UNION COY’S LOSSES

Hokitika Guardian, 28 August 1930, Page 7

UNION COY’S LOSSES

V ' -f • TAHITI THE EIGHT. :• , ' ’ X •*’ ' ; EARLY, WRECKS RECALLED. / fir ; : _j The vloss of the Tahiti ,once more directs .attention to the Uhion. Steamship Company’s “unlucky T!s.” It is npw over 30 years since the, last of the 1 line precedent to the unfortunate Tahiti came to grief, but'in the space of 22 years before that the company which is closely allied with New Zealand Insi tory lost no less than six of its vessels in the risky /trading days round the rack-bound/coast. These six vessels however, / provided seven shipwrecks, for one boat was wrecked twice over. The six vessels mentioned were the Taranaki, (twice wrecked,) the Tararua, Taiaroa, Taupo, Tekapo, and the second Taupo. The Tahiti thus makes the eighth of the group to meet misfortune. .Some curious aspects of the situation; are that six of the eight wrecks were free from loss of life, most of them.;occurred in the months of April and - August and no fewer than five occurred at;Week-ends. ■ 4 THE TARANAKI. •The first,-of the line to go was the which sank on April 29, 1833 The Taranaki was entering Tory Cham way from Wellington, to Picton when she struck Boat Harbour rock, which was avVash, and went down in'* ten'fathoms of water, and “about half 'a caldle’s length from the shore” aSitjtfiejPjpss.-message; reported. She struck "first under the engine room, dragged‘.bodily over the rock and hact her; propellor torn away. She was towed for'over two hours but finally disappeared >nd her masts were'just visible. On board were a few . passengers, among tliein being Bishop Lichfield and Lord Burghley (grandfather of the famous hurdler) gained great praise by “working hard like labourers. Captain Francis-,commanded the boat at this time and, the. passengers and crew got ashbre without difficulty.; The Taranaki was refloated after about a year and served in the New Zealand' trade until 1878 when she Was wrecked again, this time.in a fog off Karewha, a small island five; miles. outside Tauranga Harbour: She lay oh her beam ends, only a small . pprtion of her bow being, out the 75 passengers apd crew of 34 were!saved..The passengers presently an address to Captain Mai- , colm, sympathising with and congratulating liim it' once, ; but the marine court found that there had been an eror. in the -compass,, that the ship had , only ah clock, and ordered ( the master‘to pay costs. ( TW, following year, 1879, saw the ’ first Taupo wrecked in the early hours i of February 18. She ran ashore at '• Stopey j. Point off Mount Maungatapu, < also near.- the entrance to Tauranga, 1 and a steamer was sent to her assist" c

ance at Z a.m. that day. She had struck a sunken rock, “the -same on which the, Hawea bumped some time ago,”.-in'the throes of a strong tide rip, > blit Tauranga was concerned for its record as a safe port and New Zealand/ \vas> told by the Press message that “no excuse apparently can be -made for the accident, for men-o’-war and vessels of. the largest tonnage have come the same way without running on the rocks.” The boat could not be refloated, as at first was hoped, and the company abandoned her to the underwriters and took the £23,000 insurance Al lthe cargo though, was saved. A TERRIBLE DISASTER.’

So far, there had not been one fatalality, but the next wreck was fraught with terrible results. On April 29, 1881 while en route from Port Chalmers to Melbourne, the Tararua struck the Utnra Reef. The first report was that the passengers and crew were safe, but that’ was premature. Three boats were lowered and sent off in search for a spot to land, and at once a terrible gale arose. About half a mile from shore, the passengers and crew gazed over giant combers at the longed-for land, but only 30 of the 150 souls aboard were ever to tread it again. One of the boats which were lowered was swamped at once, another escaped seaward, the third went ashore, There were two good- boat harbours within a tew miles but these were unknown and the people on shore were unable to gain communication with those on the ship, So great was the pressure against the ship’s rail that it gave away and sixteen persons fell into the sea. Finally, the Tararua broke in two and at darkness only the bow was left. There were piteous cries as the people on the boat saw' the settlers turn helplessly at nightfall and start for their homes, and though the Kakanui arrived, she could do nothing to aid the passengers They were, separated by heavy seas. Early the following morning there was .a loud crack and cries of terror and when the day broke all that was left of the Tararua was a lone spar. It was as a result of the disaster that the marine inquiry reeommendd that in future all ships trading round the New Zealand coast should be compelled to carry life-belts for the maximum number of passengers and crew.

CLARENCE RIVER WRECK. In 1880, on April 11, the Taiaroa met her doom. She was,going from Wellington to Lyttelton when she ran ashore near- the Clarence River. Three passengers were washed* a shore, two of them strong swimmers, and Captain Thompson and ten . men reached Wairau in a boat, but 13 passengers and 19 of the crew were drowned.. It had been blowing a heavy gale and the weather “was as thick as a hedge,” said one newspap er in describing the wreck. The weather, remained very bad, and the boats which were lowered capsized one after another. The courage of four old ladies who died close to the vessel, was one of the features of the disaster, The bodies were scattered over 30 miles of coast, and though the ill-fated Penguin

arrived on the scene, she could not give any help.

On 'May 16, 1899, the Tekapo u>s wrecked while en route from Sydney to Port Kembla. She stranded during a fog in Morowbra Bay and the snip's bottom was ripped from end to ena. Passengers and crew were saved and hope of floating was abandoned, so she was sold at auction. There was a grim incident after her sinking when a- diver was examining her bottom and the ship rolled, the long .slit in the Tekapo closing on his fingers. However, another, roll released him. The final “T” to precede the Tahiti was the new Taupo. She bad been built in 1881, and on July 16, 1900, she broke from her moorings at C.Weymouth and grounded on the North Beach. No life was lost, hut a little later she broke up and was sold.