SEA'S GRIM SECRETS

Shannon News, 27 November 1928, Page 4

SEA'S GRIM SECRETS

•ffAtlflff iflftKrirll -iSftfflH g TllWlliivlivil wlflyft ThatArrivein Port •DYING SMUGGLER'S J confessions: 1 Despite all -the navies <of the world whicht police the seas -and in the face of exact methods -of navigation, the wireless, 1 the' splendid charts, 1 ‘there are mysterious accidents --and-aets of piracy on the high seas“which rank with the older days-of romance writes Cap- , tain David Bernard in the Sunday Nows. ' .• . '* ii" r* » • • • it. l' fl J! j

Sometimes, as in‘the ease .-of the-s.s; ■ Glencona, abandoned -ships find their . way into port; -they - bear a - charmed life on the seas which sweep their * decks and set them-drifting .aimlessly. Excitement -was; caused in Fleetwood -two y ears v ago, - when trawlers came in-:t-o'port*»aad*said r they had seen a large '•vessel, moving in the water right in 'the'fairway-.of the harbour. - •‘ht ■ Lloyd's ‘and elsewhere failed to - - solve the mystery. The mast of the submerged. vessel was like that of any - ‘other 'Steamer; it bore no * mark that "would lead'to'a solution. For several ; 'days,- until ’weather permitted a - diver Ho'descend,“everyone was, perplexed. - ‘ Then came" the 1 report of the diver. 1 Her name,‘ he said,' was Glencona, -but ‘ how coiild that - be'? The ‘ crew of the ' Glencona it was known had abandoned the vessel on fire early in March, when she was-blazing furiously. The coal cargo she • had ldadfcft as Garsto-n "Hocks for Dublin was well alight when - the crew’ had - left her. in' the- boats. When she suddenly disappeared, they reasonably • argued that" she had sunk. < Strange'-as; it may ‘seem, the Glencona ...drifted .about for a fortnight in “the busiest part of the Irish Sea without <a vessel seeing-her. She was -parried »here‘Und-there by currents until -a - heavy ;gale sprang up -and sank • - her within sight .of Fleetwood Harbour, ..dO -miles from the position where the crew left her. -

Had it, not .been for the heavy gale

'■’the improbabilities are that .'she ' would .;have comesafely into -the harbaurun- ' -aided!

’■When ;the 'sailing vessel Harold, 6f . .London, *waß> found "heading ’for ‘Saltfleet harbour; under full«sail, with (her vport -and -starboard sidelights • burn- : -.brightly, isteamers Acpt out >;of "hbr ,■ i course. As a sailing vessel She 1 held t-the right of way. ' 1 .But it was a risky business, sailing at. night time, especially bs treacherous sand banks existed .near the entrance ,and only the most ex- . perieneed local sailors could navigate safely into the harbour. As the * vesesl came nearer, fishermen shook - their heads and ventured the

opinion that a hare-brained skipper

'■was running a big risk in not waiting for daylight. “He will run her vashore.ifi-he is- not-careful,“ they said. . -Still the vessel ssailed on, with a, gentle -• bowling* hor* along in the smooth '■sea. ' /' ■

Ass the night wore-on the wind fell • ftftWay ;until there was* scarecly a ripple ,-/vonithe water. “She’s all right now- 1 — '-well in shore, - and the tide - will carry iher intoiport,” said the coastguard. >As .ida-rktiess gave - way - to dawn the '-form of the Harold, Still under full - *--gail, - was watched from the harbour, 7 ;-but she did not seem to be getting any ij/ifcßiftarer.■ .

i * i Dropped her anchor, ■ most likely, , '-waiting: for a-pilot." This • was what i the ‘••boatmen said •>* as they rowed ;sea- * T ward.to*the Harold."

'Coming: round the stem they-hailed . ’ -the crew - until they could shout no longer. Getting no response they put . their boat-alongside and clambered on i’ ’deck. •'

; , They-found everything in order. There 1 -was’plenty *of food in the cabin, but no sign of life anywhere.

It proved .to be one of the strangest

cases in hißtory, for later it was learn-

ed that the crew of the ship had left hor to her;; fate. 'After rowing 20 miles to Grimsby in an;open boat they reported that they - had abandoned thj . 'ship stranded on a sandbank/without hope of getting her afloat again. They had made no signals of distress as the night was fine, and they con-

sidered themselves safe in the boat. For three years the secret of the steamer Ishienn an, a Norwegian vessel, was safeguarded. She was found fobr

years .ago, drifting in; perfect condition s in northern seas. The public was so puzzled that it claimed the discovery of the ship to , be- a.,greater -mystery than; that -of the Marie Celeste, found derelict in the -Atlantic Ocean in, 1874.

The steamer was not many -milbs from her home port when she was ’boarded. Her engines and everything above and below deck were clean and shipshape , lamps burned brightly in her .'cabins, and tables Jwere set ready for a noonday meal. , In *her forecastle the beds' of fhe were made, and their sea- ’ chests were neatly -packed With eleari •clothing. Every boat was stowed in . its chocks; there was no sign of > a thing missing except, for the crew bf ■nine - which -the vessel was known to have carried.

In Tthe.!galley a freshly-cooked >lineal was .ready for 'serving,randithe tltoVe "were quite - warm. The -' wells were and found: to, be free of 'water, lihsheiraen - who . clambered son ' board nateked-the -/fires >nnd t raised - steam i for , "-heri engines,^which were also warm. It 'was sknown ‘ that")for 'some days Epreviouoly' there :had ; been'fine ewathor >so -that ’no '•storm 'could 'have caused -v-the'- cr'ew- 1 to^ddsert-'the**'ship. tJp > ant ? ddWn; the ’ inquiries , to find some solution, to the ’mystery.

Rewards were offered, ’relatives caused searches to be made, and as the years passed and -no word of comfort came to them , they despaired of ever learning the fate which had so mysteriously befallen their loved ones.

Then the-secret of their i deaths leaked out. Last year, in the Seamen’s Hospital, at Hamburg ,a dying German sailor confessed that he was implicated in the mystery. He -had joined a gang of smugglers who trafficked in dope and liquor, a lawless .-gang who stopped at nothing so long,as they gained their ends. Prom a fast eraft they had bordered ttfe Ishiennan in northern'waters under the guise of distressed seamen. The Ishiennan was a larger vessel than theirs and just-suit their lawless work.

The leader of the, gang took the captain aside and proposed certain plans to him. The worthy old shipmaster was so annoyed that he vigorously protested, and a heated argument followed. '

A shot rang out and the old man fell mortally wounded. ,

As the crew rushed to his rescue they -were -shot down without mercy and ruthlessly riddled with bullets, before their bodies were cold, heavy weights were fastened securely to them and they were cast overboard.

Tho murderers -set; to work to clean the docks of blood. Everything put in order; but no sooner had they completed : their task than smoke appeared on the horizon. Thinking that help had been sent 1 for by wireless, and: fearing that the oncoming vessel was a' warship,' they 1 hnriedly took to their own craft and escaped.

What befell the remainder of the desperados did not transpire in the dying depositions of the German sailor, and it is - presumed that some of the gang are still sailing the seas.