A LINER SUNK.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 449, 20 March 1912, Page 5

A LINER SUNK.

—----- COLLISION IN CHANNEL. SEVENTEEN LIVES LOST. By Telecraph.—Press Association.--Copyright London, Sunday. A wreck involving heavy loss of life, in addition to the loss of a P. and O. liner, occurred in the English Channel on Saturday night. The P. and 0. steamer Oceana was outward bound from London and was making her way down the Channel when she came into collision with the German barque Pisagua oft' Beach Head during intense darkness. The Oceana wag the more severely injured of the two. She was struck on the side, and a great, hole 2.0 ft wide, from the deck to well below the , waterline, was torn in her hull. A great inrush of water followed j the collision, and though 'every effort i was made to check the inflow it was I soon apparent that there was little j hope of keeping the vessel afloat. j GETTING OUT THE MOATS. j The boats were quickly swung out, and made ready for the ocupation of the passengers and crew. The latter numbered 280, but there were only 40 passengers on board, the remainder intending to travel through France overland and join the vessel at Marseilles. The discipline of the officers and the European section of the crew was exemplary, and they went about the work of saving the lives of those on board with the utmost coolness. The] Lascars, however, huddled on the decks, alternately wailng and screaming and terrifying the otherwise courageous womofolk, who stood awaiting their turn for the boats as patiently as the males. i There was ample accommodation for j aii in the boats, and, as an additional j precaution, lifebelts were served out j all round, j FIRST BOAT CAPSIZES. j The first; , boat lowered, in which j there were IS, swamped, and only one occupant was saved. The accident was attributed to the davit rope becoming blocked. The survivor. Miss Macfarlane, a clergyman's daughter, stated that her father, her " mother, and some lady passengers were drowned. A Channel steamer arrived on the scene shortly after the collision, and, after the swamping of the first boat, the remainder of the passengers and crew were transferred to her. A ship's carpenter, who was lying in his bunk at the time of the impact, had his leg broken and one of the passengers had his arm fractured. The injured men were safely transferred to the rescuing boat. SINKING OF THE LINER. The Oceana was then taken in tow, and an effort was made to beach her. The water gained too rapidly, however, and six miles off Eastbourne she sank. The captain and crew quitted the vessel only when she was sinking, and 20 minutes after they left she heeled over, her stern rose in the air, and the sound of a great: explosion followed by the uprising of dense volumes of smoke and steam, announced that her boilers had burst. A minute later the last of the vessel waq seen, and she settled down on the bottom on an even keel. The Oceana had a valuable cargo on board, including a million in specie. The rescued passengers, 32 in number, were conveyed back to London, where they arrived in their night clothes, wrapped in blanket s and towels, while some were bare headed. PISAGUA BADLY DAMAGED. At first it was thought that the Pisagua had only been slightly damaged, but the leak in her bows quickly increased, and she was headed for Dover, where she arrived in a sinking condition. j Her officers paid a tribute to the coolness of those on board the Oceana, stating that the captain behaved with the greatest presence of mind "like all British captains." The bodies of a stewardess, a lady passenger, and a Lascar have been recovered.