THE SOLE SURVIVOR

Evening Star, Issue 19801, 27 February 1928, Page 5

THE SOLE SURVIVOR

ENGLISH CHANNEL COLLISION STORY OF THE TRAGEDY Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, February 26. (Received February 27, at 10.40 a.m.) Giovanni Favon, an engineer of the Alcantara, and the sole survivor, was found gazing at the battered Tovariseh. He said: “It was dark. There was a strong breeze, and the engines were reduced to 7$ knots, when the chief engineer came down and said that the captain had ordered him to stand by because there was terrible danger. A tremendous crash followed, accompanied by groans and curses. The chief engineer shouted: ‘ All hands on deck.’ I rushed up. It was pitch dark, but there was no fog. The Alcantara reeled. I saw the stem of the Tovariseh wedged In the starboard quarter. I ran to the engine room stairs, ■ vainly calling my mate. Two tremendous reports denoted the explosion of tho boilers. 1 grasped the Tovarisch’s bowsprit chain. The Alcantara sank in three minutes. A Russian hauled me up. The Tovariseh played a searchlight on the lowered heats.”—A. and N.Z. and ‘Sun’ Cable. FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS AN UNFORTUNATE MISUNDERSTANDING. (British Official News.) Press Association—By Wireless —Copyright. RUGBY, February 26. (Received February 27, at noon.) Late last night tho Russian cadet sailing ship Tovariseh, badly damaged, was towed into Southampton carrying one survivor of a crew of twenty-one of the Italian steamer Alcantara, with which she collided in a fog between Hastings and Folkestone. Steamers and tugs searched the sea all through Friday night and yesterday, but failed to find any other survivors on the floating wreckage. Aeroplanes also coursed over tho waters on a fruitless errand. A lifebuoy, marked Alcantara, to which was lashed a dead body, was picked up, last night near Dungeness. _ An empty lifeboat of the Italian ship and two lifebuoys have also been washed ashore near Rye Harbor.

It appears that assistance for the ships was delayed by an unfortunate misunderstanding. The commander of the coastguard station at Sandgate says that he received an S.O.S, from the Russian vessel on Friday night, and he telephoned to the lifeboats at Dungeness and Rye Harbor to proceed to the scene. The S.O.S. was followed almost immediately, however,_ by a wireless message from the Russian vessel to the effect that she was all right and not in need of help. This gave the impression that all was well, and the coastguard commander had no idea that the Italian ship had gone down. Later the Peninsular and Oriental liner Moldavia sent a message stating that she had seen wreckage bearing the name Alcantara, then immediately lifeboats from both Dungeness and Rye Harbor put out to find only the wreckage of Alcantara and no sign of the suryivors.