N.Z. MYSTERIES OF THE SEA

Grey River Argus, 29 March 1948, Page 7

N.Z. MYSTERIES OF THE SEA

Fate of Many Ships Unknown

((Staff Reporter). Recently Lloyd’s of London formally “called” for the trussing Liberty Ship “Samkey” winch is now about 60 days overdue on a voyage from England to San ,', tiago, Cuba. The ‘Samkey. which is owned by the New Zealand Shipping Company, is manned by a crew of 4-.'. Sncc she was first . posted overdue many thousands of miles of S have been carefully screened for a trace of her. However, to date, her fate remains a mystery.

Disappearances of ships have been numerous off the coasts of this country. Even off Greymouth and Hokitika, in addition to wrecks, a number of vessels have vanished without leaving any satisfactory ex planation. Since the waters of New Zealand became lanes of commerce many gallant men have found a " Or? February 16, 1810 the whaling brig Active sailed from the West Coast of New Zealand (probab y somewhere in the vicinity of N elson) and was not heard of again. In circumstances similar perhaps to those surrounding the much talked of “Mary Celeste” was the lincting of the cutter Jane in December, 1840, a few miles south of Wanganui with no sign of life eboard. Of the five persons who sailed on net there was no trace. When she was boarded all sail was set In May, 1841, the cutter- Harriet left Wellington for Auckland, and was not heard of again. A fate oi the same kind overtook the schooner Trent, which left TaurangL toi Auckland with a cargo of maize in Novemer, 1843. Although one oi Hie ship’s boats w 7 as found years later washed up on a beach, of the vessel and crew of five nothing was heard. NINETEEN LOST Nineteen people vanished after the cutter Levin left. Port Levi in August, 1847, never to be seen again. In October of the following year the schooner Elizabeth Davis, carrying mails, left Wellington for Auckland, but never arrived at her port of destination, and no wreckage was ever found. ~ x , It was in 1856 that the next of these mysterious happenings off New Zealand shores took place. On May 16 of that year, the 18-ton cutter Kawai rounded the Wellington heads, bound north, and from that day to this no word of her has been received. Three years later on April 12, 1859, another cutter, the Young Greek sailed from Poranghanua for Wellington, but never arrived, nor was any trace of her found. In 1861, on January 7, the schooner Fantome left Lvttelton for Wellington with her crew and four passengers aboard and was not seen again. It was thought likely at the time, however, that she might have foundered in a strong' storm, which blew up from the south shortly after she sailed. Six persons were lost when the schooner Flying F'ish vanished without a trace, on a voyage from Napier in July, 1863. In September of the following year the Sicilian, also a schooner, was lost while travelling from the Chatham Islands for Dunedin. No tidings were ever received of the schooner Nebuchandnezzer after she left Auckland on March 11, 1865.

WEST COAST CASE The first disappearance recorded takina place off the West Coast was that of the ketch Blue Bell. Carrying a crew of four, the Blue Beil, a singularly attractive vessel, sailed' in May, 1865 from Hokitika for Greymouth and was never seen again. Although the mystery of her loss was eventually saticfactorily cleared up, the fate of the ketch Reindeer is probably one of the most pathetic in the annals of New Zealand shippm-.-In December, 1865, a Maori woman picked up a bottle on the coast of the North Island near the Waiongara River. In this was the message: “Ketch Reindeer foundered at sea on October 3, bound from Auckland to Wanganui. Myself left out of four. No prospect of being picked up. Can just see Mount Egmont.— John Spiers.” HOKITIKA MYSTERIES A new vessel, which had made only a couple of voyages, was the schooner Sangalier, which left Hokitika on October 20, 1865 for the Molyneux River, Otago, and was never seen again. She carried a crew of four under Captain C. Clarke. Another vessel to disappear on a voyage from Hokitika was the cutter Sir Henry Havelock, which sailed late in 1865 for Invercargill. The schooner Dove, bound for Hokitika from Nelson in the same period, was lost with lour men aboard. The Kiwi, of .similar .construction to the Dove, left Hokitika at the same time for Manakau, and also vanished. In Februa?'y of the following year, 1866, the schooner Jessie was lost while en route from Invercargill to Hokitika. She carried a crew of four and was commanded by Captain McFarlane. After she sailed from Okarito for Hunt’s Beach in July, 1866, nothing more was seen or heard of the ketch Caroline. In the same month the Sea Serpent, a schooner, left the Chatham Islands for Wellington with three passengers a crew -fl' four, and she joined the ranks of those vessels which have disappeared off New Zealand. The Ben Nevis was not heard of again after she sailed from Wellington on May 7. 1867. The schooner Phoenix was not sighted after leaving Ckarito for Dunedin on May 13, 1867. Leaving Hokitika on April 25, 1868, the barque Henrietta Nathan set sail for Tasmania. She was commanded by Captain J. Griffiths. She was not heard of again, nor was any information available as to the fate of her master and seven men under his command. The schooner Streamlet left Lyttelton on November 17 for the West Coast, and is thought to have foundered somewhere offshore from Greymouth. THE MATAOKA It was on May 13, 1869, that the 1092-ton Mataoka sailed from Lyttelton for London with wool, gold and passengers aboard. She left New Zealand waters in fine weather and sailed into the ocean never to b'e seen again, Conjecture was rife at the time as to whether the Mataoka struck ice

or caught fire in mid-ocean, but to this day her fate remains a mystery. With her on her fatal voyage, the Mataoka took 45 passengers, including 18 children, and had a crew of 32. She was commanded by Captain Stevens and her disappearance baffled the world's leading authorities.

Shortly after the anxiety for the Mataoka arose, the schooners Johanna and John B. Russell, both South Island vessels, travelling to Auckland, vanished. At the same time~ three other small craft, the names or which are not available, went missing off our shores. A year later on Aiwil 28 1870, the 40-ton schooner Isabella Jackson left Wellington for the South Island and vanished. Not ing afterwards the cutter Betsy was

lost to. the .world en route from. Napier to Auckland. Sailing from Greymouth early m 1871, the ketch Jane Ann was posted missing when she did not arrive at her port of destination. She carried 32 tons of coal and was under the command of Capt. R. Smith. An 81ton schooner, the Rifleman, a threemasted vessel, was not sighted after sailing from Lyttelton on on October 10, 1871, for Havelock. Six persons presumably perished. £BO,OOO IN GOLD LOST Perhaps one of the most baffling of the New Zealand shipping mysteries is that of the clipper ship Glenmark of 985 tons gross register, which left Lyttelton for London early in 1872 with 50 persons aboard. The ship had, as cargo much wool and £BO,OOO in gold. She was a new vessel and on her maiden voyage had carried from Gravesend to' Lyttelton about 400 passengers. She was equipped with the most up-to-date navigational aids of those days, and was luxuriously appointed. Three years later, in February, 1875, the U.S.A, barque, Comet, ’350 tons, left Otago for Hobart, and disappeared. Of her crew of 13, and master Capt., J. Cooper, no more was heard.

March-April 1877, proved a disastrous period for New Zealand coastal shipping. On March 18, the schooner. May Queen sailed from Auckland and was lost with her crew of nine. Eu route from Lyttelton to Hokitika in April, the schooner Bonnie Lass went missing with her crew of four. A few weeks later the brigatine, Kate Brain, left Timaru for Auckland, but failed to arrive at her destination. Six men as well as her master, Capt. G. Gray were lost with her. On April 4, another schooner, the Edward had left Lyttelton for Banks Peninsula, and she too disappeared. The cutter Dante, a 16-ton vessel, was the next ship to disappear from our shipping lanes. She left Onehunga on June 11 for Waitara, Taranaki, never to reach her destination. On January 7 12, 1878, the schooner Excelsior left Timaru for Wellington but of her complement of six, and the 92-ton vessel nothing has been heard. Fifteen days later the cutter. Raven, left Ficton for Wellington and likewise went missing. July 12, of the same year saw the brigatine Oamaru and the brig Ironsport leave Auckland for Whanagiaroa. Neither was seen again. The schooner Poneke, of 80 tons register was last seen off Greymouth in June, 1880. She had left Onehunga on .June 11 for Picton, but after being seen from here, she disappeared with six human beings on board. The schooner, Three Brothers, left Great Barrier on July 2 for Auckland and was not sighted from that days

50 LOST ON TWO BOATS Another schooner, the Richard and Mary, sailed from Greymouth for Nelson on May 27. 1882. She was never seen again. Her skipper, Capt. R. Hamilton, left a wife and seven children. On June 9, of the same year the ketch, Jessie vanished off East Cape with a crew of three. Travelling between Greymouth and Manakau, in March 1883, the Clarinda, a schooner, and six men aboard her vanished. Seventeen men were lost when the Loch Dee set sail for Falmouth from Lyttelton, never to be sighted again. The Loch Fyne set sail from Lyttelton on May 14, for the same port as the ship Loch Dee, and with her crew of 35 met the same fate. Both of the vessels were alleged to have heavily over-laden with the season’s wheat. The Loch Fvne was insured for 116,000. Leaving Greymouth on April 10, 1883 the brigantine Adieu was destined for Melbourne with a crew of seven. She has not been heard of to this day. Two schooners, the Wild Wave and the Wave of Life were lost in October of the same year. Both sailed from Lyttelton for Pelorous Sound. A ship at one time owned by the Westport Coal Company, the barque Celestia sailed from the Bay of Islands on May 3. 1887, for Hobart and disappeared with her complement of eight. On July 6 the schooner Columbia sailed from Mercury Bay for Napier and met a fate unknown. THE MARLBOROUGH—IB9C In 1890 Lloyds posted as misisng. the Marlborough. 112'4-ton ship owned by the Shaw Savill and Albion Co., which sailed from Lyttelton on January 11 with 29 of a crew and one passenger, and her fate was never known. The general opinion was that she struck an ice-berg while rounding Cape Horn. On December 24. the steamer Kakanui left Invercargill for the Macquarie Island. She arrived there and left again on January 3, 1891. After she left the islands, the Kakanui was lost to the world and her fate to this day is a mystery.

May 14, 1892, saw the schooner Kouie departed from Lyttelton for Auckland never to be seen or heard of again. The ketch Comet dep_arted from Lyttelton on April 16, 1895, for Greymouth, and met her fate from an unknown cause. A brigatine, the Linda Weber, is supposed to have foundered off the East Coast in March, 1901. She left Gisborne in the third day of that month and was shortly after posted as missing. On October 26, 1903, the schooner Toroa, which left Grevmouth in August, was the subject of a marine inquiry. She had not arrived at Wanganui, whence she was bound and the court found that there was no evidence to show how the vessel was lost.

A 130-ton steel steamer, the Duco, left Wallington for thd Chatham Islands fishing grounds and was never seen again. Twelve men apparently lost their lives.

MISSING DREDGE MANCHESTER

The fully-manned dredge Manchester left Wellington on April 6, 1912, bound for Sydney, but was never heard of again. Of similar construction to' the Greymouth Harbour Board’s -'vessel, Mawhera, the Manchester carried 25 people on her last voyage. Although extensive searches wore made by the cruiser, Challenger, which sailed from Sydney, and two other warships, the Pioneer and the Encounter, from Auckland, nothing more was ever heard of the Manchester. Prior to' her disappearance, the Manchester had made the long voyage from England to Lyttelton safely. No trace was found of the schooner Jubilee after she sailed from Kuwait for Nuie Island, in August, 1920. She carried 17 persons to their fate. Among the vessels to' be lost without tidings of the West Coast have been the cutter Lizzie, which sailed from Hokitika, where one of her crew, Peter Stephens, came ashore, and was later for many years nightwatchman for the Greymouth Harboui’ Board.

Two steamers lost on th’S coast without any trace were the Kairaki (bound frbm Hokitika), and the Ohan.

Most of the vessels which vanished off the coast of this country have been small, but this makes their fate no less mysterious. Some day traces of wreckage, or suchlike may enable the Marine Department to explain some of the mysteries, but as yet they remain stories locked in the depths of the sea.