LOSS OF ONE OF THE PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL COMPANY’S STEAM VESSELS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 665, 17 December 1851, Page 4

LOSS OF ONE OF THE PENINS ULAR AND ORIENTAL COMPANY’S STEAM VESSELS.

[From the Singapore Free Press, July 31.] The chief event which has occupied the P ujllc a . ltei >tion at Singapore for a week past s the frightful collision which took place beteen the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s steamers Erm and Pacha, on the night of the 21st instant, and which resulted io the almost lTs™of'lifl ° f the laUer ’ and a Serious On the afternoon of the 22nd instant, the ° rien,al Company’s steamer Erin, Captain Tronson, from Calcutta, arrived here, presenting a very disabled appearance, her bowsprit being gone, and her bows very much injured. It was soon-ascertained that

a collision had taken place on the preceding mght between the Erin and the Peninsular Lin £°”K Pan K’ S .^ eamer Capafternoon, and that the iXr -J spears that on the night in question the hZ nn proc , eed,n g U P the Straits, standing on the usual course, north-west by west • but as Captain, Miller, who only joined vessel at Hong Kong, had been told there was ° -cart rays down a bank L!° \ Wa f y i° Ut [ r ° m the land off Mount ForVf? lralhe i ranXloUSas 10 his Position. About half- p ast eleven o’clock some lightning over Mount Formosa gave him a glimpse 0 ? -. u.m immediately afterwards he saw a' light which he considered to be on shore or to proceed from some boat or other vessel close in e land * 7 hiB light ’ Wllich “ was af e " wards ascertained was the Jiaht at ' head of the Erin and which, as ouswX B '' was lowered at half-past eleven for th. pose or oetng trimmed, then disappeared'-T,',i " Captain Miller thought he was Wo d,’„ h to clear the Formosa bank on h; o t Ssia-“-SS well as a red liahL .i? Was a^ain seen » as light being burned in ‘the /“d ablue from the other vessd 5 d answered steamer -ffrin coming’in the on n< T n , ! ® be tot it was though lU t S Bl 'a-' 0 '’ 110 "’ not guessed at on lhe lire

P." s eSg P °ve«!| ■" «• k, fore went cut toward- ?k Btea mer s .l’®! channel, approaching each oth Dl ‘ ddle of *J’ Thehu llBofthe st^oth until they were close to e e n °‘ visiM' lision became inevitable. ’“»* il were then ordered to be rev e io prevent them coming i 0 c bu ‘ took striking the Pacha a Tittle S**’ 'Mr!, board paddlebox. The ,he «£’ m «u.. ely fen over A.. « down within less than seven 1- “ d sbe Wen. accident, io about 25 f.H„ o , '£«« «ft.t th. of base on board tbe P acio ’”«• M.„ bad barely time to roah up from b ’? lct P. M she sank, and some it i s nroholj ’ lo * Hie ed the deck. Of those iho ' clambered at once on to ped ’ ’ome from the sinking vessel to the B °® e 8^a ® rest swam about or clun K tn t ° er ’ ai ><f tbe until the boats were lowered and picked them up. Two Eurolj Chinese passengers, the third clerk in charge, and ten of t’S p dlhe crew, were drowned. The Fn • 7? side 5ide J able dam *ge. and the water 2? at her bows, but being built with wXr? compartments only two filled, and w. pumps were got to work with the enX • was found that the water could b ?’ tt sufficiently under to enable her to tach gspore, whither her course was directed afu* havmg remained near the spot where the .s.Oss iootc piace anout four hours to ni c go e ods SCOn 7 ,lerable parl goods in the Ann, ls of course damaged saltwater, .nd the whole has. been L dta ’ She has upwards of 1000 chests of opium f« China, much of which is damased. J" require some further time befor’e she can'ie sufficiently repaired loenable her to prosecute her voyage. Tbe Pacha had on board wards of 400,000 dollars of specie shipped n Chma and 30,000 dollars shipped in Si„~“ C e ’/ n t’n' ry liU ' e oflhela ’>«. which be. longed chiefly to natives, was insured. An investigation into the causes of the collision was commenced at the Police Court on Monday last, before the sitting Magistrate and the Master Attendant, aided by Captain Barker, of H.M.S. Amazon, which pending. M hatever may be the result of tbe enquiry, the public will not be misled on. less every possible precaution be taken to ore vent these frightful collisions from occurring in future. The neighbouring seas are not yet traversed by .numerous lines of steamers running in various directions, and crossing each other as in the British channel, so that vessels on these eastern lines are not likely to meet with other steamers more than once during a passage, and then they will be met coming from opposite directions on the same track or nearly so. Surely under these circumstances regulations could be made sufficiently stringent to prevent almost the possibility of collisions taking place, at least between steamers running on the same line. We would suggest, for example, that it should be renered imperative when one steamer meets another during the night, for each to reduce their rate of steaming to half speed until well -past each other, and at the same time to bring their heads in the direction of the true channel course, and not to deviate from it under any consideration more than is sufficient to bring them into a position to pass each other on tbe port side according to :h e existing rule. If either commander thought he was in the’neigh-.-.wv VI uauger, ne could easily stop bis engines until the other vessel had passed, when he could pursue what course he n lessedThe passengers missing are Dr. Briscoe and Mr. Hardoin, and two Chinese deck passengers. The Pacha's ship’s company when she left Singapore consisted of fifty-one, of whom the following are missing:—Messrs. T. Gresdale, third officer, and R. Orton, clerk in charge ; M. Johnson and T. Williamson, able seamen ; C. Rose, J. Lawlord, Dome "ifd Romnson, stokers ; T. Coooper and R. Wilkins, stewards ; Leech, officers servant; and E. Silvertborn, butcher. The opium, which formed the principal part of the cargo of the .Erin, has been landed and surveyed, and the damaged portion has been in course of sale by public auction for some days past. Between five and six hundred chests in the whole, out of some 1140 chests which were shipped in the Erin, will require to be sold here which it is tbougnt will bring about 150,000 dollars.