THE CARNARVON BAY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 145, 28 September 1910, Page 5

THE CARNARVON BAY

DID THE RESCUE PARTY DO THEIR DUTY? By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright Melbourne, September 27. The captain of .the steamer Lady Loch reports thui.t the sea was very heavy, and that he did all that was possible to search for the Carnarvon Bay's 'boat. MARINE BOARD'S VERDICT. Received September 28, 1.10 a.m. Melbourne, .\ii>nt. In connection with the witix u.; t.jje Carnarvon Bay . lle Marine Boau. ..ouiki that the evidtii.ee did not su»uun a charge of careless navigation, ON THE ROCKS. CAPTAIN'S ACCOUNT OF SHIP'S LAST VOYAGE. Captain Griffiths, the second and third offacers, and fourteen of the crew of the Carnarvon Bay were picked up by the s'teamer Tarcoola and taken to Melbourne on Saturday week. "On no former voyage except one," said the captain to an interviewer, at> reported in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, "had the ship experienced such adverse, tempestuous weather as this time, in ■running down the easting. She left Liverpool with light ordinary winds, and had. them until off Cape Finisterre. Then we met with light north and north-east winds to 15 N. Afterwards we had light south-west monsoons, until the easting was run down. On September 1 the ship struck a violent westerly gale. Terrific seas washed all over her and smashed the doors of several cabins, washed out the clothes ot the officers, and did some minor damage.

"These gales continued on Thursday, between 3 and 4 in the afternoon," said Captain Griffiths, in narrating the subsequent events. "We picked up a lighthouse about the centre of' King Island. I don't know its name. At that time I could not say what land it was jihat we had sighted. I had been endeavouring to pick up Cape Otway. It was not till we had: got well within sight of the lighthouse that I recognised that it was King Island. At 10 o'clock that morning the wind had shifted to west-north-west. We were taking heavy seas over the bows. iOne of them knocked the donkey boiler out of position ana smashed one of the winches. After we sighted the lighthouse we sailed towards the island, as we could not brace the si lip up to the Ijorth, owing to'the contirary winds.. . 1 A BELATED ORDER. "We decided to round the south end of the island. We got on to the south side, and were steering a course. Everything seemed all right. I had previously taken my bearings, from, a reef bearing north toy east, which | estimated to be about a mile or a mile and a half from the shore. I was steering a north-west by north course. We weire holding up to east by north course when tih.e ship struck, just before I had time to looik at the standard compass and found that she had beea coming up higher than her course, set by the after compass. I had told the man at the Wheel to let her off half a point. Just as I gave him that order the ship started to graze on the reef, and almost immediately to bump. The bumping was comparatively, (slight for a few minutes. Then fehe started to bang. In another instant she was bumping all over. I've no idea what (reef it was that Iwe struck, but from my bearing I reckon that no reef existed there;. I think it ie ah uncharted patch. I did not, however, see my chart after She struck. There was no time. When we ran on the rock we lhad just coime out of the height of the seal 1 . It was mow getting dusk. No broken water could be seen, and no Bliallows. Just before this first bump, however, ' there waa quite a sea, on. The vessel tegan continuously to bump. I sang out to the miate to swing up his port boat and to pass it over to the starlboard, or lee, side of the ship. Meantime, the starboard boat was swung iiitq the water, and I was hanging on to the side. MEN TUMBLE INTO THE BOAT.

"Some of the men must have, tumbled into her as soon a$ they had launched 'her. I called for the carpenter to sound the well. He waa not there. I afterwards found that he was in the boat. I went along the deck to try and find the sounding rod, but 1 could not see it. By this time the ship was ha#d and fast, but still bumping heavily. The men had clambered into the boats, and the port boat had cast off from the ship and pulled out. Five or sax men were in it. I called out for them to come in and take some of the men from the staiiboard boat in with them.'*'At'that time there we?e,only the ■first, second and third ijiates, and one of the apprentices and myself on deck. The men said that they would not come alongide, as it -was too dangerous. 1 don't think it was. They say they were frightened of the masts falling on them. The masts, I may say, were standing well when last we saw the ship. " I went downstairs to get the papeira. The trnen were singing out while I was gone, 'Let go the boats, or the imast will come over on us.' When I came on deck again the starboard boat was still hanging to her. The first, second and third mates and the apprentices were still om deck. We all got over the side into the starboard boat, and pushed away from the ship. I sang out to the port boat to take half of out men away. Altogether there were thirtyone in the crew, and one pasenger, but yhether the passenger was in our boat or the boat with the mate I cannot now recollect. When we got some distance from the ship the port boat casne alongside, and the chief officer and nearly half our menclamibered into it. I called out to the mate, who had taken charge, with the boatswain under him, to hang on to the short for the night, and try to find a landing place on the east end of the island at daybreak.

THE BOATS PART.

"Three minutes afterwards we loot sight of them. The last we saw of them the mate was steering for the east side of the island, where there is a sandy beach. We tried, to make after him', but his boat could go better to windward. than ours, and we could not make way towards the east end of the island. I then decided to run for Laimceftton after daybreak, hoping to keep the ship in sight as long as possible, to see whether she was in any great, danger. At about 10 p.m. the gale, which had been blowing from the west, turned to south-west, and came up with tremendously increased force. I quickly rear'" lised we would neves be- able to wrnke the Tasmania® coast, so I decided to make for Port Phillip. "We ran all that might before the gale in a tremendous sea, with our oars, heading as far as we could to the

north. At about 5 o'clock on FridaA morning the gale began to abate, MM we set sail. By 7 o'clock it comple£&H died away. Later it sprang tip agHp* from the north, but in the aftenwttt hauled round to the north-west. W this time we were bailing out And ing our way through a nasty crow sMk The boat was 22 feet long, and Wttj taking in water rapidly. At 11 o'docß ( on Saturday morning <we sighted Gm Liptrap. We did not really know w£m part of the coast it was till § o'clock in the afternoon, when wo came rigM up to it. Then, seeing we were in thd ' direct course of steamers coming louptl the coast from Sydney, we lay to aaj drifted till we saw the Tarcoola'a smoKS come over the horizon. One of tfi& crew hoisted a pair of old trousers Mflf s'gnnl. and we succeeded in attracting t! ir notice." < . "Captain Irvne took us on boanC ragh' within two minutes of our steptHnjg* TO deck, every iman had a cup of coffe bad®" ed to him. I cannot speak toft higfiQj of the treatment we received from C&l* tain Irvine and ibis crew.'! ,