THE OCEANA

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 202, 6 May 1912, Page 5

THE OCEANA

THE STEAMER TO BLAME. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. London, May 3. The Court found that the Oceana was alone blameworthy in the collision with the Pisagua. The Pisagua's officers declared that the Oceana was not steering the ordinary course. Justice Evans, in his judgment, accepted the Pisagua's story implicitly. LIFE LOST THROUGH TAKING TO BOATS. TITANIC ERROR REVERSED. THE P. AND 0. LIFE RECORD BROKEN. The collision between the P. and 0. Company's Oceana and a German barque supplies an experience the reverse of that which befel the Titanic. The Oceana floated Jong enough for all .her complement to have been safely taken off by rescuing steamers, but the passengers had preferred to take to the boats, with the result that one of the boats was upset and life was lost. On the other hand, many of the passengers on the Titanic, with blind faith in the leviathan's unsinkableness, preferred the ship to the boats, and paid the extreme penalty for their error. Evidently it is not alwaj's easy to decide, in shipwreck, which course to take.

Under date of March 23, a London correspondent writes:—"The P. and 0. Company has again been very unfortunate and another proud record has been broken. Previous to the wreck of the Delhi, off Morocco, the company claimed it had never had a vessel certified as a wreck at Lloyds, and now, through the disaster te the Oceana, the company for the first time in its history has had to record loss of life among passengers by shipwreck. STRUCK BY A STEEL BARQUE. "The events leading up to the sinking off Beachy Head of the Oceana, a 6000ton liner, outward bound for Bombay, will not be known until the Board of Trade inquiry takes place, for, following the example of other shipping companies, the P. and 0. Company refused all information, and it was not until two days later that the death roll could be ascertained. What is certain is that the German sailing ship Pisagua, a four-master steel barque of 2852 tons, bound for Hamburg from South America with a cargo of nitrate, came bows on almost at right angles to the Oceana. She struck the liner just by the port steering light. That is proved by the fact that the carpenter's berth is just below the port light, and the unfortunate man was so badly injured, both his legs being crushed, that one of his legs had to be amputated by the ship's doctor before he could be removed.

"The Pisagua made a hole in the Oceana large enough, as one of the passengers expressed it, to drive a motor 'bus through. The crash came when all but the watch on deck were asleep in their berths below. A grinding crash is how the noise of the'collision is described by one of those who heard it. The water rushed in, the lower deck was soon awash, but apparently prompt precautions were taken by closing bulkheads and watertight doors to avert immediate disaster.

"Everybody agrees that it was a fair, clear morning. There was- no moon, but the stars were visible, and the sea was smooth. The Oceana was not in imminent danger of sinking. She remained afloat for at least five hours after the collision. Mr. Infield, one of the crew of the Eastbourne lifeboat, gives the time at' Which she disappeared as 10.5 a.m. Had the passengers and crew remained on board, instead of taking to the boats, they would all have been rescued without difficulty, because it is certain that in lees than two hours after the collision the Sussex and the cargo steamer, Queensgate, to say nothing of the two tugs and the lifeboats from Eastbourne and Newhaven were on the spot ready to render any assistance.

" For some reason or other the ship's boats were launched. There is little doubt that during this operation one of the boats capsized, and that the loss of life.occurred at this time. So far as is at present known, fourteen persons were drowned, comprising seven passengers, three members of the European crew, and four Lascars. There were 40 passengers on board. "Questioned directly after landing, Mr. T. Penny, the pilot, said, 'I cannot say whether there has been any loss of life, but if there has you can say this—that no loss of life need have occurred at all. The boat was floating for seven hours after the collision, and there was no necessity to lower the boats in a hurry. Afi far as I know, there was never any order from the bridge to do so. and if there was must have been by someone who had no authority. Further than that I cannot go, but I must say this, that it has been a great blow to me.' CONDUCT OF THE LASCARS. "The behaviour of Captain Hide, R.N.R., and the officers, the white crew, and the passengers was admirable, and there was nothing approaching a panic. There is a difference of opinion, however, concerning the Lascars. "Mr. Bentley, a passenger, stated: 'They stood terrified, on deck, uttering continuously their weird, ear-piercing screams, which did' more than anything else to terrify the women on board.' Captain Kaulbach, of the King's Own Lancashire regiment, observed: 'The Lascars behaved neither better nor worse than Lascars always do when there is any danger. They were in such a dreadful state as to be absolutely useless, and could only crowd together like sheep. I saw no signs of violence, however, on their part.' A lady passenger, Miss Lynch, of Kilkenny, stated that some of the Lascars were so frightened that they hid in the passengers' cabins, and then tried to slip into the boats without being recognised. 'The Lascars were jolly bad, but I suppose they couldn't help acting according to their nature,' remarked Mr. Charlton, a passenger, who had the misfortune to sustain a broken arm while getting into one of the boats. An Italian officer declares that the Lascars were very much frightened. "On the other hand, a member of the crew said, 'I had always heard that Lascars got out of hand when there was danger, and so I was prepared to see them panic-stricken after the collision, hut I was agreeably surprised to find that they kept their heads and obeyed orders.'

"An Indian civilian, Mr, J. Pullen, also writes as follows in defence of the Lascars: 1 tliink there must he some mistake about the codmict 'of the Lascars on board the Oceana. The passengers who have spoken against them are probably confusing the Lascars with the engine-room hands. The Lascar proper is a brave and smart seaman, and keeps his head wonderfully when storms arise and seas run high or when danger threatens. This is the experience of those who know them best.' SEA TREASURE. "The Oceana went down with gold and silver bars to the value of £ 1,000.000. which is double the value of the specie in the Delhi. She is now lying in 70ft of water. Salvage operations have already been begun, but the chance of saving the bullion is such that the, underwriters are asking 02 guineas per cent.

for reinsuring it. Although the vessel is lying at a depth which would give no trouble to divers in normal circumstances, yet the scour of the Channel at that, part is very great, and divers would be able to work only at the slack of the tides, and in quiet weather. Therefore it is possible that gales and tidal races may do much to scatter the fortune in the strong room of the liner before the divers can get at it. The greatest depth from which specie hag been salved is the case of the Spanish steamer Alfonso XII, which sank in I6oft of water off Grand Canary in 1885, with" money for the payment of the Spanish troops in Havana. "Altogether the company is faced with a prospective toss of one million sterling. The Oceana was built 24 years ago, and it is stated that she was making her last voyage to the East." Since the date of the above news from London, it has been announced by cablegram that £400,000 of the specie has been recovered.