THRILLING STORY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 413, 23 December 1932, Page 7

THRILLING STORY

SHIPWRECKED BRITISH CREW'S STRANGE AND TRYING ORDEAL AWE-INSPIRING SENSATION Lucky to escape with their lives, a party of men who were on board a British steamer which was wrecked and sunlc through colliding with an iceberg described a thrilling ordeal when landed at Liverpool. They consisted of the sole passenger, Mr. Bertram Barlcer, Longford, Coventry, and .some of the crew of the freighter Bright Fan, 3,791 tons, which was lost in the middle of the Hudson" Straits on October 3. The vessel, owned by the Fancott Shipping Company, was carrying a cargo of a quarter of a million bushels of grain when the mishap occurred in the early hours of the morning. "It was bad luck for me," remarked Mr. Barker, "because all my possessions went down with the Bright Fan, including gold and mineral ore and souvenirs I had collected during 13 years spent in the Arctic, living the primitive life of the Eskimo.

A Violent Collision "We were heading full speed for the Atlantic when I was pitched out of my bunk by a 'violent collision. "Rushing on deck I fonnd we had mounted the ledge of an iceberg — a huge fellow 300 feet long, with great peaks 100 feet high. It was an aweinspiring sensation. "Any minute our little ship was doomed, and the only hope was to reverse the engines. This was done, and with a tcrrifying din she ploughed through the icy platform and sank back on the water. "Instantly she began to settle. To give an order for the boats was unnecessary; we scramhled for them. By the time they were launehed we just had to walk across from the deck into them and row away. "Not a thing was saved, excepting Sambo, the black cat. Meowing pdtifully he clung to one man's shdulder like grim death. Ship Sluiddered and Dived "Within 12 minutes we saw the ship shudder, piteh forward, and then make a perfect dive into 100 fathoms. "Wireless-Operator Milbourne, who was one of the last to leave, left the wireless running, giving S.O.S. calls and location. This brought to our aid the ice patrol boat N. B. McLean, which took us on board, and dropped our party totalling 30, at Wakeham Bay. "There we were transferred to a Cardiff steamer, and taken to Poi'i Churchill." Mr. Barker mentioned that he had been engaged in trapping and prospecting in the North-West Territory of Canada. "Strange as it may he," he added, "while living in an ice-house I had a portable radio, and during the long evenings I listened to the dance music broadcast from the London hotels. I received my p-ost once or twice a year at Hudson Bay, and for 10 months out of every 12 I was out of touch with civilisation."