QUEEN OF THE SOUTH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 1979, 20 May 1919, Page 3

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH.

INQUIRY INTO HER LOSS. WAS THE COMPASS A FFECTED ? An inquiry was opened on Saturday, at Wellington, by Mr D. 0. A. Cooper. S.M., with Captains W. Manning and C. M'Arthur as assessors, into the wreck of the Queen of the South on the 10th hist., oil Cape Campbell. Air O’Regan appeared for the Seamen's Union, Mr AT. Alyers for the owners, and Air K. Kirkcaldie for the captain, J. Owen. Air J. Prendeville, of the Crown Law Office. appeared for the Marine Department.

John. Rhys Owen, captain of the Queen of (he South, stated that he had been in command two mouths and a-half. The vessel left the Queen's Wharf, Wellington,- at 11 o’clock on the night of (lie Dili of January, in hazy weather. They turned Penearrow Point about midnight, and he set her course southwest by half west, lie remained on deck till about 4.15 a.m., and could then see about three or four miles. The weather was still hazy. The vessel was going at six knots an hour. At 5.15 he heard the ship strike something, and went on deck, ordered the engines to go full speed astern, and the boats to he swung out. It was then very hazy, but calm. The engineer reported llml she was making water rapidly, and he ordered the boats to be lowered. It was a heavy fog, and they could see nothing for about an hour. Abovit 7 o’clock they landed on the beach near Cape Campbell lighthouse. About 10 o’clock they wont on board again, and he found that (lie water was within two feel of (ho deck'. They found that 1 hey could do nothing with the vessel, and after about an hour the crew collected their belonging.-' and he decided to abandon the ship, Dn the Sunday he came on to A el-" linglou by the Wakalu. The compasses on the Queen of the South, ho said, were adjusted last: May. when they showed a deviation of two degrees east, but witness said that he had found the ship steered a good course in spite of this deviation. He did not allow for the deviation on (ho night in question owing to that fact. On the night of the occurrence the vessel would come under (he influence of the Hood tide half-way between Penearrow and Cape Campbell. Its effect would be to sel him to the west. He did not think there was anything in the weal he] 1 ,/the sea, or the tide to prevent the ship making the eour.se set. AVith his knowledge of the steering qualities of 1 lie ship he did not think it was necessary to allow for the deviation of the compass. The course set should have carried the ship nine or ton miles off Cape Campbell. He suggested that the ship did not make the course sot, because, as lie found out two days later, there wore two cases of magnetos on board. These electrically charged instruments, probably placed on top of the cargo, and possibly only ten feet from the binnacle, might have affected the compass. He bad made experiments and found that a single magneto would affect the compass at eight or ten feet away. The depth of the hold

was 7ft, Bin. Mr Kirkcaldio: Have von made any experiments as to whether a magneto will deflect a compass? Yes.

At wha( dislance did you find it would deflect? —From eight to ten feet. His theory was that (lie magneto had influenced the compass. Captain Mclndoe, of the Merchant Service Guild, demonstrated on (he floor of the court how a single magneto would affect a compass. In answer to Mr Myers, witness said the rock on which ho struck was about seven and a-half miles out, of the course that lie had set. He could not account for the fact until he, a Her his return to'Wellington, considered (he question of a magneto. He was surprised at (he discovery. Even if he had known there were magnetos on hoard he would not have known that they could affect the compass. To Mr O’Regan: Witness said that when the wreck occurred there was no look-out man. A look-out man would not have seen any more than the officer on the bridge. “If I had been there myself the accident would have happened just the same. I thought the ship was nine or ten miles off Capo Campbell." It was not the custom on small boats to have a man on the lookout —not even when off a dangerous coast; not oven in a fog. After working eight hours a seaman was entitled to overtime. Witness had been at sea twenty-one years, and twelve years on the Xew Zealand coast. He did not have two men and two watches because he considered one man enough, held that that was in accordance with the terras of an agreement made with the seamen übout twelve months ago.

Mr O’Regan suggested that it was done with a view to,saving as much overtime as possible. The witness supposed it was . It was no part of the instruction from his owners to curtail overtime as much as possible, nor to have only one man on the: watch. He did that on his own initiative. To Mr Myers; Witness said the man on the bridge bad as good a lookout as the man in the forepart of the vessel. On a small boat a look-out man was not necessary. To Mr Kirkealdie: He was only following the practice of his predecessor, who had been in charge of the vessel thirty years. When the ship struck k e could not see wljex’e

lhey had struck, nor the land. In fact they lowered the boat on to the reef where they struck. In such a fop a lookout man could, not have seen anything. They lowered a boat and rowed round the ship, but could see nothing till daybreak. THE MATE CORROBORATES.

Frank Lawton, mate of the Queen of the South, gave corroborative evidence. He had been two months and a-half on the vessel, and hud also found by the run that she made a true course on the course set. When he took over at 4.15 a.m. Captain Owen left orders that he should he called if any change in the weather occurred. There was no change in the conditions till three or four minutes past live, when the fog began to get thicker. On a clear night the Cape Campbell light could he seen about sixteen miles off. On the course set they .should have been off Cape Campbell at the time. He thought they were nine or ten miles off thp light. He was keeping; a proper lookout. Il would have been no help if there had been a lookout on the forecastle head.

To Mr O’Regan : He agreed with the captain that stationing a man on the lookout would have made no difference. At the time of the accident ho and the other man at the wheel were the only men on deck. They were going six knots an hour. The usual speed was eight knots, but they had plenty of time to get to Lyttelton. Speed was not considered because of the fog. Nobody was more surprised than himself when they struck something hard in (lie water. He had been on the boat ten years ago. In the interval he had been nine years ashore. The practice as to watches had been changed in the meantime. He had been eleven years at sea in all.

Mr O’Regan: Ten years ago would you Stave gone careering Fa rough a fog with only two men on deck .’

Witness: We would have had to keep a better lookout. On a snmff vessel, however, the man on the lookout would have no advantage over the man on the bridge. Sometimes in a fog a man loner down eoukl see bet tor than the man on the bridge.

By Air Myers; During the nine years’ interval lie had been harbourmaster and pilot at Foxton, A, lookout on a'small vessel could sec no better than the man on the bridge. Air .Prendeville; As you did not see Cape Campbell light, did you not make use of the lead.’ . Witness: No.

Air Kirkcaldie pointed out from (lie chart that if the vessel had kept the course set the use of the lead would have been no good. By the court: I was just, going to call the captain when she struck. Joseph Ashworth, A.B. on the Queen of the South, said he went to the wheel at four o’clock on the morning of the accident. The course ho steered was south by west half west. Ho got the course from the captain and male, and steered it until the vessel struck. He noticed nothing wrong with the compass. To Air (VRpgan witness said lie thought there ought lo be a look-out. man even on a small vessel. Before the present industrial agreement came into force there was a lookout man on vessels like the Queen of the South. To Air Kirkcaldie: Even if (hey had had a lookout he did not think it, would have prevented the accident. DEFLECTION OF THE COMPASS. Captain A. 0, Clifford, Adjuster of Compasses, gave evidence regarding the deflection of Hie coinpass, alleged to he duo to the magnetos on hoard. Such cargo should not he less than 50ft. from the compass. From his experiments, it urns reasonable to suppose that the magnetos had affected the compass on the Queen of the South. By Mr Prendovillo: 1 fjdho magnetos were set alternately in the ease thev would neutralise one another.

By Mr O’Regan: He could not say who would be responsible for seeing that such things as magnetos were not stowed too near (he compass. Mr OMiegan pointed out that if magnetos affected the compass in that way they might he responsible for a disaster lo a passenger vessel. Somebody should be responsible for their stowing.

Captain Melndoe said that he had seen a case of twenty-four magnetos opened, and they were all stowed the same way, not alternately, so as to neutralise each oilier. Mr Kirkcaldie corroborated as to the way the magnetos were packed.

Mr Myers said that the eases mi the Queen of the South would hold a I tout eight magnetos each. They were original packages and nobody in New Zealand could say how they were packed. The male, recalled, said that lie supervised the stowing of the cargo, but did no tallying. He did not know there were magnetos aboard, and if he had he would not have specially stowed them, as he did not know that they would affect the compass. THE COURT'S FINDING. OFFICERS EXONERATED. The Court's finding was as follows ; The Court was of opinion that the wreck of the vessel on the morning of Saturday, 10th May, on the reef off Cape Campbell was primarily due to the light on Cape Campbell Lighthouse being obscured by fog, and no other lights or landmarks being visible by which the master might have seen the yes-

sel was not making a safe course. The evidence showed that the course set after leaving Penearrow —S and W \ west —should have taken the vessel about nine miles off Cape Campbell, had the tide been as the master expected it would be. Theoretically, a safe course was steered, but had the master had more experience of (he locality he would have made an allowance to counteract the effect of the Hood tide. While accepting the theory that the two cases of magnetos shipped as cargo might possibly have been a contributing cause to the accident, the Court pointed out that there was no evidence adduced to prove that these cases were stowed in such proximity to the compass as to have produced a deviation sufficient to have been the sole cause of the wreck. The Court found that the loss of the vessel was not'caused by, or contributed to by, the wrongful act of the master or any of his officers or crew, but might not have occurred had the master possessed more experience of the tides in that part of the Straits.

The Court therefore returned the certificates of the master and mate, and did not consider it a case where the master or mate should he ordered to pay costs. In a memorandum to its judgment the Court made the following recommendations :

(1) That official tests should he made to ascertain at what distance magnetos attract compasses. (2) That all electrical goods shipped should he clearly marked '‘electrical.’’

The judgment added that Ihe reason for making these recommendations was on account of the effect the carrying of 'electideal goods in the holds of small vessels may have on the compasses of such vessels.