QUEEN OF THE SOUTH

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 200, 19 May 1919, Page 6

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH

: INQUIRY REGARDING WRECK

t INFLUENCE OF MAGNETOS ON • .COMPASS ..

The Magisterial inquiry into the cause ! of. the wreck of the Queen of the South ! near Cape Campbell early on ; the mornt I ing of Saturday, May 10, was. opened at !■■' tho Magistrate's Court on Saturday. Mr, ! D. G. A'. Cooper, S.M., presided, and

!. associated with him as assessors wera i Captains W. Manning and C. M'Arthur. I The Marine Department was represented I by Mr: J. Prendeville, Mr. E. JC. Kirk. i caldie appeared for Captain J. E. Owen, ! master of tho lost ship, Mr, P. J. O'Kegan i for certain members of the crew who were I members of the Seamen's Union, and Mr. ! M. Myers for the owners of the vessol, the : Quee- Shipping Company. ■•■•■. [ Captain .John Rhys Owen, master of the i' Queen of the South, said he had been ir» command of the vessel for about two j months and a half. The vessel left the i Queen's Wharf at 11 p.m. on Friday, May I 9, in hazy weather. Pencarrow Point wn* ! passed $& midnight, when the course v.as i set sou'th-west-half-west. He remained on ! deck until about 4.15 a.m., when he could j .see from three to four miles, tho weather I "being still hazy. Tho ship was. travelling j at six knots per hour. At 5.15 a.m. he j heard the ship strike something, and im« I "mediately went on deck. The weather '/was yery-'hazy, but calm. Aβ the engineer [reported that the ship was rapidly maki ing water the boats were ordered to bo j lowered. Setting off in a heavy fog, during which Dothing could;be discerned for ! about an hour, 'they landed about 7 a.m._ i Dear Cape Campbell lighthouse. About !' 10 o'olook they went on board the ship, i but as it was then found that the water j was only about 2ft. , from the deck it.waa I 'decided,that the ship should be abandon- ? Ed; The compasses were adjusted -about i twelve months ago, when there was a [ deviation of two degrees cast, but in setI. ting his course on May 9 he did not allow i for the two degrees,-as the vessel had I ehown previously that she steered a good ' course on that run. The effect of /the I flood tide in the Strait would be to set ! him to the west, but he'nllowed for the j'. ebb to take him out to the extent that I the flood took him in. ■ 7

; ' r Magnetos in the Cargo. I To Mr. Kirkcaldie: There was no sea I. at all, only a light swell. He ! did not think there was anything >in tho i weather or the tide to prevent the vessoi kv.malung the course set; 'In spite of the \. 'slight deviation the ship always seemed ?... to steer well on. that particular course, I ..therefore he did. not-tnink it necessary I. to allow for the deviation. The courso f. set should have carried the ship between •: .nine-and-ten miles off Cape Campbell. t , He. neither expected nor wanted to-Bee i Cape Campbell ahead, as he had set a I direct course for Lyttelton. Two days }■•■ after the wreck he found there ! were two cases or magnetos on board, and [these . alectrically : charged instruments, ) probably placed on top of the cargo and I ; possibly only. 10ft. .from the binnacle, l, might have affected the compass. ,Experl- !, ments had been conducted which showed , that a- , single magneto affected the mag•:iets at Bft. to 10ft. away. The hold of the ship was 7ft. to Bft. deep. • ■ At this stage Captain Macindoe, secretary of the Merchant Service Guild, de- • monstrated to the Court how a single i, magneto affected a compass.

'■> : Replying to Mr. Myers;. Captain Owen ! said tho rock the vessel i struck was

; about, a mile to-eeaward of Gape Camp-. |~ bell, so he was about 7J miles off hie J course. Until he heard about the mag- ;, netos, and had demonstrated to him the they had on tho compass, he conltt i not account for being l so far off hi 3 ;..;eourse. Had'ho known '.that, there were ; magnetos,on board it'w6uld "not have i occurred (x> him that they would affect '; the oompass. . .. . To Mr. O'Regan: There . were twelve ■ men in the crew. At.the time of tho \ mishap one man was on watch at tho ; wheel. There was no man on the look- ■/ out, but if there had been he could not i have seen any more than tho officer on !. the bridge. If there had been a look-out j man,tie accident would have happened just'the same. Even if he himself had been on the bridge the mishap would have occurred, becaiise he thought the , I ship was nine or ten miles on Cape ! Campbell. On a email 'boat it was not j the usual practice to have a man on the j look-out, and he classed the Queen of i the' South in the category of pniall boats • that did not require a look-out. ;, O'Eegan: Jfisugggst to ycu that it j'.ie'the custom'in tho'mercantile marine i':;to have a man on the lookout?—" Only !" pn the big' boats." !■. 'Nqt when close to a- dangerous coast?— •'"■■" No.". . '..... '. V.. '.'-. ";.,. !'"." .Not even in. a fog?—" No." J' , '. You had sufficient men to provide a ■ look-out?—" Yes." ' ;•,How long, have you been.,at eea?— !'." "Twenty-one years." I How long on the New Zealand coast?— '.•'".■"Twelve years." j 'And you tell us that your practice on j this occasion was the same.as you f01..' ..' lowed in those' twelve years?—' ? On the I small boats, but not on the.big boats."j Why didn't you have two men in two ! watches?—" Because I considered ono man . was enough. That was in accordance, r-with the agreement entered into with' ; the seaman a few months ago, I believe." ; I..6uggest to you that the distribution ; of labour on the boats of that class is ; done with a view of saving the payment i of as much"overtime as. possible'?— "I i suppose it is." . ' 'j Is it not'port of your instructions:from I tho owners to curtail overtime as much i ae possible?—"No, certainly not." j To Mr. Myers: The.officer,on tho bridge i acted as the'look-out and. had as comi plete a survey as, a lookout man wtuld 1 have. ... .-. ; ! In reply to Mr. Kirkcaldie the witness ;. said he was following the practice of his j predecessor -in regard to the distribu- ! tion of labour, ibut tho question of the j- 'look-out did aot affect that ~practice. i After the ship struck ho did not know ! whero he was. There waeno break in i. the sea and nothing to indicate wfcere I he was. ' ' I. To the Court: Hie predecessor had i been .thirty yeara on the Queen of the : South'. . : ; Evidence of the Mate. i Frank Lawton, mate of the Queen of j the South, said he had been on the boat i for two and a half months—since Captain ; Owen took charge. On the morning of i May 10 ho went on duty at 4 a.m., and : the course to be followed was S.W. half : W.- Captain Owen gave instructions tol I be called if there was any change in the I weather. When he went on deck the I weather was fine, but'hazy, and he could ! see from two to three miles. The tido • woe at the ebb. He knew, that the com- ; pass deviated three degree? east. Cape I Campbell light was not. visible at any j time that morning, but in' normal weather : it was visible for at least 15 or 16 miles. I Not till .three or four minutes past ' 5 a.m. did the weather change. At that ' time the fog began to thicken. The ; vessel was doing six knots, and he con- ! 6Mered tho 6hip wonkl be nine or ten i milee off Cape Compbell lighthouse. All : proper precautions were taken to keep a ; proper look-out, but it would not have ; eerved any good purpose to have kept a ' man looking out on the foc's'le head; To Mr. Kirkcaldie: Ho would not contradict the captain's statement that the i compass deviation was two degrees. ; Mr. O'Regan: You evidently agree with ; the captain that the stationing of a ; man on the look-out would make no dif- : ference?—"Yes." ' ': Witness said that the usual speed of the vessel was eight knots. They had '■ plenty of time in which to get to Lyttcl- ': ton, so the speed was reduced to six j knots. He had been on the vessel on I a occasion—about ten years ago. ' Prior to joining tho vessel two and half , months ago he had been nine ywirs ': ashore. During that time things had changed so far ns'tho keeping of ivntches . at sea was concerned. Off and on he ,had been at sea for twenty years. ; Mr. O'Eegan: Before you had this in- '■■ terval of nine or ten years-ashoro would ! you say it was correct, practice for k shin to go careering, through u\ fog at I might time with only two men on deck? ; —"No; yon wonkl have to keep a be.tter look-out in weather like that." j To Mr. Myers: "While he was nine years ashore lie was harbourmaster and pilot ; nt Foxton. On a small boat like the i .'Queen of the Roulh he did not see any • necessity for a- look-out. ' ' To Captain M'Arthur: No log was used ; on the vessel.

Mr. Prendeville: Did you think.of tryinjr tho lead P—"No."

Captain Manning: When the fog came on did you call the captain?—"l was just going to call him when the vessel struck." He did not expect to'seo Capo Campbell light ahead, as it ought to have been on the beam.

Vessel, Steering Woll. Joseph Ashurst, ablo seaman on the Queen of tho South, who was at the wheel at the time of the accident, sta.ted that he kept the course set. Tho ■vessel ,was steering very well, probably swinging a quarter of a point each side of tho course.

To Mr. 0 "Began: He thought that there ought to have beon a look-out, evoii on a small vessel. Before the present industrial agreement came into force there was a look-out man on vessels like the Queen of the South.

To Mr. Kirkcaldie: Even if they had had a look-out man it would not have averted the accident.

Captain Arthur Gifford. teacher of navigation, and compass adjuster, called bv Mr. Kirkcaldie, said that a dynamo shouid be kept as far away as possible, at any rate at least 50ft., from a compass. Hβ had seen demonstrations, and had come to the conclusion that the magnetos 'had affected the compass on the Queen of the South.

Mr. O'Regan suggested that it should be the duty of somebody to see that magentos were stowed as far away as possible from ships' compasses. If tho magnetos were stowed , ae far away as affected the compass, it was quite possible that a similar thing might happen on a passenger ship. Mr. Myers said it was not known where the magnetos were placed in the hold.

Mr, Kirkcaldie 6aid that along with Captain Mncindoe he had examined a case of the magnetos. They had expected to find them placed so as to neutralise ouo another, but they had not been 'stowed in that fashion."

The Court intimated that it would give its decision at 10 a.m. to-day.