QUEEN OF THE SOUTH ASHORE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 194, 12 May 1919, Page 6

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH ASHORE

ON A REEF AT CAPE CAMPBELL lUlrtli woa rfcAKMi CREW BROUGHT TO WELLINGTON. The coastal steamer Queen of the South struck a reef south of Cape Campbell early 'on Saturday morning. All of the crew wore saved, but it: is stated that thero is practically no chance of recovering the vessel, and only a slight hope of salving the cargo. Leaving Wellington at 11 o'clock on Friday night for Lyttelton, the Queen of the South was enveloped iii a very thick foa before she was out of the harbour. When passing Pcncarrow only the lower light was faintly visible. , The sea in Cook Strait was covered, too, with the low-lying, heavy.mist. ■ The-master of the ship,(Captain J. R. Owen) set a course that would taka his vessel ten miles to the westward of Cape Campbell, mid was. relieved on dho bridge by the mate (Mr. F. Lawton). As was his usual praotice when at sea, Captain Owen rested in his-cabin fully dressed. ■ with the lamp burning, so that he could bo on the bridge at a moment's notice in case of accident. At 5.30 a.m. lie was awakened by tho vessel shuddering as if she had'struck some submerged object. Ho rushed on deck, and found that,the ship was hard and fast. The male reported that there, was no ( responding movement to .the reversing of'tho engines given nt' the first feeling of the 'impact Everything was obscured by the fog. The coastline could not be seen, nor was there anything to give them an idea as to where they were. The.revolving bright white light standing 155 ft. above the sea at Cape Campbell was not perceptible, although' it was only one and a quarter miles northcast of the scene of the wreck, and has in clear weather a range of twenty 'miles.

Water was soon found pouring into the engine-room, and Captain Owen gave instructions that all hands were to take to the boats? The sea was as calm as a mill-pond,' and until daylight the two boats ,hung-to a short distance from the vessel. With the breaking of day the locality was picked Tp, and tho boats .-were, steered to the coast, three-quartere of a mile away. A landing was. made and Captain Owen walked to the lighthouse, and from there got into telephone communication with, the Blenheim b"ranch of, Messrs. Levin and Co. . • Blenheim was ihen not astir for the day, but eventually, the news of the accident was received at the right source, and forwarded , on to Wellington, where it came to hand shortly after 9 a.m. Messrs. Levin and Co. sent instructions to Captain Wills, of the Wakatu v . at Lyttelton, telling him to'proceed at once to Cape Campbell and assist in any way he could. >'

The Wakatii got'under way at 1 p.m. , , and reached the Queen of the South early yesterday morning, Captain Wills went off to the stranded .vessel in a ship's boat, and saw that'she was in a. dangerous position, on the end of a.reef. Lying on an even keel, in what is literally a gutter of rock, the' (}ueon of the South is full of water, at high tide there ■being two feet of water above the hatches. The forepart, as far as the engine-room, i 3 firmly held, but the after-part is overhanging'deep water'. On both eides the'water is shallow.iu comparison. There, was hardly any sea' running at the time the Wiik'atti was anchored about a quarter of a mile from tho Queen of tho South (the .nearest distance she could go with safety), and a good opinion could in these circumstances bo formed of the likelihood of refloating the vessel Mid salving her cargo. It is considered that it would be fruitless to attempt to regain possession of the ship, nnd as for tho cargo tho obtaining of it would, it is considered, involve great danger to the lighters used for the work. .■ It is anticipated that the first'strong southerly gait, and big seas will play havoc with the Queen of tile South.

The personal effects of tho crew wero taken off tno Queen of the Smith on Saturday morning. The night was paved on shore, the officers sleeping at' the lighthouse, and the men 'in the email Bchoolrooai ,not far.away. They all epeak iii '•' tlie , 'highest -term's of the'kindness shown by the' lightkeepers in making them as comfortable .ns ■ possible under the circumstances. The Wakatu, after lying "off the wreck, steamed -round to the lighthouse, and took on board the crew , and'their belongings, arriving in port' at' Wellingto n, late yesterday afternoon. ' •■'■• .-;•

Tlin'tjdes in Cook' Strait, 'fn the vicinity of Cape 'Campbell, , , are...known 'to l:e strong, and it'is considered probable that the Queen of the South was taken off her ; course by the current. Cape.-Campbell,,near which the Queen of the' South struck, is in a line nearly direct south from the entrance to Wellington Harbour. It is 49 miles from the heads.... : . ...

- In-the liolds of tho Queen of the South there is a full load of 225 tons of general cargo, the major portion of which are eases of machinery, transhipped from the sailing vessel Terpsichore, and consigned to. the - • International ' Harvestor Co., Christcliurch. The Vacuum Oil Co. has on;board 400 cases of benzine. The remainder is made up of email orders This trip of the Quean of the South to Lytjtelton brought about bj tho bad state of the Foxton bar. Captain J. R. Owen, who was promot- , ed from mato to tho command of Hie Queen of the_ South on Captain Harvey's retirement two months ago, had with him Mr. V, Lawtonas mate, and Mr, U. Boss as engineer. The crow as on May 1 ..consisted of the following, but it is understood that QJie or.t.wo clianges have «incp_ taken , place:— CTndenvood, cook; Marthan. bosu'n; 'Olseu, Toniiin. and Millar, firemen; Aeliurst, Carlson, AudreVe, and Birkle-r, A.B.'s. Captain Owen liaa a reputation for being a careful and jeliable 'mariner. He was formerly in the Union S.S. Company's service, and was for some time chief officer on tho Maori under Captain W. Manning,

Iho Queen of the South was one of thn oldest steamers trading out of Wellington, having been built 12 years ago. Her remarkably light draught mado her particularly suitable ior the Foxton trade, and eho ran regularly between Wellington and the Manawatu river port from the year 1899 onwards: in command of Captain H. J. Harvey; of Wellington. When in that year Captain Harvey purchased the Queen or'the South in Australia for Messrs. -Levin and Co., and brought her across'to Wellington, she w;ns a vessel thirteen years old which was tradiug up the coast between Sydney and Brisbane.' It say* a good deal for her that she was on buturday still being driven by tlie Hitino set of engines. as when she was brought over to Aeiv-Zealand. Her present boiler is the third she has had during her New Zealand career. biie has n good reputation and a clean history,' no account, of course, beJDg taken'of the times when she -has stuck on the Manawatu bar owing to poof tides. The Qu'eon of tho South was built oi' iron in 1877 by Messrs. H. M'lntyre and Co., at .Paisley, Scotland, and is of lite tons gross und 121' tons net. Her ditnensions are:—Length, 126.2 feet; breadth, 22.1 feet; depth, 7.8 feet. She is owned by the Queen Shipping Company, Ltd. (Messrs. Levin aiid Co., Ltd., Captain E. J. Harvey, and Mr.-William Signal, of Foxton. (superintending enginoer lor. Messrs. JLoviu and Co., Ltd.). . In describing Cape Campbell vd its dangerous spots, the "New Zealand Pilot" says tftar. there is an encircling dangerous reef of jmiken rocks, with Rome detacJlEu and water, extending nearly it mile tT.N.TI./Ol' the cape extreme; which is sandy and low; this reef in also conUnuous one mile mid a half.to the southward on' tho seaward face of the cape, extending fully half-a-mile from the land, outside of. which, and three-quarters of a mile to tlio north-eastward of the cape Extreme, is a, detached reef—Bowler Heef.