TUGS FAIL TO SHIFT WANGANELLA

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5317, 1 February 1947, Page 5

TUGS FAIL TO SHIFT WANGANELLA

( Press Assn.

' * raPLOATING ATTEMPfl FIRST ROUND ENDS Ift BIG SALVAGE BATTLE ;;

—By Telcgraph—Copyriqhtj' «

WELLINGTON, Last Night;? ' The biggest attempt yet to L refloat the motor liner Wanga- A nella at noon to-day failed. At. an interval in the conferencfe held subsequently to eonsider further operations, quqstions . were put to Captain G. Mc-r ; Dorald, "of Melbourne, marihe underwriter and surveyor for the Huddart Parker Company; • who had complete contrbl of ^ the salvage operations. . Asked was there any sign of moV6* ment by the Wanganella in the direction required, he answered "No." The:, weather was all that -could be degired, he said, and it was at the -peak ofhigh -water, that the attempt * made. ■> . * , *; Asked how did the sealfng of the tw0 forward hatches answer, he said:

"We can control that." Questioned whether another attempt of the same nature will be made he replied: "That remains te be decided." To a question: "Will explosives be used?" he said: "We have to go.Jnto that. We have not used them so far." "Will caissons ;be used?" was ^another question to which he -said: -"No. There are rocks in the way."

Perfect salvage weather ruled this morning. High tide was at 11,50 a.m. The tugs Toia, Terewhiti ancl Rahanui were in attendance. On ibddfft. all -work by the" boilermakers had ceased. Life jackets were avaiied of by members of the crew. Compressed' air, apparently issuing from holes low'' in the hull, boiled to the surfacs here and there along the bow of the ship. Everybody waited expectantly in tho* fresh northerly breeze which brought* white caps to the crests of the waves. Thei;e was praetically no swell.. ••• ' At 1.1.20 a.m. the Kahanui inoved ' out to the starboard quarter, where she*stocd ready throughout the succeeding operations. The Tola"; moved in on the starboard side, put1'4 a tow-line aboard the Wanganella ," and took the strain. The Terewhiti * was close up on the port side also . with a -line on board. Then thh " winches started to pull on the kedge anchors and the Wanganella's propellors began to churn the greeii waters to white. A radial swing was furnished by the Toia, pulling from near the stern, almost at right angles to the length of the ship; pulling astem towards Baring Head. •Success in this would have freed the " bow, pinched .between two sets of rocks, and drawn the fore part of the hull towards deeper water. The Terewhiti, with a line att&ched about amidships, pulled the stern* on the port side The Wanganella's prppellors sdemed too high in the Water to transfer the full power of the en- ; gines and the blades thrashed away they revolved. For minutes the ship appeared to be in a lake of milk, silch was the churning effect on the water. Every. Pound of .Steam Used , .'Subsequently the port propellor went astern, and the starboard propellor forward, but no movement could be effected. Eventually the Tere,whiti cast off and stood by tlie Toia, still pulling staunchly. Every pound of steam was used on the anchors. With the driVe of the propellors varied several times, the salvage efforts continued with no result. Eventually the Toia cast off, aiid Captain MoDonald carne ashore with officials of the company in the Kahanui, bringing maps and technical data with him. A conference on further operations was held ashore, but apart from saying that to-day was merely the first round of the fight for t he Wanganella, Mr. N. D. McLean, Wellington manager of the Huddart Parker Company, said there was npthing to report.