WIMMERA DISASTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 268, 1 August 1918, Page 5

WIMMERA DISASTER

OPENING OF THE INQUIRY QUESTIONS FOR THE COURT TO DECIDE SECOND..OFFICER'S EVIDENCE By Telegraph-Press Association. Auckland, ,'uly 31. The Wimmera inquiry was opened today. The notice of investigation set forth tho following questions lor ihe decision of the Court:—(l) Generally, what was or were I ho cause of the casualty?, (2) In particular, whether the casualty was due or.contributed to by negligence, wrong! ul act, default, or disobedience of the Admiralty instructions, or want of supervision of or by any person or persons on the shiu or elsewhere, and, if so, who were the" persons, etc., and what was the nature, of suchi negligenco etc.? (8) Could the casualty have Been avoided, and if so, how? Air. aiays, counsel for the Marine Department, ' in lus opening speech,, said it Viis quite evident tint.tho vessel was sunk by a moored mine. This would bo proved bv the export evidence of Captain Hait'-Thompsun. Mr. Mays alleged tuat the captain of the Wimmera departed from the course laid down by the Aamiraltv, and that tho fact of his doing so resulted in tho disaster, lie ' could not say what caused the captain tu depart from his instructions, but it appeared that there was no doubt he did so, and that ho went inside the limits of safety as laid down by the Admiralty. There wore no navigable dangers in the courso laid down by the latcer. Jt would only, at the outside,- have taken an hour longer than the course ho took while it would have assured safety. Daniel Ryan, Auckland manager for tho Huddart, Parker, Limited, said tho ship's! register was lost with her. The witness spoke to the captain' half an hour before sailing, but gave no instructions as to the course or the speed for tho voyage. Nothing was baid from which it might bo inferred that the ship should reach Sydney as quickly ns possible, nor was there anything connected with the passengers, the cargo, or the racehorses-in the ship that rendered a passage as quick as possible desirable. To Mr. M'Veagh: Neither lie nor uny member of the company in New Zealand hud ;...>• instruction as to the courso tho vessel : was to fullow. . No official information was given' him that, the master had -received Instructions from the Admiralty. So far as he was aware no shore representative of tho company had received such instruction. Captain Kcli had been in the service of the company for fifteen or eighteen yoars,. and during that period had been •found a trustworthy and reliable master. To Mr. Alexander: The vessel had beon billed to leave very much earlier than the hour at which she did leave.- Tho passengers had been on board, and they had been put off again. The departure was not a'hurried one. Instructions for departure were given for Monday evening at fivo o'clock, and then altered to ten o'clock the following morning'. Charles Frederick Wilson, second officer, of the Wimmera, and holder of a master's certificate, said a course was set to pass six miles eastward of Chicken Island, the course being north 18 degrees west magnetic. At i p'.ui. witness was relieved by the'chief officer. L T p to tho time of his. handing over the master had several times been on the bridge. The weather was fiuo and tho sea smooth, with a moderate west-south-west breozo. Witness passed the course on to the chief officer. At G p.m. witness relieved tho chief officer for dinner, and received tho samo courso, to pass 18 miles west of [ the Poor Knights, and then altered tho course to N. ?8 W. when tho lights were seven miles' distant. This was at 6.2(1 p.m. At 0.30 p.m.-witness was relieved by the chief officer, and remained oil' duty until midnight, when he replaced the third officer on tho bridge At that time the vessel was halfway between Capo Brett and North Cape. Tho courso received from the third officer was N. 71 W. magnetic, with orders to call the master when North Capo was sighted. The weather was then fine and clear, with.a. moderate sea. At 2.30 a.m. on Juno 5G witness had relieving tackle put on the rudder, in accord-.nce with instructions received from the master through tho third officer. This was dono in case bad weather was mot around the Capo. At 2.45 a.m. the Capo'was sighted, and witness whistled down 1 tho signal to the master, who he told that tho vessel wonll pass six or seven miles from ihe Cape. The master said, ' All right," and gave instructions to be called when the Cape was abeam. At 3.15 a.m. tho Cape- was abeam, Tienring south 19 west, and six miles oiV. This information was given to the captain, who ordered the course' to bo altered to N. 84 W. compass, or north 61 west magnetic. Orders for the chief, officer were from the captain that the vessel' was to pass seven miles outside the north-east Kings. The courso N. 81 W. would have taken tho vessel seven miles outside tho north-east Kings, and with a strong south-westerly wind the ship probably would have passed further out. Tho vessel's draught was 13ft. Din. forward and 13h. 2in. aft. At 4 .a.m. he turned in. He was awakened by an explosion, followed almost immediately by -another. There was about 13 seconds between tho explosions. ■ The vessel's ordinary speed in fair weather was twelve knots. Un this night at the North Cape she was making about l'i knots. Ihe southwest wind would mean probably a head sea, and there was a heavy swell. [ His impression of the explosion and the'! information, from passengers led linn to , believo the explosion was abatt the en- ; Fine-room. The engines were not d'amaged, but the main shaft was broken.. - The explosion was a muffled one. He detected a smell of gas fumes when tne . was getting the boats away. There were ; .30 drums of gas liquor on the well-deck , forward and some drums of chloride ot calcium od tne poop aft. He did not , think that \these in any way contributed to the explosion. He hnd- never seen the confidentnl instructions issued ly the Admiral ty to shipping masters. There was nothing to prevent them from taking a more northerly course on the night in question and getting round the Three Kings in safety. They carried the ; regulation lights at midnight, all the deck lights having been extinguished at 11 o'clock. There- were no skylights strongly lit from lights underneath. He did not observe the lights oi any other ship within the vicinity. , Did you see. any neropianes?—f>o. ■ Wn°«s had not had occasion to warn \ the helmsman to steer fine to counteract ' the effect of the wind and tide. The tide was close.to the flood, and he had heard that high tide would occur a 8 o'clock. At 3.15 am., after they la passed the Cane,-the wind and swell would have had more effect on the ship than the current. If the wind, and Iho swell were likely to set the ship off o course thev would make allowance . for leeway. This was not necessary up to 4 am /hut when-he returned to deck at 5.15 it was blowing.strong. . . Witness said that on a previous tr;p to Svdney a similar courso was steered, and sweepers were seen ship and the land. It was his second trip on the Wimmera, and the, course was not the usual course taken by the boat he was on previously. • • . , To Mr M'Veagh: They had "oyer had advice from the inine-sweopers that the course was not sv proper ono One sweeper had a wireless installation. Ho -did not know that on a previous 11 p fo Sydney complaint was made thai the vessel was in the wrong position. To Mr. Blomlield: Captain Kel wa-S one of the most capable officers he knew. Mr. Blomlield: What has been the practice of masters in the past in the-course followed between Auckland and Sydney i Mr. Mays objected to the question on tho ground that the witness could speak only from hearsay. It would bo proved that other-masters had transgressed the Admiralty instructions to their sorrow, though they still hnd their ships. Mr. Illomfield replied that ho stood not onlv for the late master of tho W nnmcr, but for other masters, and he suggested that if intelligent men, after receiving certain instructions, adopted a particular course, there was something to go before the Court as to Iho reason for it, especially as the Admiralty was aware of the fact Mr. Cutten Haiti if there wen: distinct instructions, surely it was possible to

say whether or not they had been carvied out. Mr. yiomfield said ns tho Admiralty had to prescribe the course it was iur the Admiralty to object to such a courso and prevent it. Mi. M'Veagh supported Mr. Blomfiold, saying that if tho authorities knew thnt vessels were travelling in the danger zone and did not warn them, it was an important matter affecting the culpability of the. masters of vessels. Eventually -Mr. Mays suggested that a test question should be put, the witness replying that lie had heard that other ship-i hiid gone over the same course. Cross-examined, witness said ho had drawn the captain's attention on the previous trip to the presenco of the sweepers. The hearing of evidence was adjourned,