SIR H. SEGRAVE KILLED

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 998, 14 June 1930, Page 1

SIR H. SEGRAVE KILLED

Boat Explodes and Overturns after getting new record Dreadful Tragedy in England WHILE dashing across Lake Windermere at 100 miles an hour, the speed-boat Miss England 11. overturned, exploded and killed its driver, Sir Henry Segrave. His mechanic was injured and his motor expert is missing.

Thousands of people watched the boat establish a new speed record over the meastired mile and then swerve and dive into the water, later reappearing with a huge rent in the hull.

United Tcldiravh —Copyityhc Reed. 1d.5 a.m. L.OXIJOIS, Friday. The speed-boat Miss Euglaud 11., was attempting a world’s speed record on Lake Windermere when an explosion caused its overturn. The Rolls-Royce expert, Halliwell, is missing, and the mechanic Will cocks is severely injured. Sir Henry Segrave was rescued suffering from a broken arm and a fractured leg, and his ribs were crushed. He died a few hours later. HC established a record of 95.76 miles an hour. Before the crash the boat's bows collapsed under the pressure of the speed. When tt reappeared on the surface, bottom up, there was a great rent in the hull. She sank later. Thousands of persons lining the shores witnessed the tragedy. Miss England 11. had covered tho measured mile, turned and travelled a farther two miles almost at maximum speed when it seemed to swerve violently and plunge under the water. Spectators screamed, women fainted and dozens of speed-boats rushed to the assistance. Wiilcocks was the first rescued. He came up with blood streaming from his face. A mau dived fully clothed and brought up Sir Henry Segrave. The search for Halliwell is so far fruitless. AT TERRIFIC SPEED A British Official message from Rugby says the disaster to Miss England 11. occurred while Sir Henry Segrave was making a run for the world's water speed record on Lake Windermere. It is learned his injuries included two broken arms, a broken leg and broken ribs, one of which perforated tie lung.

Sir Henry Segrave took Miss England 11. with her huge engines out into the lake at 2 o’clock. Fitted to her was a bronze propeller brought from London to replace the one broken yesterday. Within a few seconds the boat was travelling at a terrific speed. After covering the measured mile up the lake she turned, and there was another terrific hurst of speed as she covered the mile down the lake. For the third, time tho boat turned and travelled at almost her maximum speed. The roar of her giant engines echoed from one shore to another. Then she seemed to accelerate suddenly, and the great mass of machinery enclosed in its slim white shell seemed to swerve violently and plunge beneath the water. TAKEN TO HOSPITAL

A huge mass of white spray went up and it was several seconds before the graceful craft was seen again. Wiilcocks, the mechanic, was badly injured over tbe eyes, and his thigh was broken. Segrave was picked up unconscious within a few seconds. Both were taken ashore and sent to hospital.

Segrave was saved by a man named King, who was in one of the motorboats first on the scene. The body of Halliwell, tbe RollsRoyce expert, has not yet been recovered. There was no one else in the boat..

Several theories are being advanced regarding the cause of the disaster. One eye-witness says that "the step’’ on the bottom of the boat suddenly seemed to burst and the boat swerved terribly before capsizing. Another view is that the boat bit a Piece of driftwood, which would have been sufficient to cause the disaster.

After the disaster the timekeepers announced officially that Miss England it. had beaten the world’s speed record during her first two runs with a meau speed of 93.76 miles an hour, against the previous best of 96.25 miles an ■tour set up by the American, Mr. Gar Wood. RECORD CLAIMED The speed on the first run was 96. i 1 tnili's au hour, and on the second run 101 11 miles. The figures of the new record wil! be forwarded to the International Marine Yachting Union for official recognition as the new world record. Segrave, before his death, bad thus achieved the double distinction of creiting a world's record for speed on both land and water. At Daytona Beach, Florida, on -'larch ll_ 1929, in the racing car Golden Arrow, lie set up a world’s record for land with au average speed °f 23L.36 miles an hour, beating by nearly 24 miles an hour tho record set U P the previous year by Ray Keeclt. an American driver. If was for this magnificent achievement that he was knighted. Segrave’s triumph was marred bv tragedy, for two days after his brilhaut success Lee Bible, au American driver, was killed there in attempting to eclipse Segrave’s figures.

Segrave, who was 31 years old, was educated at Eton anil Sandhurst, aud served in the Great War with tho *-econd Warwickshire Regiment aud the Royal Air Force. He was three times wounded and was mentioned in dispatches.

In 1917 he was private secretary to the Chief of the Air Staff, and in the following year he went on the British Aviation Mission to Washington.

The motor-boat record is held at present by Commodore Gar Wood, the American motor-boat “ace,” with a speed of 96.25 miles an hour, less than ‘two months ago. Lord Wakefield linanced the previous boat. Miss England, in which Sir Henry set up a record at the Lido last year. The use of Lake Windermere was recently granted to Sir Henry Segrave by the urban council for an attempt to break the record held by an'American for the nautical mile for motorboats. Tbe course had been laid on tho western side of the lake, from Wray Castle, near Ambleside, at the north end of the lake, to Belle Isle. This gives a stretch of nearly four miles.

Sir Henry engaged a dock for Miss England 11. at Bowness. The reason for the selection of Windermere was that it is fresh water and gives the same conditions as those which existed at Detroit for the American record holder. t HELD TWO RECORDS CAREER OF SIR H. SEGRAVE YACHTING AND MOTORING Sir Henry O. D. Segrave, officer of the Royal Air Force, holder of the world’s motor racing record, and a leader in speed motor-boat racing, was born in 1599 in the United States. His father was an Englishman, Mr. Charles Segrave. Sir H,enry Segrave wasw educated at Eton and Sandhurst. ll© was at school when the Great War began, but he joined the Royal Air Force in 1917. After serving as a member of one of the air missions to America he went into active service with one of the famous scout airplanes'. In an air encounter with enemy fliers, however, he was shot down from 8,000 feet, and severely injured. Oil leaving hospital he became secretary to the Secretary of State for Air. He held the rank of major at the end of the war, and he then occupied himself by speed racing. At Brooklands he won prominence by winning the 200-miles race of the Junior Car Club. A motor-car firm gained his services, and in 1922 he appeared in all Continental races. The next year he won the Grand Prix de France at Tours —the first English driver to gain the prize—and in 1924 lie won the Spanish Grand Prix. 'The motoring concern then had a special car secretly built for Segrave. With it, in March, 192(5, he covered a mile at the speed of 356 miles an hour, a tremendous speed at that time. SUCCESSES AT DAYTONA

By March, 1927. Segrave was at Daytona Beach, Florida, with a 1,000-h.p. machine. From a flying start he made a mile record of 203.792 miles an hour. In one part he was travelling at 207 miles an hour. Ray Iveech, then eclipsed Segrave’s time by covering a mile at 207.552 miles an hour on tho same course.

It was with tlie object of defeating that record that Segrave went to Daytona in February last with the Golden Arrow, lie had the hope of travelling at 240 miles an hour, and when the attempt was made on March 11 he succeeded in travelling at 231 miles an hour.

Following his return to England, and the praise showered on him from the highest circles, Segrave became keenly interested in motor-boat racing. lie took a 1,000-h.p. boat, “Miss. England,” to the United States, and attempted to beat the American record of miles an hour. At Miami, Florida, ho attained a speed of 88 miles. Though the American, Gar Wood, was shown to have a faster boat than Segrave. Segrave won the Harrnswortli International Trophy simply by his superlative skill at the turns in the course. With the same boat he won an international trophy at Venice last year. IN YACHTING “if there was ever a sport, it is Major Segrave.” This tribute comes from a wellknown American aquatic writer in an article in the famous boating periodical, “The Rudder.” The writer had been describing Sir Henry Segrave’s contest for the world’s speed-boat championship with Commodore Gar Wood, the American speed driver, at Miami two seasons back. Major Segrave, in an interview bej fore the race between his Miss England and Wood’s Miss America, admitted that the British contender was much slower than the defender. “If ever there was a sport, it is Major Segrave,” the interviewer commented. The major competed, knowing his chances were small, but by a trick of fate took final honours. Miss England won the first race, and was the only boat to finish in the second. Miss America having broken down. The British challenger thus secured more points titan his rival. LIKE GIANT PLANE WONDER-CRAFT DESCRIBED STRIVING FOR SPEED l The amazing new speed-boat, Miss tinglaud 11., is described as a revolutionary idea in speed-boats, a gleamimg monster with -i.OOO h.p. engines I driving a tiny propellor at incredible j speed, steered by two rudders at the

stern and bow, with streamlined struc- j ture of wood, steel and duraiium and 1 tbe tail of an airplane. Before bis trial tests at Lake Win- I dermere this week, Sir Henry Segraye j disclosed details of the design of the boat which have hitherto been kept secret. He described Miss England 11., which has cost more than it 26,000 ro build and is said to be capable of a speed of more than 120 miles an hour, as “one of the most unorthodox speedboats yet designed.” “I hope to travel at well over 100 miles an hour,” he said, “hut until the boat has been tested on the water I cannot say how she will behave.” Miss England 11. is a revolutionary type of boat, the first of her kind ever huilL She has been built for Eord Wakefield at Cowes and is the design of Mr. Frederick Cooper, with whom he had collaboration. NEW DESIGN She is 40ft in length and weighs more than 4 A tons. Yet her two Schneider Trophy Rolls-Royce engines, which develop 4,000 horsepower, are driving a screw only 15in. in diameter. This screw revolves at 12,500 revolutions a minute. One can tell how terrific a speed this is by comparing it with the next fastest speed known, that of Miss England 1., which was 6,800 revolutions. Other speed-boats seldom do more than 3,500 revolutions. On the water the boat looks rather like the fuselage of a giant racing airplane, with her streamlined hull and out-of-the-water tail, which resembles the rudder of a flying machine. No other boat has ever been designed in this way. TERRIFIC STRAIN “We are relying on the great strength of the hull and its iuside shield of duraiium to withstand the strain of the attempt alone,” Sir Henry Segrave said, “and, unlike Miss England J., the Dew boat will not carry a ballast of 5,000 piing-pong halls.” “To drive the engines I have two throttle pedals, and two clutch pedals to control, and the experience is something like driving two racing cars at one time.”

Lake Windermere is the only place in England where the record could be attempted. Getting Miss England to Windermere from Cowes, however, was not easy. She is so big that special permission was necessary to take her by road, and the journey was made on a very big lorry by a route specially mapped out. Her size made it impossible for her to negotiate some of the corners on the main road. Sir Henry Segrave was due on August 9 to sail with her to America, where he hoped to recapture the British International Motor-Boat Speed Trophy which was won by the United States in 1919. TRIBUTE TO GALLANTRY Reed. 1 p.m. LONDON, Friday. In paying tribute to oue of England’s most gallant sportsmen, the newspapers unitedly mourn the loss of Sir Henry Segrave and the mechanic, Halliwell. While paying a tribute to their indomitable gallantry, they state that apparently the step bolted to the bottom of the boat shifted slightly, ad mltting the water between it and the boat's true bottom, creating a terrificbrake, and making the vessel unmanageable.