Strathcona was lying on her side on the reef, and likely to become a total wreck.