DEPARTURE ON FRIDAY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20016, 15 August 1939, Page 11

DEPARTURE ON FRIDAY

ADMIRALTY SURVEY SHIP

sailing date advanced

FUTURE PLANS UNKNOWN

(Pur Press Assouintjon.) AUCKLAND, this day

The return to England of the Admiralty survey ship Endeavour has now been expedited. She will sail next. Friday by way of Suez Canal instead of leaving on August 23. as was originally announced by the Minister of Defence, the lion. F. Jones, when it was decided to abandon plans for the second commission in New Zealand.

No information about, the ship to replace tier is ns yet available, nor, is it known when the marine survey of (tie Dominion’s coastline, which she began over two years ago. will be resumed. Some delay will be occasioned. however, because the Endeavour was due to lake up active surveying again in October, and it is not thought that another ship will arrive in New Zealand .by that lime.

Before it was decided to send the Endeavour back to England, it had been planned >0 recommission her at Auckland about August 24. Among the officers appointed to succeed those now serving in the ship were two from the survey ship Scott, then working on the coast of Scotland. Since then rumours have been current that the Sco’t has been chosen to take up the Endeavour's work in New Zealand. Officers in the Endeavour, however. were unable to substantiate this report, and the Navy Office in Wellington said that no information bad been received about the ship to resume the survey.

When tiie Endeavour sails on Friday with Captain Wyatt in command, the officers will have almost completed the task of drawing fair charts of the survey so far made. Those for the first sections undertaken were completed previously and. when the final lot are finished, the ship’s charts will embrace the results of 4239 square miles of soundings and GC2 miles of coastline charting. These final charts will be sent on to England during the Endeavour's voyage. They will be dispatched from ports of call and will in time, return to the Marine Department in New Zealand in the shape ot published charts. After that they will lie made available to mariners using the coast.