Shipping Intelligence.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 698, 8 July 1869, Page 2

Shipping Intelligence.

POET OF NAPIER. ARRIVALS. JULY. s—-Charlotte, cutter, from Greymouth, bound for Kaiapoi (put in from stress of weather) 7—Storm Bird, s.s., from Wellington 7 —Sturt, p.s, from Matata DEPARTURES. Nil. EXPECTED ARRIVALS. Excelsior, schooner, from Auckland via the Ea»t Coast Glimpse, cutter, from Wellington Hero, schooner, from Wairoa Lord Ashley, s.s., from Auckland Star of the South, s.s., from Auckland St. Kilda, s.s., from Wairoa Undaunted, ship, 86G tons, Grierson, from London via Otago Wellington, s.s., from Auckland, to-morrow VESSELS IN IJARBOR. Charlotte, cutter, from Greymouth (repairing) Greenwich, cutter, from Wairoa llahia, cutter, from Cape Turnagain Storm Bird, s.s., from Wellington Sturt, p.s., from Matata PROJECTED DEPARTURES. Fo* Wellington—Storm Bird, this evening; and Wellington, to-morrow (Friday) Waima.ra.ma.—Mahia. early Kaiapoi—Charlotte, early ENTERED INWARDS. JULY.

4—Rangatira, 5..5., 171 tons, Renner, from Auckland, with 1 case pamts, 1 case paperhangings, N. Williams; 30 boxes soap, 1 case drapery, Neal and Close ; 1 canvas roll, Holder; 2 iron castings, Weber ; 1 case. I package plants, W. R. Russell; 1 package trees, Ibrace pheasants, Kinross*Co; 50 sacks flour, Vautier; 1 gig, lley. E.Reigner; 1 pkg plants, 1 case plants, Cuff.—Kinross & Co., agents. CLEARED OUTWARDS. JULY. 4—Rangatira, s.s., 174 tons, Renner, for Wellington, with 1 case, Gowing; 1 case, 1 truss, Kinross and Co. (agents.) Arrival of the cutter Charlotte.—Heavy Weather on the Coast. The cutter Charlotte, Johnson, master, from Greymouth, bound to Kaiapoi (Canterbury) with a cargo of coals, put into this harbor on Monday morning last for shelter, and to repair damages, — the little vessel having experienced some terrific weather on the coast. The Charlotte left Greymouth on the 31st June, with a light breeze from S.E. Next day, the wind went rouud to E.N.E., blowing hard. On the 24th, off Rock Point, the wind again came on from S.E., blowing furiously, in consecmence of which hove the cutter to for a short time. Passed Stephen's Island on the 30th, and was off the Kaikoras on the Ist July—wind being from the northward. Hove-to during the day in consequence of the heavy sea rolling. On the night of the 2nd a heavy sea broke on board ) splitting the mainsail, carrying the galley overboard, smashing the bulwark, and for a time conir pletely burying the little craft. Next day—wind still being still strong from the northward —bore up for Napier, and arrived here as above stated. Messrs. Days and Bristow are row busily engaged in repairing damages to the Charlotte, when which are completed she will resume her voyage to Kaiapoi.

Arrival of the Storm Bird. The s.s. Storm Bird, Captain Doile, arrived in the roadstead at 8.20 o'clock last evening, having left Wellington at 6 o'clock on Tuesday evening. Experienced N.W- winds on the passage. The Storm Bird is announced to steam for Wellington this (Thursday) evening. Miscellaneous. The p.s. Sturfc, Captain Pairchiid, arrived in port at a late hour last evening, from the East Coast. The s.s. Wellington may be expected to arrive from Auckland to-morrow, (Friday), and will steam for Wellington and Southern Ports shortly after arrival. The s.s. Star of the South may be hourly expected to arrive from Auckland. The schooner Hero may shortly be expected to arrive from Wairoa. The ship Undaunted, from London (March 21) arrived at Port Chalmers at 9.50 a.ra. yesterday. The s.s. Rangatira, hence, arrived fit Wellington at 10.30 p.m. on Monday last.

Loss of Her Majesty's ship Ferret at Dover, On Monday morning, March 29, when the tide was rapidly rising, an alarm from the Admiralty pier caused every one to run in that direction, where a grand but sad spectacle was witnessed in the total destruction of the ship Ferret. The Ferret and tlie Marton, companion training brigs, had come rpund from Portsmouth on Saturday to take part in the operations of the naval review. They were moored to buoys on the east side of, and not far from, the Admiralty pier. The Ferret carried eight guns, and had a crew of seventeen men, seven or eight stewards, and eighty-six boys. She was commanded by Lieut. Carre. Soon after midnight of Sunday, the wind, which had gone round from SB. to E.N.E., began to blow with much fury. The Breeze, one of the Dover and Calais mail boats was despatched from the latter place about half-past one, with passengers, of whom there was a large number, principally excursionists, another steamer waiting behind to carry the mails. All across the channel the Breeze experienced very bad weather, and before arriving at Dover, which she did about half-past three, a considerable portion of one of her paddle-boxes, and some of her stern bulwarks, had been carried away. The Breeze brought up on the west side of the pier, where she made fast, her crew—nnost providentially for the officers, men, and boys of the Ferret—remaining on board. Both the training brigs rolled heavily during the gale, and at twenty minutes past four o'clock the Ferret was driven inwards with such violence that her moorings were carried away, and, escaping from the Admiralty buoy, she was borne rapidly towards the pier, the water being then very low. The commander at once gave orders for her anchor to be let go. She, however, fell astern, and was brought up" against the pier. The boys were at once called up, and told not to lose not an instant in preparing to get out of the ship. Many of them were, of oourse, in their hammocks, and some of those who had been suddenly awakened from sleep raised a cry on finding in what imminent danger all hands were placed ; but, after the first surprise, all the young fellows appear to have acted with a courage worthy of their profession. The shouts of the officers and the cry of the lads were heard on board the Breeze, and the crew of the steampacket, on running across the pier and finding how matters stood with the Ferret, brought all the lines and ropes they could, lay hold of, and lowered them down to the deck of the training brig, which was then some twenty feet or twentyfive feet below the level of the pier, Some of the lads mounted the rigging, and from the yards got on to the pier; but the greater number of them and the men vyere hauled up by the crew of the Breeze. They were all saved and taken to the Sailors' Home. It had been hoped that with the rising tide the vessel would right htrself and float, but unfortunately she had received serious damages when driven against the granite, and still more unfortunately the wind increased in violence with the rise of the tide, so that at the time when everyone was rushing to the pier, the Ferret was fast becoming a total wreck. A dreadful sea was rushing in from the north-east, and the waves made terrific sport of the brig. She lay, or rather was spun about, on her beam ends. The water rushed into her and over her every other instant. For a second or two occasionally, as the waves receded, she appeared to be making a desperate effort to right herself, and her two masts rose high above the pier in a nearly perpendicular position ; but in another instant the muzzles of her guns on one side were pointed to the sky, and her masts were almost dipping into the ragiug waters. To stand on the landing pier was now impossible. Tlie waves washed clean over it, and the spray drenched the hundreds of people who stood on the second or promenade pier, ten feet higher up. A piercing shower of hail was descending at the same time. The wind carried it across the pier laterally, and with such force that those iutp whose faces it was driven felt as if every hailstone were a pellet. The battle between the sea and the Ferret lay close at hand, but the whole of Dover roads was one scene of struggle and excitement. Homeward and out-ward-bound steamers were being tossed about as if made of cork instead of iron, and the great turret ships, the Royal Sovereign aud the Scorpion, were only holding their own by force of steam-power. The smaller craft seemed to be at the mercy of the sea. The Ferret was still a ship up to ten o'clock, though she had over and over again been thrown with great force against the pier-wall; but about ten o'clock her mainmast smashed near the deck, and went clean overboard with an appalling crash. In a few minutes more about twenty feet of her remaining mast was carried away, and after a last struggle her guns sank to the bottom, and her hull was broken into fragments, most of which were not larger than firewood, For the next hour the waters all along the pier and the beach were covered with spars and other portions of the wreck. Perhaps no shipwreck was ever viewed by such numbers of people, or under circumstances more extraordinary,

Wreck of the s.s. Hermann, between Yokohama and Yeddo. We take the following from the Overland China Mail: —We exceedingly regret to announce the loss of the P.M.O. s.s. Hermann. The following is Captain Newell's account of the accident: —l was ordered to take command of the Hermann as soon as that vessel should 1 eturn to Yokohama from Yerlda, and did so on the morning of the 13th February. There were then on hoard 350 passengers and a crew of 80 men. The heavy southwesterly gales which had prevailed ior 24 hours previously had broken ; the wind had veered round to N. and E., and the barometer indicating better weather, I proceeded to sea at noon, bound for the Straits of Sangor. Outside the Sagami we encountered a heavy south-westerly swell, but wind fresh from N. and E. At 9 o'clock I had no apprehension whatever, and had just been aft to the stan dard compass to examine the course made by it, and was going forward again when I discovered breakers off the port bow, and immediately afterwards saw them ahead. I then ordered the helm "hard a port." The ship at once answered the movement of the helm, but was caught by a tremendous roller, and thrown with great violence upon the rocks, first striking forward and then aft, when raised by the following swell. Successive seas breaking over the vessel with great violence forced her over the reef, the water filling the ship meanwhile, the vessel thus drifting in shore; the sea breaking outside of her till she had fairly settled to the bottom and to the hurricane deck—this was about 1 a.m. She had by this time broken open amidships, the bows were stove in, and the hull more or less broken by the fore mast. I had concluded at once after striking that it would be safest for the people to cling to the wreck, as no boat could live in the breakers about us, and I ordered that the boat should not be lowered. The life preservers, of which there were a great number, were got up, and the passengers shown their use. I threw up some signal rockets, when the people lighted fires in a little bay in which the town of K-iwatzu is situated. At 10.30 p.m. the port boats were swept away, two of them being at •»«• swamped. Som« of the crow jumped into

the third one, snd got clear of the wreck, but it was overwhelmed close by. Soon after I had the starboard boats lowered, which were quickly filled •vith people. In two of them" they cuff tlie p"<intars and attempted to reach the shore, but were swamped at a short distance from the wreck. The third and last boat cast adr-ft from tha vessel, but remained under the cover the wreck afforded from the breakers for about half-an»hour, and then ran in towards the shore. As the wreck settled deeper, the people came upon'the hurricane deck. Between midnight and 1 a.m. one of the funnels fell upon the king rods, and thence rolling forward on the hurricane deck, broke it off amidships, causing loss of life to a number of people collected there. Before the chimney fell the foremast had gone. Thej sea, reaching the hurricane deck, broke up the whole of it forward, but the after portion floated off almost entire, and remained in this way alongside, and seemed to save 40 or 50 people. We then collected on the wheel-houses and in the rigging. The wind and sea moderated rapidly, the former veering to the southward and westward, and coming off the land very cold and piercing. Some of the people were washed off; some tried to save themselves on pieces of broken wreck. The boats, being mostly life-boats, although swamped still floated, and were washed into the small bay by the surf, and those people who clung to them were saved. It is impossible for me to estimate, the loss of life. The ship first struck the reef at 9 p.m., and had sot settled so that the sea dashed and broke up the hurricane-deck till about 1 a.m., and those who were swept away in the various casualties happening in the interval were carried in shore by the surf while floated by the life-pre-servers, or clinging to portions of the wreck. We suffered greitly from the cold, and sc me of those in the rigging proved unable to endure it. At daylight I found that the wreck lay about threequarters of a mile from shore, and near the bay mentioned above. The ship struck about a quarter of a mile further out, bat was swept by the heavy rolling seas to the spot where she finally settled. I had little hopes, from the appearance of the coast, that those who were in the boats during the night were saved ; but as it afterwards proved, many of them were. About a hundred people remained on the wreck. Soon one of the ship's boats and a number of native craft came off from the shore. The latter would not come alongside, and I was obliged to transfer the people from the wreck to them by means of the life-boat. When, however, tlie weather moderated still more, the Japanese boats came alongside and helped to take off the balance of the people. At 2 p.m. all those who remained by the wreck during the night were safely landed. Before closing I would remark that the behaviour of the Japanese was heroic. When the ship struck, these brave men, suddenly roused from sleep by the awful crash, seemed to comprehend their situation in a moment. No stampedeno disorder. From the first they were quiet and cool, retaining wonderfully their presence of mind, and calmly awaiting the commands of their leader. This officer called them on deck, and after consulting with me as to the proper course to be pursued, ordered his men to stay by the ship. On hearing this they retired to their rooms, where they remained until driven from them by the water rising in the vessel. None of them attempted to leave the ship without permission from the officer iu command; and I noticed that those who determined to try swimming ashore stripped themselves, with the exception of a belt about the waist, and fastening to this their swords, jumped into the sea. On arriving at Kawatzu we mustered 58 offiers and crew ; the first officer, a watersender, and 20 of the crew having been lost. We walked 00 miles through the country, meeting everywhere with kindness, and reaching the head of Yeddo Bay, obtained the boat which brought us to Yokohama.