WRECKED IN A FOG

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 10 January 1931, Page 4

WRECKED IN A FOG

LOSS OF HIGHLAND HOPE EARLY MORNING DISASTER ALL PASSENGERS SAVED In a dense fog, but without the loss of a single life, and with injury to only one person. 545 passengers and crew of the new Nelson motor-liner Highland Hope were saved when that ship ran ashore in the early hours of the morning of 19th November off the Portuguese coast. The vessel carried 152 passengers when she left London on 15th November for Vigo, Lisbon, Las Palmas, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janerio and other ports. A large proportion of thes.c voyagers were British, but there were also a number of Spanish persons, who were going to South America. At Vigo the liner picked up 233 Spanish emigrants, also for South America. It was one of these, a man, who was injured by jumping into a trawler alongside the wrecked vessel. The scene of the disaster was rocks off the Farilhoes Islands, situated some 00 miles north of Lisbon, and about 15 miles from the coast, which is a notoriously dangerous place for navigators. It \vas at 4 a.m. that the great finer went ashore. Thanks to the coolness and discipline maintained by her commander, Captain Jones, there was no panic, though naturally tho passengers, alarmed by the shock which aroused them from sleep, came out on to the decks, many half-dressed and others clad only in tlicir sleeping apparel. WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST S.O.S. signals were at once sent out and were picked up by several vessels. But there were at hand several Portuguese trawlers, which hurried to the scene, to which tugs were also despatched by the Portuguese naval authorities from tho nearest points. Under the orders of the officers the passengers were marshalled on deck, in orderly fashion preparatory to the lifeboats being lowered. Women and children were placed in the boats first, which were swung away without accident and taken in tow by the waiting trawlers. The male passengers were then got safely away. Meanwhile news of the wreck had reached Pineche, the nearest town, which is about ten miles south of the Farilhoes. To this place the rescued, passengers were taken in tho lifeboats and trawlers. At one o’clock in the afternoon fishermen brought on shore two men and a child who had been asleep and had not noticed that the Highland Hope had been wrecked. PASSENGER’S GRAPHIC STORY Mr F. S. Hayburn, deputy-managing director of the Marconi International Marine Communication Company, Limited who, with his wife and daughter, was travelling on the Highland Hope, ' “When the ship struck the rocks she immediately commenced lurching. Passengers were ordered to their boat stations —women and children first, of course. After bidding good-bye to iny wife and daughter, who were allotted to No. 9 lifeboat, and the lifeboat had begun to descend, I was ordered to join it as an oarsman. As I was boarding the lifeboat it was nearly immersed owing to the sudden lurching of the Highland Hope, but my wife prevented me falling into the sea. “When lowering the lifeboat after the full complement was on board, another lurch caused it to tilt, throwing several into the sen,. My wife saved one passenger and Fireman Pike saved another. I cannot say what happened, to the others. On the return lurch the lifeboat righted with a crash against the Highland Hope, and was damaged. “The lowering of the lifeboat was then completed, but it immediately filled with water to the gunwale, creating great alarm among those, on board. Several male emigrants immediately deserted the water-logged lifeboat and swam to others or climbed the ropes back to the Highland Hope. “Only Fireman Pike, a steward, the carpenter, and myself were left to calm the wailing and praying women, and to endeavour to row the water-logged boat away from the Highland Hope.

LIFEBOAT’S REFUSAL TO AID

When lifeboat No. 7 was launched we appealed to them to take on board the women from our lifeboat as they had room, but they refused. For over an hour we were sitting in water up to our hips struggling to keep the lifeboat away from the wash of the screws. Eventually we saw the flare of a fishing boat, and attracted attention by lighting bundles of matches. “We were picked up clad in soaked night-clothes, and the fishing boat cruised around the Highland Hope until dawn, seeking swimmers. None were found, and we were landed at Pincche at 9.15 a.m., miserable and half frozen, but thankful at our escape. My wife’s back and both legs were hurt in the crash of the lifeboat against the Highland Hope, and she has been ordered by the doctor to rest for a few days before resuming travel. We have lost all our belongings.”

The Highland Hope, which became a total loss, was a twin screw steamer of 14,129 tons, and was built in 1929-30 at Belfast by Messrs Harland and Wolff. She was 'delivered to the owners less than ten months before she was wrecked. The insurance interests, including cargo, were expected to be between £BOO,OOO and £900,000.