SHIP SMASHED UP

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 382, 16 June 1928, Page 9

SHIP SMASHED UP

URALLA TOTAL WRECK CAPTAIN RAN HER ASHORE CANONBAR STILL MISSING I (United P.A. —By Telegraph — Copyright) j Reed. 10 a.m. SYDNEY, To-day. The steamer Uralla, which was driven ashore in a great storm, is ! a total wreck. Captain O’Beirne, interviewed, told tow the Uralla weathered a fearful gale off Sydney Heads on Wednesday night. Blinding rain ruined the visibility for the whole night. A terrific sea overwhelmed the Uralla in the early morning, when she was off Newcastle. It smashed the steering gear. Captain O'Beirne decided to beach the vessel rather than risk being driven on the rocks. He manoeuvred with the twin propellers, keeping the vessel from getting broadside-on, and was able to make the beach, where the ship is lying with her back broken and her lifeboats carried away. The crew will be able to walk ashore to-day at low tide. All other shipping is accounted for, except the Canonbar, which is en route from Brisbane to Sydney. She has no wireless. She should have reached Sydney yesterday, but she may still be running before the gale, which is moving seawards. The sailor Guiseppi, the sole s|rvivor of the crew of the wrecked White Bay, was found wandering along the beach, supporting himself with a piece of wood. He said the White Bay went ashore once but was washed off again. Five members of her crew were standing on deck at the time, when a mountainous sea washed them off, and turned the vessel over. The survivor struck out for the shore, which he reached in an exhausted condition.