PASSENGERS’ ORDEAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 849, 18 December 1929, Page 1

PASSENGERS’ ORDEAL

Hours in Manuka’s Lifeboats STORIES OF EXPERIENCES Great Praise for Officers and Crew (Special to THE SUli’J DUNEDIN, Today. FLEEING from the wrecked Union Company steamer Manuka late on Monday evening, 150 scantily-clad passengers and a crew of 110 faced several hours’ exposure in open boats before landing near Long Point on a lonely part of Otago’s east coast. Tragedy was avoided by the promptness with which the passengers transferred to the boats, for, shortly after Captain Ross Clark and his remaining officers abandoned the doomed steamer, she slid back into deep water, turned over and sank. She is now lying practically submerged and a total loss. Nothing was saved except the clothes in which the passengers and crew stood. Many reached shelter in their night attire. _

The Manuka, of 4,534 tons and one of the best-known passenger ships of the Union'Company fleet, went ashore at 11 pm- on Monday near Long Point, about 11 miles south of the Vuggets lighthouse. There was a thick fog but, fortunately, except for the usual ocean <well, the sea was comparatively calm. She struck with a grinding crash and ihe engines were set full ahead to keep her in position while the task of lowering the boats was carried out.

The Manuka was badly holed. Water was made at once, the stokehold and forepeak flooding rapidly, and great gaps were torn in the forward parts of her hull. Immediately advice was received in Dunedin the Otago Harbour Board’s tug Dunedin was dispatched and the Union Company’s collier Kaiwarra, en route to Timaru, was ordered to proceed at full speed to the spot. Later came the reassuring message that the passengers had been transferred to the boats and were safe. It was learned also that Nos. 1 and 2 holds were flooded and that the entire contents of the ship, including passengers’ luggage and effects and a valuable collection of paintings worth about £25.000 were lost. GRINDING CRASH The first indication the captain had of the accident was a grinding crash, and the shock was followed by a succession of lurching rolls. The rocks penetrated the hull of the Manuka amidships and when she struck she was within 50 yard 3 of the sheer cliff faces of the point, which could be dimly discerned towering up in the darkness. The majority of the passengers were asleep at the time. Roused by the first tremendous shock and the subsequent rolling and pounding of the ship in the heavy coastline swell, they immediately realised what had occurred. There was no time to dress and as orders were immediately issued to don lifebelts and await the lowering of the boats, they seized what clothes lay ready to hand and made their way on deck. Fortunately the ship's lights were not yet extinguished and the passengers were quickly marshalled by the crew In readiness for their transfer to the boats. The task of lowering the boats was accomplished under great difficulties because of the bumping of the ship. The port boats were useless and only 'hose on the starboard sidf! could be lowered. One boat containing members of the crew was smashed to fragments in the process of being lowered and its occupants swam to other boats that had made a more successful descent to the water.

A considerable period elapsed between the time they were told to get into their lifebelts and the lowering of the boats, but eventually this was successfully accomplished, and the little craft, with their packed and ill'’lad human freight, pushed off into beep water to await the coming of daylight before seeking a landing Place. PASSENGERS COOL

Th« passengers showed coolness a nd composure and say that the capa a a Qd his officers acquitted them*elve* splendidly in * organising the ‘ e scue work in accordance with the jsnest traditions of the mercantile Marine. The last boat left the ship at 11.30 f-JJ- At that time the only persons on board were the captain, the yy° operator and two other officers, ,Il ' w hen the engines ceased running ' lU(i the ship slipped further back into water they jumped from the were picked up by a waiting T^ e lifeboats remained off the point •h 1 tlle a PP r °ach of daylight enabled em to move cautiously inshore.

Some of them were at sea from ve to seven hours, and parties were landed at different points of 'he coast and at different times etween 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. The coastline is one of the most a hd uninviting parts of the * Island. Long Point is fully 20 ...!, ‘fom Owaka. a mere township, “d ii is 40 miles from Balclutha. The sdiuo'l** means of communication is offe • unformed clay roads, almost incredible difficulties to 'h<> trans Port, and the trek of Ihe passengers and crew who ti'"' 11 1° return overland to civilisaAt c. as an art iuous undertaking, imm ? Wa k a they were provided with iooii * ate necesa ities in the way of brr,7, u nt * clothing, and then were q, 8 .t on by special train direct to ilnih n ’ stopping en route at Bal- *' w here tea was provided. Dunwas reached about eight o’clock. a number of the passengers '(he crew elected to return by hg and the Kaiwarra. Those on

the Kaiwarra reached the wharf at Port Chalmers about 11.30 p.m., after a longer but rather less trying experience than those who came by road and train. About three hours after she first struck the Manuka made her final plunge back into deep water. A column

of luminous steam and smoke rose from the boilers and engineroom. When she came to rest only the forward part of he hull and the foremast were above the water, the stern portion being so deeply submerged that only the tip of the mizzenmast was showing. HOSPITALITY AT OWAKA On hearing of the plight of the shipwrecked folk the residents of Balclutha and the Owaka districts supplied, under the leadership of Captain and Mrs. Stone, of the Clutha Corps of the Salvation Army, gifts of clothing, boots and blankets, so that when the first batch of passengers arrived in Owaka they found awaiting them abundant hospitality. In Owaka the tradespeople and boarding house proprietors were equally generous. Practically very motor-car, bus and lorry within a radius of miles of Owaka was off along the dreadful clay road which leads to Long Point. The first batch to arrive came by lorry and arrived at 11.30 a.m. They were at once billeted among the townspeople and at intervals varying from half an hour to an hour other cars came in, their mud-plastered wheels and bodies showing the struggle they must have had to get through. The last car-load arrived in Owaka about three o’clock in the afternoon. The passengers on the whole were wonderfully cheerful, but traces oi the trying time through which they liad passed and the haste with v-hicli they had had to leave the ship were very apparent. A great number were clad only in pyjamas, with only a ship’s blanket to give a little additional warmth. Before leaving Owaka, however, all had sufficient clothing to make them at least presentable and to keep them warm. . Several members of the crew, clad in some instances only in a singlet and trousers, also reached Owaka, ami were fed, clothed and looked after until the train left. x EXPRESSIONS OF THANKS Just as the train was about to leave, Mr R S. McKenzie, of Christchurch, on behalf of the passengers, made a brief speech, and thanked the townsfolk of Owaka for their kindness and hospitality. Mr Wyrley Birch, of the American and English Comedy Company, also snoke “I am an American, and on behalf of other American passengers I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Never before had he seen such friendliness and hospitality as had been extended to them that day. He would never forget it. and when he returned to America he woulu not forget to tell everyone about it. Mr Birch also paid a tribute to the behaviour of the captain, officers and Grew, and characterised the coolness of the captain as amazing. “I was on the last boat with the firemen,” he said, “and I want to say that I have never met a finer bunch of boys. Their utter d,sregard of danger, their cheerful-

ness and their willingness to help everyone made one wish to shout out aloud, 'God bless British seamanship.’ ” Mr. T. McGuinness responded on behalf of the Owaka folk. The train stopped at Balclutha, where again the wonderful hospitality of the country folk was made evident. Large tables had been erected on the platform, and about 50 women of the town were in attendance with tea, cakes, hot pies and even steaming fried fish. AUCKLANDER’S STORY A description of the wreck was given by Mrs. B. Thomas, of Auckland, who was returning from a holiday in Australia, accompanied by her daughter. Mrs. Thomas escaped from the vessel in her night clothing, her shoes and stockings and an overcoat. “I was sound asleep when the ship struck, and I remember hearing a crash like thunder,” she said. “The ship stood still and I knew that we were wrecked. Then the whistle blew violently several times and I heard passengers rushing up on deck. I put my shoes and stockings on and took my big coat and went on deck. SHIP LISTING OVER “The ship was listing over when X reached the deck, and the sailors were working hard to get the boats away before the side got too steep for them. “We were ordered to put our lifebelts on, and as soon as the boats were

in the water we were hurried down into them. That was a terrible experience, for the waves were breaking against the ship and the boats were tossing up and down. Blocks and hooks were swinging about, and it was wonderful that more people were not hurt. “One sailor had his leg badly cut and others received scratches and bruises. “I climbed down the ladder and had to hang on until the boat rose on a wave, and then sailors grabbed me and dropped me into the bottom of the boat. “The sailors had to work hard to keep the boat from being crushed, in fact, one boat was smashed, but they did not know it was badly smashed until it got away from the ship. Then it filled and went down. “One of the other boats went to her assistance, and took her 15 passengers off. The ship turned over on her side very rapidly after we left. (Continued on page 1 j.)