THE CLANRANALD WRECK

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 8, 3 February 1909, Page 3

THE CLANRANALD WRECK

SURVIVOR'S ACCOUNT OF THE DISASTER. A SUDDEN LIST. VESSEL SINKS IN A "WHIRLPOOL" SWIMMERS I!EACH THE SHORE. A GHASTLY SPECTACLE OX THE BEACH. Adelaide, February 2. The survivors arrived at Edithburg this evening. The mate states that all went well till 2 o'clock on Sunday afternoon, when tiie vessel took a sudden list and became unmanageable. All hands came on deck and remained on the high part of the ship. They lost two of the boa is and two others could not be launched from the vessel. Drifting towards the shore, the vessel foundered at ten o'clock at night. All hands were thrown into the water. The second ullicer was iu charge when she listed. THE CREW. The crew consisted of:—Captain Gladstom, Hose, first mate, Campbell, second, Wilson, third, Stewart, chief engineer, Fordyce, second, Walls, third, Patterson, fourth, Stewart chief steward, Shaw, carpenter , and fifty-four Asiatics. SAVED. I The names of the survivors are:— Fordyce, Rose, Shaw, Wilson, and twenty Asiatics'. Heartrending cries were heard as the men cast themselves into the sea. The Clanranald was bound to Durban —the first port—and carried a South African mail. A feature of the disaster is the fact that only those members who could swim reached the shore. The first mate and second engineer were an hour in the water before they reached shore. The latter carno across an upturned boat and clung to her. One of the Lascars stated that six or seven died during the night after landing. Shaw, who is 00 years of age, swam ashore with the. aid of a lifebelt. •He states that the vessel was about five miles off shore when a wave struck her. .From the time she took her first sheer till she sunk was six or seven hours. Two boats were washed away with stays and two others were smashed in an effort to get at the other vessel. Anjnle warning was given of the impending (laager. Everyone was on deck when the ship took her final plunge. Shaw says: "I had been eight years on the ship and had never known her to behave in such a fashion before. I could not say whether the shifting of •the cargo caused the disaster. It certainly was not bad weather and she was a splendid sea boat. "On approaching the beach the surf carried me 300 yards. Three others were carried up the beach in a similar fashion. Some people ashore, when I got there, had a lire burning to warm us. They had; plenty, of water, bread, butter, and brandy, and made us as comfortable as possible. "I noticed the captain on the rail just before the ship went under." Several of the coloured crew clung tenaciously to a rudely constructed raft which was hurriedly put together. They reached shore by its means. Fordyce stated that the third engineer proffered him a lifebelt, but he dedined it as he was a strong swimmer. He endeavoured to tie the belt round the third engineer, but he would not accept it. At that moment the ship sank in a whirlpool. That was the last seen of the third engineer. The vessel, which is completely out of sight, went down in fourteen fathoms. The Lascar crew displayed great calmness. Nautical men believe that the vessel struck a reef, and that water put ' the fires out after the vessel heeled over. The beach at the spot presented a ghastly spectacle, dead bodies lying in all directions. Improvisioned stretchers were used, and the bodies carried up the face of a cliff some 200 feet high. All the dead found so far had lifebelts on them. The bodies bore marks of being battered on the rocks. One body was found at the top of the cliff. Men had climbed the ascent and died of exhaustion at the top. Thirty bodies have already been , recovered. ' The pilot who took the vessel out of port says that she had a slight list to starboard but nothing out of the ordinary that could not have been lightened by the consumption of coal.

CAUSE OF THE DISASTEI!. WHITE SAILORS RETICENT. , "TOO -MUCH AT STAKE." V SOMETHING WROXW. Received February 2, 0.7 p.m. I Adelaide, February 2. , The white members of the erew are ■ reticent as to the actual cause of/the j disaster. From what can be learned, however, it appears that something must Jhave occurred aboard the Clauranald. *The hypothesis is that the ship struck itlie Marion reef, which lies to the southeast of Troubridge Hill. Attempts to obtain anything detinite are futile. "There is too much at stake," was the reply of the first olllccr when pressed for information. . BURIAL OF THE DEAD. COMPLAIXTS ABOUT DELAY IX SENDING HELP. Beceived 3, 1.0 a.m. Adelaide, February 2. The victims of the Clanranald were luried at Edithburg. The Lascars were Imried in a large trench 25 feet long. "The whites were buried in a smaller trench. _ v • Some complaints are made that assistance was not promptly sent. Xews that an unknown vessel was in distress was received on Sunday night, but assistance was not sent till eight o'clock on Monday morning. • CLAN LINE'S MISHAPS. ' The Clan Line of steamers is well ■known to the Xew Zealand shipping public. Previous disasters which have befallen the line are;— " Clan Monroe, stranded at Slaigkop /on July 1, 100.1. Clan Camming, held to be to blame "for the sinking of tha steamer Chatham ill Suez Canal 011 September .">, 1905. The disaster wa? of considerable interest at Hie t'mie, since, as the Chatham was Joaded with explosives, it was considered too dangerous to remove lier cargo, and ship ami all had to be blown up in the .canal. The debris resulting from the ex- j iplosion caused a blockage in the canal for about fourteen days. Clan McDougall was stranded m September, 1908, at Ceuta, in Morocco. Later she was got off by the salvage steamers Bergcr Willielni, Danmark, and Rescue. While on a voyage from New York to Australian ports in August of last > the Clan Matheson caught fire. _ She sailed from New York 011 July 2.>, and was found to be 011 fire on August 7.

The Clan Ranald, 33% tons gross, was Saofeet long, 45.0 ft. beam, and 24.ift. depth. She was a steel screw steamer built in 1000. ( :====