JERVIS BAY CALLS FOR AID

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 387, 22 June 1928, Page 1

JERVIS BAY CALLS FOR AID

MUTINEERS THREATEN TO FIRE SHIP PASSENGERS FORM VOLUNTEER GUARD MARINES ORDERED FROM CALCUTTA TO HELP “MUTINEERS threatening to set ship afire. Send 111 immediate assistance. Passengers alarmed. “Constant guard being kept by volunteer passengers. Speedily assist me.” The staccato sentences of this message, apparently from the captain of the liner Jervis Bay, tell one of the strangest stories of the sea in modern times. (United P.A. —By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian P.A.—United Service)

fiecd. 10.30 a.m. COLOMBO, Thurs. The warship Enterprise received a wireless at 5 o’clock this morning from the Jervis Bay: “Mutineers threatening to set ship afire. Send immediate assistance. Passengers alarmed. Constant guard being kept by volunteer passengers. Speedily assist me.” The Jervis Bay, an Aberdeen and Commonwealth liner on her way to England, is due at Colombo on Monday morning. Dispatches front London say the owners of the Jervis Bay went home early yesterday morning, content to believe that what was yesterday described as "the most amazing S.O.S. message the Seven Seas have ever known” was either misconstrued, or was a gigantic hoax. A more serious view, however, Is held in other quarters, and the recent behaviour of the crew of the Esperance Bay is recalled at great length. Neither the owners’ agent at Colombo nor the Admiralty was able throughout the night to add much information to the Jervis Bay’s original message, which as a check up shows reads as follows: “Having trouble ■with eight desperate stowaways. Is there any warship on the track, 1.780 miles east. 42 miles north, of Galle? Proceeding toward Colombo.” The warship Enterprise replied: "No warship in the neighbourhood. Heport if situation serious.” . It is considered that reference to the liner’s position should read 78 degrees east. 42 minutes north, which would place her about 400 miles southeast of Galle, which is 66 miles southeast of Colombo. STARTLING SUGGESTION A startling suggestion in Australian circles is that, in view of the recent strike of ships’ cooks in Australia, “desperate stowaways” may mean armed Communists who were smuggled on board the liner. Another suggestion to account for the mutilation of the S.O.S. call is that the rougher elements in a first rush may have overpowered the wireless operator and cut down the wireless halyards. It is recalled that the liner carried a short-wave transmitter for experimental direct communication with Australia throughout the voyage, and possibly the S.O.S. call may have been sent out over this set by one of the wireless operators to amateur friends of the passengers* RESOLUTE OFFICERS Officials of the line say that neither Captain Daniels nor the chief officer, Mr. Laycock, is the type of man to stand any nonsense from eight stowaways. The chief fear is that a portion of the crew may have come under the influence of the stowaways, and the happenings at the Chinese pirate base, Bias Bay', have shown how easily a handful of ruffians can by surprise attack take command of a Tessel, although the purpose of such » prank is inexplicable. The shipping authorities con•ider that the general run of Australian seamen is too levelheaded to indulge in sabotage. The authorities at the Admiraltydo not expect the captain of the Enterprise to report the incident by ruble, and say that the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Herbert Stanley, who has s number of armed auxiliaries at his disposal, will deal with the matter locally.

any knowledge of a sinister plot aboard, in consequence of the sale of the Commonwealth Line. The Jervis Bay has a large number of passengers. A message on June 12 said: —The voyage of the Aberdeen and Commonwealth liner Esperance Bay to England was anything but a model of ship life. It is alleged that some members of the crew and some of the stewards were completely out of hand. The passengers are said to have been treated contemptuously and their food was shoved in front of them. The members of the crew bore an obvious air of gladness that they were finishing their connection with the line. They did not care twopence for the Commonwealth Government or the management. The stewards declared that as the deck piano had been provided by themselves for their own entertainment, they declined to give their successors the benefit of it. It is stated that the piano disappeared overboard before the vessel reached Hull.