SHIPPING DISASTER.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 131, 15 February 1909, Page 2

SHIPPING DISASTER.

S.S. Penguin Wrecked near Wellington. Information as to the wreck of the Union Steamship Company's Penguin at Cape Terawhiti, reached Wellington on Saturday. The vessel traded chiefly between Wellington and Nelson, with Blenheim and Picton as ports of call, / and was running for Wellington when the wreck occurred. As far as can be ascertained the Penguin carried 50 passengeas on- the run, and of these it is believed only about 20 have been saved. The names of the passengers accounted for on Saturday are as - follows:—Mrs Hanan, Hopkins, Bob Jack, Robt. Ellison, W. H. Green, Gerald T. Allen Matthews (a lad), Frank Shaw, L. T. Hogg, P. Perkins, Riggs, Millar, C. E. Downes. Of the officers and crew the following were saved: — Captain Nay lor; second engineer, Mr Luke; purser, Mr Thompson; stewards: R, Watts, Keys, Hull, C. Jones, W. Rees, D. McCormack, D. Francis; A.B.'s, K. Jackson andFarrell; 0.5., Snellgrove; greasers, Pierrie and Wicktoun; cook, Lynn.

.The officers drowned are: First officer, W. A. Mclntyre; second, F. Driscoll; third, E. A. Looseman; first and third engineers, R. Urquhart and W. R. Rentoul, Wellington; chief steward, K. Alexander; and the stewardesses, Mrs Hope and Miss There were also presumbalydrowned six firemen, six sailors, and 12 in the stewards' department, the names of whom, however, are not available. NAMES OF THE MISSING.

As far as it has been possible to ascertain the names of those passengers who have not yet been accounted for are as follows: —Misses Jennings Toomer, MacGuire (3), Ribbands, McAlley, Menzies; Mesdames Rutherford, Jacka, Hale, Tomer and child; Messrs Johnstone, Troade, Chappell, Rutherford, Masters, Berkett, MacGuire, Underwood, Noel, White, Collis, C. Hale, Bird, Holcroft, Holmes. There were two steerage whose names are unknown.

Cape Terawhiti is regarded as a danger spot by mariners, owing to the irregularity of the tides, and the existence of an exceptionally strong current. Captain Naylor, who reached the shore by clinging to a damaged boat, states that he was on the bridge of the Penguin until the vessel struck. About 10 o'clock the weather became thick, and not being able to pick up Pencarrow light, the captain to put the steamer's head out to sea.— The Captain was putting the vessel's head round when she struck. The Postmaster at Picton wired to the Postal Department at Wellington on Saturday as follows: — "Captain Carey, master of the s.s. Blenheim, informs me that both the Blenheim and the Opawa were carried many miles to the northward last night by an extraordinary current;. The Blenheim was forced in here. This may throw some light on the wreck of the Penguin."