Three Sailors Drowned

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 7, 1 October 1937, Page 5

Three Sailors Drowned

-PrfeBs Association.)

cutter capsizes Mishap In Naval Race at Auckland OTHER RATINGS RESCUED j

(By TeleeraDh-

AUCKLAND, Last Night. Three men lost their lives when a naval cutter capsized wliile taking part in the annual 20-miles sailing race for the Diomede Cup on the Waitemata Harbour. Those who were drowned wero — r Loading.yeaman William Forbti. Able-Seaman Alexander N» Paterien. Ordinary-Seaman .Iila C. Tasker, j/ " r 1 Forbes and Faferson were both' English ratings, while. -Tasker n Nfcw Zealander from Levin. All three men were members of tho crew of the Leander. ^ The cutter from the Leander oapui and was swamped about three qilUtetB of a mile from Karaka B^y, fle&r Tamaki, Watchefs 'on the BhOfd observed the crew cMnging to -the Overturned boat, and wdrd Was sent t6 the naval base and the Auckland Harbour Board's launch Waitem&ta was dispatched from Devonport. In the meantime H. H. Bartridge and C. C. Tibly put out in a 10ft. dinghy from Karaka Bay* As they pat .otit they saw the men clinging to the upturned boat, but by the time they reaehed it Able-Seaman Sergeant had been washed adrift and had struck out or the shore. / Eescued by Launch. A warrant officer and four men weta picked up and taken to the launCh, which had arrived in the meantime, and the dinghy was then put about to rescu* the man swimming ashore. Unfortunately there was no sign of the three remaining members of the. crew, who had been obliged to loosen their hold on the boat. The four men on the launch were taken to the sick bay on the Leander. Two ambulances were sent to Bushlands Beach, but they wero able to get only within half a mile of the spot where Sergeant was taken ashore. The stretcher.bearers clambered over the rocks to Karaka Bay only to find that the men had been rescued and were on the launch. They picked up Sergeant and carried him to one of the waiting ambulances, which took him to the Devonport Naval Base.

The conditions had become so boisterous that the race was abandoned before word of the tragedy reaehed th» authorities. Six of the 16 boats which Competed wero towed back to Devon, port. The boats put out to take part in tho search for tho bodies of the three men who were drowned, but tHIff was unavaiiing and will be resumed i* the morning* Another naval cutter capsized in the ' harbour offi Bastion Point while racing for the Dunedin 's Cup, nnd the crew of eight men were thxown into the water* They clung to the craft with difficulty in the choppy sea for about 20 minutes, when a *E.N.V.E. whaiere cutter came to the rescue and picked them up. The rescued men were taken to the Auckland Hospital suffering from exposure. They were: Warrant Officer Holdsworth, Leading Seamen Lund and Johns, Able Seamen Davies, Wakefield, Smith, Maidment and Potter. The crew explained that the sails had boen damaged early in the race and the men were unable to slaeken o9, whereupon the boat turned over. The men were too f ar from shore to attempt lo swim so they held on to the side of the boat awaiting rescue. Three times the wind cauglit the sail of tke overturned boat catching the struggling seamen under the sail, and on each oe* casion they had to swim to get clear. "It felt liko dragging ten tons,'* said one of the sailors, describing the swim to get clear of the sail. "1 thought at one stage we were going to lose young Maidment. He seemed te be under the sail for about ten minutes and had to swim out under it j;o get clear."