DOCK BURST AT LIVERPOOL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 283, 24 August 1920, Page 5

DOCK BURST AT LIVERPOOL

AVALANCHE OP SHIPS. • Wfchta sight of hundreds of passengers •in theMcreey ferry boats, the 500-ton steamship' Countess, of Glasgow, was Been to burst the gates of the Alfred Dock, Birkenhead, and to come head down into tho river, followed by a cataract of released water 'on which sixteen smaller vessels were* tossed like corks and sunk. ' 'fh« loss is estimated to be about £1,. 000,000. At the moment it. is not clear it any lives wero lost. When the event occurred it was about three hours from nigh tide, and the Countess was riding in tho Alfred Dock waiting until the rise of water would enable the dock gates to bo opened, so that she could pass out into the river. The level of the water in the dock was then twelve feet higher than tide level in the river. It was the "thirty feet gate, _ one of four spanning the openings to this important dock system, which was involve?. Behind lay all manner of cratt, from liners to steam tugs, ibarses, and flats. °

Without warning the Countess struck thw gate, smashing it to matchwood, went ■A j °J™ ?7 er - the 12 - feet waterfall, righted herself as if by a miracle, out in halves a large .barge lying outside, and plunged into mid-river, to the consternation of ferry boat, passengers and the skippers of other vessels. j A -thrilling spectacle followed. People saw, the onrush of 500,000 tons of water £ hr ° ü ßh the 30 : feet gateway. "It bubwed out like ohampagne through tho neck of a bottle" was one eye-witness's description;; Barges and lightera wore spun round and up and down in the swirl as if they were toy boats caught in a storm. Their crews were helpless to stave off what seemed certain destruction, and stuck grimly to their posts. lheir craft were sucked into the cauldron and cast headlong into the river. it made we, think of pictures I have seen of shooting the rapids," remarked one young steersman, "and the plunge at. the end was terrifying." Most of the bnrges broke in two. Ten were found at low tide, just outside the dock entranoe. Apparently one had irone crashing on the top of another. Ironwork was ■ twisted like wire. Many thousand tons of coal and grain comprising their cargoes were piled ur> around them.

As their craft sank, the crews were thrown violently into the swirl. Nearly thirty men were rescued by tuge. Jinny men saved themselves by leaping from one barge to another before reaching the gateway and jumping on to the quay-sides. Those who went over the cataract dung for dear life to the sides ot the vessels. A ,man and his two sons were rescued together. Another man helped his brother to the side until he could be be hauled to safety.