SURVIVOR’S STORY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20067, 13 October 1939, Page 8

SURVIVOR’S STORY

: INQUIRY COURT OPENS ALLEGATION DENIED O.C. INTERROGATED (X’er Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. William Willrnan, the survivor of ; the fishing launch Dolphin, sunk by a | shell from the coastal defence battery ■ which was intended as a warning, was i left struggling in the water, dazed | and battered when the vessel sank j underneath him in Lyttelton harbour ; yesterday afternoon. | “No effort was made by the men ; at the shore battery to rescue me,” he said this morning. “Boats were j available at the fort and, had one been launched immediately, it could j have reached the Dolphin before she ! sank. “The master and owner, Mr. J. ! Brassell, whose leg was shot off, was ; unconscious from shock and loss of blood, but 'I believe his life might have been saved had a rescue boat put out” Sank in Four Minutes Two eye-witnesses of the tragedy, i who watched the Dolphin sink, said i she went down in an incredibly short j time. The shell, they said, struck the I Dolphin just forward of her engineI room. They hoard an explosion and, j almost at once, the big launch began I! to settle. According to their estimate she sank i within three or four minutes. The Court of Inquiry commenced | its sittings at 10 o’clock this morning, i Members of the court are Major Blake, artillery, Lieutenant McLean, ; artillery, and Captain Burrows, rifle j battalion. The length of the time the court will sit is indefinite, depending on the j amount of evidence to be heard ancfi i taken down. In fact, the officer com- ■ ! mancling the Southern Military Dis- ; | trict, Colonel 'Bell, fhis morning • | answered questions relating to the ■ ! Dolphin incident as follows: — ? j Colonel Bell’s Replies Question: Is the investigating body a court of inquiry or board of inquiry? j Answer: Court of inquiry. Are its sittings public or private I and open to the newspapers?—Private. To whom will the court report,— To me. Does the army or the navy assume j responsibility for the fort? —The | army. Who ordered the shot to be fired?— . | It is not advisable to say at present. ’ , Has the officer commanding the fort or the officer who ordered the shot to ! be fired been relieved of his duties pending the inquiry? —'No, ; What efforts were mad to save the | crew when it was seen the Dolphin was sinking?—Every effort. Have alterations been made in the orders at the fort since the accident? — Yes. 'ls any record kept of fishing boats , going out so that they can be checked in?—This is a question for the court. Where was the examination vessel at the time?—That also is a question for the court. What is the procedure to be followed by a craft when the examina--1 tion vessel is away?—That is another I question for the court. | What will be the position of pleasure ! craft during summer?—The same as | any other craft.