Wreck of a Liner.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 145, 15 December 1911, Page 5

Wreck of a Liner.

POSITION OF THE DELHI. TWO OTHER BOATS STRANDED NEAR BY. NO PANIC ABOARD THE DELHI. GREAT WAVES BREAK OVER THE VESSEL. SAVED BY WIRELESS. BRITISH WARSHIPS TO THE RESCUE. By Cable —Press Association—Copyright. Received 14, 9.35 p.m. London, December 13. The position of the Delhi, which went ixshore near Cape Spartel, Morocco, almost opposite Gibraltar, is serious. The British warships Weymouth, London and Duke of Edinburgh, a lifeboat and lifesaving apparatus, have been despatched from Gibraltar. Later the boats of a French cruiser rescued the Delhi's women and children. Reuter's Tangier correspondent states that a lifeboat from the cruiser Duke of Edinburgh landed the Duke and Duchess of Fife and party from the stranded steamer Delhi. They were drenched to the skin owing to the long row to the Spartel signal station. The British Minister met and accompanied them to Tangier. A British warship is conveying them to Gibraltar. Tangier, December 14. The Delhi grounded on the sandbanks 200 yards from the Caves of Hercules, at one o'clock in the morning. The Spanish brigantine Vocador and the French cruiser Chateau Renault were also stranded near by. It is surmised that the Delhi and the Chateau Renault mistook Cape Spartel light in a blinding storm. There was no panic aboard the Delhi. The passengers, including the Duke and Duchess of Fife, were summoned on to the saloon deck. There was no time to dress, and some were only in night attire. The vessel soon took a strong list, and water entered the lower cabins. The passengers donned lifebelts. The gale continued throughout the night, great waves breaking over the vessel, spray being thrown seventy feet above the masts. Owing to the buffeting the Delhi began to drift broadside on to the shore. When a wireless message was received at Gibraltar the "battleships London and Duke of Edinburgh, and the cruiser Weymouth, with an artillery party and lifesaving apparatus, started at full speed for the scene.

A FEARFUL NIGHT. GALLANT RESCUERS. THE BRAVE FIFES. A STIRRING STORY. Received 14, 11.20 p.m. Tangier, December 14. Meanwhile the Friant intercepted the Delhi's wireless and hurried to the wreck, but found it impossible to do anything during the night. Heavy seas continued till sunrise, and the Delhi was often hidden in a veil of mist. It was ten in the morning before the Friant's launch managed to tow a boat full of women and children to the Duke of Edinburgh. The Friant's second officer (Mr. Drungeon) made a second gallant attempt at rescue, despite the increasing roughness, but the launch filled and the fires were extinguished. The helmsway wa3■ washed away and the launch driven ashore, but the survivors, undaunted, pumped the launch out, re-lit the fire?, and put to sea again. A wave broke over the tiny vessel. ».nd she capsized. Two were drowned in trying to reach the shore. Four sailors reached Tangier (ten miles) barefooted and drenched. Mr. Drungcon, utterly exhausted, collapsed, and his comrades were obliged to leave him on the roadway.

The Duke and Duchess of Fife and their daughters had refused to leave the Delhi in the first boat, but at midday Rear-Admiral C'raddock decided it was better to try to land 011 the shore. The Duke, the Duchess, and the Princess Alexandra and Maud boarded the Duke of Edinburgh's boat, accompanied by Craddoek. There was great difficulty in boarding, the ladies being dropped into the boat and caught. The breakers soon began to lill the boat, despite the fact that the Duke and others bailed vigorously.

When some distance from the beach she filled and sank. All aboard were wearing lifebelts and they floated through the surf, though terribly buffeted. Princess Alexandra disappeared for a moment, but by great efforts, though continually washed off her feet, all were landed. The rain meanwhile was falling in torrents, and the weather was bitterly cold. The Princesses were clothed in their nightdresses, over which coats had been thrown. The party struggled along the rocky shore, four miles, to Cape Spartel lighthouse, where they obtained dry clothing and hot coffee. The British Minister at Tangier soon arrived with spare mules, and the party, with the Duke still in his nightshirt and wearing the lighthouse-keeper's trousers, rode into Tangier. They arrived drenched. The ladies stood the experience wonderfully, and the Duchess displayed remarkable pluck and courage throughout. All the women aboard the Delhi were saved. Some reached Gibraltar. Seventy passengers and 231 of the crews are still aboard the vessel, which is in a critical condition, a heavy sea and surf running over the hull. She is not insured, an 4 stands in the company's books at £25,000. Bullion aboard is valued at £300,000, and the value of the cargo is estimated at £IOO,OOO. Forty per cent, is quoted for reinsurance.